Last spring I posted about starting to landscape the yard at the beach house around the pool. It originally was barren on one side with a 'hay mat' and just a wild mess on the other.
←Wild mess
Hay mat→
I planted some purple fountain grass, Elijah Blue fescue, hostas, lavender, zebra grass and liriope. I eventually lost the battle with weeds and it was a mess after the first of July! I spent a week methodically pulling weeds, but alas, they were back soon and plentiful and my poor arthritic hands barely recovered. My pool caretaker emailed me that she knew someone that could help me out.
Hay mat gone and plants in place (5/15)
The third week in June, the weeds were already taking over
←Weeds taking over
I should have taken a picture of the bed in August because the plants were obscured by weeds. Yikes! After the landscape person came, it looked better 😄
This spring, 2016, the weeds were back in force, large and in charge. The landscape person came again and has agreed to keep the weeds under wraps this summer. I have neglected the opposite side of the pool...the wild mess. The previous owner had tons of things planted in the area where the pool is now, along with a gravel yard. All the plants were meticulously labeled with a marker. When the pool was put in, all that was plowed under and what was left on the far side of the pool was the wild mess. So I have attempted to bring some order to the mess.
Before pool
My daughter-in-law, Crystal, helped me last summer put the leftover pilings from the original yard around the curvature of the landscaping to create a barrier between the pool and the wild mess.
The pool is 'open' even though it is too chilly to swim. It will warm up quickly as the weather gets warmer. There are some redeeming qualities around the pool that have grown from the previous landscaping.
Lavender something, weeds probably, but pretty!
Some kind of holly with red berries in the winter and now flowering!!
A lone pink rose.....
Look how lovely the lavender is this spring!
First, I planted some Lantana and Tickseed 'Nana' (Coreopsis) that are both sun-loving perennials. I also planted some Sedum ground cover in about twenty spots. I would love for this to multiply and create a nice cover for the side of the pool.
I searched on Pinterest and found some cute ideas that I decided to add to the garden. This is the site I found that I decided to copy:
I bought a cute yellow pot at The Home Depot and found one of the recommended plants at Walmart. The one I chose was Calibrachoa. It is an annual that loves sun and should have color all season long. It has a little transplanting shock in the picture, but should recover soon.
I also loved this idea from the same Pinterest post, to add an old fashioned galvanized watering can. To make it, I bought the can at Tractor Supply Company, ordered the chandelier crystals from Amazon and attached them with wire to the nozzle on the watering can. I also bought a shepherd's crook from which to hang it. Here is how it turned out.
I definitely know that it is a work-in-progress and I will probably add to the landscaping each year, but I'm having fun working on it!
