Prepping for Spring Gardening

It’s that time again – *cartwheel* planting time!  I mentioned last summer after my South of France trip that I would use bamboo to make a French-inspired garden!  The day has come.

See the new climbing jasmine in the back against the wall?  I just bought it, it’s pinkish-white flowers and more vine-clinging like, unlike the other jasmine on the other wall I shaped on the trellis.  I’m debating if that’s the spot I want it because I’m afraid of them taking over the lime tree to the left – it can get as wide as 4 to 6 feet!  I need to make a decision soon, but it’s so tough.

I used zip ties to secure the four sprinkler sprayers.  I don’t think I’ll have anything climb up this because it would obstruct my sprayers.

The basils were from a few starters – you should note that in a basil pot you have maybe 5-6 starts in there.  Separate them!  I put one in first and was like wait a second… so don’t be afraid to pry them apart gently.  Marigolds are in there to keep the bugs away.  I was going to cluster them in the middle of my box but realized the bugs would just avoid that area.  So I just spread them out and will let you know how that works out.  I did hear a marigold border is best, but as you can tell, I’d need a LOT more.

Look at that tripod lashing! I first started with 4 then realized 3 is stronger than 4 – look at photography tripods, light stands, it’s just better.  So a tripod it became!

Ugh, this view.  The spotty grass – that’s from a husband who got a little too crazy with Roundup unsupervised.  God knows why and decided to just start killing my turf.  There’s no point in getting all upset again over it but let’s say right now he knows he cannot do that again – and no, Photoshop is not an option to fixing it *smirk*

We used raised garden bed corners from Gardeners.com, the 10″ height.

We heavily thinned out the dead branches on the grapefruit tree.

Then we gave the old girl a paint job to lift her spirits.  She has a few years left in her.

New leaves and buds are forming so we left a few ripe ones on for guests to still enjoy (leaving them on the tree is like a storage solution).

Since the geraniums didn’t really make it, I had to plant 12 more plants against the jasmine vine wall – as I have been doing annually.  I decided a 6-pack wasn’t worth it (too small) and I was tired of planting annuals so I bought these perennial lavenders and said, let’s make the backyard like the South of France!  And so, these will grow well and stay put and also survive the summer heat.  So worth the upfront cost so I don’t have to plant every year.

Pay no mind to my brick border job – this has been here for 2 years now and banged up with mowing so it’s time to look for a brick layer and get it done as I had intended.

If you’re curious about what I planted for spring, you can see it here – click it to view it larger.

I am taking a chance on squash – one of my best girlfriends went to DC and brought back seeds from her trip to Thomas Jefferson’s estate (he loved to garden) and I used them all for this bed – flowers too!  I put them in the most shaded part of my raised bed.  A few things I decided not to replant this season: strawberries (birds were terrible), eggplant (too many and I don’t eat them), cucumbers, and malabar spinach (never ate it).  We are going to have an abundance of tomatoes and peppers, and I cannot wait.  I did artichoke from a seed but to be honest, I found it more fun and pretty than finding them worth the patience of growing.  The $1-2 heads at a grocery store were worth it and much larger.

Look at those bunny buns!

What are you planting in your neck of the woods?