I'm A Gardener AND I Have Rocks!

One more day to go before we are greeting the weekend!  

I have a new found skill: gardening!  Hahaha!  No really, am I allowed to say that when in reality I only planted four new plants and re-planted some of the builder-provided greenery?  I hope so, because I'm feeling real good about myself!  LOL

The landscaping provided by the builder wasn't that bad, and in the process of planting my new babies, I think I discovered why our plants were fading away...ROCKS!  There were so many rocks, large and small in the ground.  

Since I knew I wanted to plant something new, I went to three nurseries nearby and asked for help because I had no idea how to plant anything...and I mean anything!  One nursery in particular was really helpful so I decided to purchase from them.  

I should mention that our small front yard is only mulch.  Although it's easy maintenance, the rainfall is not our friend.  The rain causes the mulch to displace and for some neighbors, run down the street.  That will be another post on how our HOA and current homeowners are trying to resolve this issue.  Bottom line is they are trying to decide if sod is a better option.  More to come...  

So in addition to new plants, with the recent rainfall, we needed more mulch.  Our community allows black (and maybe brown) mulch so we ended up with 10 bags, two lavender plants (oh my gosh they smell so good) and two pink perennials.  Sorry...I forgot the name but will get it on a future trip.  The reason we purchased so much mulch is because we decided to remove most of the builder mulch and replace with a different brand.  We did not want to mix the two so we had to remove ALOT of what was already down to have a consistent look.  P.S. I loved the knockout rose trees and hydrangeas, so I have that on a plan for the backyard.     

You will soon learn that I don't do well with bugs and creatures...but to my surprise, there were hardly any out there.  A few little things here and there, but I managed well.  I went to Home Depot and Lowes and purchased some garden tools, gloves and a garden hat.  I wanted to 'dress' the role, so these were necessities!  HAHAHA  I really make myself laugh sometimes and my poor husband just supports my craziness!  

Moral of the story is be sure to clear most of the large rocks from your land before planting your new babies.  I would also suggest you take a quick look at what the builder planted.  The greenery may just be sitting on top instead of correctly planted.  This would be a great time to re-plant these.  They may have a better life without the rocks underneath them.  

Here is a picture of some of the rocks from our yard: 

Digging...

Rocks and more rocks

We ended up with three full buckets of rocks.  WOW!  No wonder our plants were fading!  Here is small picture of the lavender and the pink perennials.  I will get a better picture soon, as I have since then removed the half-dead tree and put another layer of mulch down. 

Our little Diesel in front of the lavender

Good luck to everyone getting those yards together.  I now have a huge appreciation for the women and men out in the yards every weekend.  You all are rockstars in my book!  

xoxo