Ever take a walk through your neighborhood and notice how each house lines the street, evenly spaced and usually centered neatly on its own lot? Each with its own personality, some featuring simple landscaping with just a tree or two, while others show off a lush front garden meant to be admired, or even a cozy seating area.

But have you noticed the one thing almost all of these homes share? Those darn narrow side yards, often bare and boring with nothing to show for them. Because why would you pay attention to this part of your yard, when all it has been so far is a way to access the other side of your house?

Many homeowners use these side yards as a place to tuck things away, whether that be stacked firewood, yard waste bins, or perhaps a small utility shed hidden from view. Rarely do these spaces get the same attention as the backyard, or even the front yard for that matter. And yet, it raises an interesting question: why do we seem to neglect this space instead of turning it into something more enjoyable? 

I came into this realization shortly after moving into our home, that our side yard was just like many others, a neglected wasteland. There is absolutely nothing, no landscaping, no personality – just bare. 

This was our first place with a yard too, and I was so excited for some reason (don’t ask) to mow the lawn.  I haven’t had to mow a lawn since I was a teenager! Soon after venturing over to this side of the house to begin mowing, it quickly turned into frustration. I hated having to get so close to the side of the house and around the utilities. Why were there no rocks? Why just allow the grass to grow freely wherever it would allow? 

Okay, I’m being dramatic – but truthfully it was a neglected space that wasn’t well kept. So much so that… and I will never forget this, where I had been mowing some taller grass along the foundation, where the earth dipped in deeper (because this side of the house had no gutter so when it would rain it would pour off the roof onto the side of the house creating a divot) and there was a snake!  I never considered myself someone to be startled by a snake necessarily, but it happened to be in this grassy divot and it hadn’t responded the way I would have thought – it was coming at me and fast, slithering its way toward my lawn mower, which seems like a stupid idea to me now but it worked because I quickly let go and ran the other way, haha. 

Anyway, I had to make a change and I knew I wanted to create a plan to landscape the side of our house just enough so that I could easily mow without all of these obstacles – and if there happened to be any snakes, they would likely remain near the house within my future garden, leaving me to my lawn maintenance and them freely napping under a shrub, or whatever they like to do. 

Step 1: Assessing the Challenges

Every new project should begin with a clear understanding of the space you’re working with and the goals you hope to achieve. Taking a little extra time to think through the challenges you’re facing—often the very reason the project began in the first place—and envisioning the desired end result can make the entire process move along much more smoothly. 

Below I will walk you through my own personal experience when beginning my DIY project, adding a simple garden to our side yard.

Current Conditions & Pain Points

Until you live in a place for more than a year, you really never know the amount of sun you are working with. 

Gardener’s Tip: The location of the sun shifts from winter to summer, so it is always a good idea to clock the sun during the growing season and at least 3x throughout the day from morning, midday, and late afternoon – for maximum sun exposure you could consider doing this activity during summer solstice, to gain the best assessment of your light conditions – however any time during the summer season should give you a fairly good idea what you are working with. 

Shade:

This side yard faces the east, so it receives morning sun for a few hours before it reaches higher into the sky and dips behind the tall trees in our backyard – and eventually our house. 

For the rest of the day the area remains shaded for the most part, so I knew my focus had to be shade tolerant plants if I wanted anything to thrive along the foundation of our house.

Hardiness Zone:

Not only do the plants I choose need to handle low light conditions, but they also need to withstand our cold Minnesota winters. We live in the USDA hardiness zone 4b, which means our coldest typical temperature could dip between -25 to -20 degrees Fahrenheit, so our plants must be cold-hardy to survive the season.

Soil Condition:

It is always a good idea to understand the type of soil you will be working with so you can gauge how well plants will grow in the spot you place them. It could be as simple as digging up some dirt and adding it to a jar of water like I did. Once the dirt has time to settle it will show you the layers found in your soil such as, sand, silt and clay. I had a fairly equal mix of silt with sand and surprisingly not as much clay as I expected. 

Gardener’s Tip: When you have the perfect balance of all three, you end up with what’s known as loam. This ideal soil condition supports healthy plant growth by offering excellent drainage and aeration, creating the perfect environment for roots to develop.

Once you understand the quality of your soil, you can test its pH using the water from your jar with an at-home kit, which is widely available online. For a more detailed analysis, you can also send a soil sample to be tested through your local extension office, university soil labs, or private labs found online. I started with an at-home kit from Rapitest, but later chose to mail in a sample for a more thorough evaluation. This process revealed that our soil is slightly alkaline, helping me better understand how to amend it based on the plants I choose.

Maintenance: 

Besides the environmental conditions of our side yard, as I had expressed above, I highly disliked the difficulty in lawn maintenance. Mowing on this side of our house was a challenge due to heaps of gravel against the foundation. I think the purpose of this might have been to keep the grass from growing too close, however the result was a mix of grass and rocks instead.

This was a pain not only because I didn’t want to shoot rocks out while mowing over this section, it was difficult getting close to the house to cut the overgrown grass. I knew this needed to be taken care of, so choosing to landscape the side of our house was a must.

Defining My Goals:

Once I was aware of the challenges I was facing with my side yard, I thought about what I could do to solve these so this space would become something I could enjoy instead of dread. 

Easy Lawn Maintenance:

I knew the first thing was to remove all the gravel against the foundation. By getting rid of all the rocks, I would improve my lawn maintenance drastically as there would be no more rocks shooting out from beneath my lawn mower. 

However, I needed to add a garden to the side of my house so that I no longer had to cut the grass so close to the foundation. 

Visual Interest:

Not only would a garden help with ease of lawn maintenance, it will add visual interest to our home’s landscape. 

Care Free Plants:

Keeping in mind that we won’t be spending much time in this side yard and the choice to landscape is purely for aesthetic reasons, I want to be sure to choose low-maintenance plants. 

The Design Concept 

When I began thinking about how to landscape our home, I first had to understand what I was working with and what I wanted to achieve, which I shared earlier. Once these pieces of the process were clear to me, I was able to narrow down my plant choices that should work for my garden. 

Gardener’s Tip: Understanding your site conditions and goals are the first steps you should take when making your landscape design plan.

Selecting the Right Plant:

I was new to landscaping when I designed this garden bed and at the time I had limited plant knowledge, and my options seemed vast. Of course I was able to narrow them down for the space that only received part shade, however part of our side yard did include afternoon sun as well. 

When I realized that I could include a plant that would receive more sun I instantly looked into lilacs. I always love the fragrance these plants give so it has been a goal of mine to have one in my yard one day, this was the perfect time. 

The Focal Point: 

I still didn’t have a ton of space, and I read that lilacs can get rather big so I started researching dwarf varieties, which is when I discovered the ‘Dwarf Korean Lilac Tree’ (Syringa meyeri ‘Palibin’). 

This is a smaller tree that I thought would make a perfect focal point to our side garden. It should get no more than 6 feet wide at maturity, and roughly the same height, if not a little taller – I knew it would fit this space well and provide us with an amazing smell in the spring with beautiful light purple flowers. 

Gardener’s Tip: You can always choose a plant that may grow slightly larger than you would like, by continuing to prune it down to maintain the ideal size. Keeping in mind, this increases your level of maintenance required. 

Seasonal Interest: 

Knowing that lilacs unfortunately do not last the entire season, and this variety would begin to fade as summer approaches, I wanted to continue showing seasonal interest in my garden, so I had my next plant choice had to be something that would bloom after my lilac blooms faded.

This is when I discovered ornamental alliums while watching garden videos on YouTube. These flowers are so cool with their upright shape and bursts of purple flowers, which remind me of dandelions before they complete their lifecycle. 

The alliums I ended up planting are known as ‘Serendipity’. I liked this variety because they would not grow too large beneath the lilac tree, and they have a compact growth habit. Besides, the bees are obsessed with these flowers, which always makes me happy to provide nourishment to our pollinators. 

Texture: 

Now that I’ve covered the focal point and added some seasonal interest to my garden, my next plant choice must tolerate plenty of shade as this space only receives a few hours of morning sun. However, I also want this plant to have some texture to provide plenty of interest for aesthetics. 

I may have been new to gardening, but one plant that I heard of often was the hydrangea. You can find these planted in the landscapes of people’s homes all over Minnesota, and they make excellent shade tolerant plants. This was a good indicator that these plants did well in our climate, and even better, they are beautiful with blooms that last a good portion of the season.

Gardener’s Tip: Hydrangeas offer several types, and some do enjoy more sun than others – such as Panicle Hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata), whereas the shade tolerant types I would consider for my shade garden will be the Bigleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) or Smooth Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens). 

When visiting my local nursery, I came across a unique hydrangea I have not seen before. The foliage was such a deep green with incredibly healthy looking leaves with serrated edges that caught my attention. However it was the large blooms that sold me, and I knew I had to include this in my landscape. 

I chose the ‘Seaside Serenade Cape Lookout’ (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘HORTMABLO’) for my shade garden because it is an incredibly beautiful shrub that provides both structure and long-lasting visual interest. Its soft pink, almost champagne-colored blooms begin in the summer and continue into fall, allowing the shade garden to remain visually stunning throughout the entire season. 

Other Garden Elements:

After making my plant selections, I needed to decide what type of mulch to use in my garden. During my research I learned that spreading rocks around the base of a plant creates a lot of heat against the root zone. Because the majority of my plant choices have a shallow spreading growth habit, I knew I couldn’t use just this and would need to include something more plant friendly as well. 

The Value of Rocks:

I love the look of river rock and knew from the beginning that I wanted to incorporate it as a hardscape element in my landscape design, not only for its aesthetic appeal but also for its longevity. Unlike wood mulch, rock does not decompose over time, and while it may be more expensive upfront, it requires far less replacement, saving time and effort in the long run. 

The Use of Wood Mulch:

However, there are drawbacks to using only rock as mulch in your garden, as it can cause issues for your plants. While mulch is meant to suppress weed growth and protect plant roots, rock does little to regulate soil temperature or retain moisture. Wood mulch, on the other hand, helps shade plant roots, retain moisture, and prevent plants from drying out due to direct sunlight – in addition to improving the health of your soil as it decomposes.

Step 3: Design Layout & Installation

I was not settled on using either or when it came to rock or wood mulch, so I decided to find a way to incorporate both into my landscape design based on functionality.

Framing the Garden Beds

I chose to pull my beds out about 4 feet from the foundation of our house to allow enough space for my chosen shrubs to grow to maturity. The hydrangeas I selected for my shade garden should only grow to about 3-4 feet in width and height. This should allow plenty of space to fill in my beds without taking up too much grass space in our already narrow side yard. 

When I framed the garden around my lilac tree, I chose to curve the edging further out from the house to accommodate its slightly wider width of around 6 feet. 

Gardener’s Tip: It is a common horticultural practice to plant a tree far enough from a house to accommodate its mature size—allowing at least the distance of its mature canopy radius away from your house to help prevent future issues with foundations and structures. 

Adding Visual Interest:

Once I determined the proper distance from the house, I wanted to provide additional aesthetics by creating layers between the river rock and wood mulch in my garden beds. 

I outlined the beds with river rock, which helped keep the wood mulch from spilling onto the grass while also minimizing the amount of rock needed to fill the space. 

The wood mulch was placed specifically for plant health, leaving enough room around each plant so it could reach maturity without being covered by rock. 

Together, the combination of river rock and wood mulch creates a garden bed design that is both clean and functional. 

Adding Water Resources

When designing your garden, it’s common for beds to be located far from an outdoor spigot, which means you’ll need alternative methods of irrigation. Depending on the garden’s location, you may need to hand-water your plants frequently, especially if they receive a lot of sun and little rain.

Alternatively, you could consider installing an irrigation system. Depending on your budget, this could be a more complex and costly system or a simpler, more budget-friendly option. 

Install a DIY Drip Irrigation System:

I chose to try an above-ground landscape and garden drip watering kit from the brand Rain Bird. It was affordable and less intimidating for me to install myself in my garden beds, so I felt there was nothing to lose. It works well, but be sure to lay everything out as much as you can before cutting so you don’t end up needing too many connection pieces.

I positioned the ½” mainline tubing along the back of my beds, running from the back of the house and curving it around the dripline of my tree.

From there, you just need to connect the ¼” tubing to the mainline, making sure you leave enough length to adjust the tubing and emitters along the plant’s dripline as it matures.

Planning ahead and considering the future mature size of your plants will prevent you from needing extra tubing, which ensures a smoother flow and reduces the chance of leaks.

In Summary: What Has This Project Taught Me?

Transforming our neglected side yard taught me the importance of planning, observation, and thoughtful plant selection. I learned how crucial it is to assess site conditions—such as sun exposure, cold hardiness, and soil challenges—before choosing plants for my design.

I think incorporating both wood mulch and river rock creates a clean looking but functional, low-maintenance design that protects my plants roots as well as improves the soil they grow in. 

Installing a DIY drip irrigation system is not too difficult and during install it taught me the value of planning ahead. Considering mature plant sizes helps understand the length of tubing required to ensure the ability to adjust location placement as needed. 

Overall, this project showed me that even a small, overlooked space can be transformed into a visually appealing, practical, and enjoyable garden with careful design and attention to detail.

Happy Gardening!🌿

Not only are they budget-friendly, but they also won’t harm your soil, which is great news if you’re planting edibles. In my case, I used them to give my hydrangeas a healthy lift, protecting them from the soggy lower section of my yard, which I wrote about under Planting Hydrangeas In Raised Beds. If you’re dealing with poor drainage or sloped ground like me, this might be the solution you need.

Below, I’ll walk you through my project — step by step — and share my tips so you can build your own concrete block raised bed too.

Why Concrete Blocks?

I chose concrete blocks for several reasons:

• Durability: They’ll last for years without breaking down.
  
• No tools needed for cutting or shaping.
  
• Safe for soil and plants.
  
• You can easily customize the shape and size.

Step 1: Choose the Right Location

Start by identifying a level area in your yard. If you’re working with a slope, you can still make it work — but expect a few more steps (you might need to build a small retaining wall).

Since my bed was going to be near the base of a hill, I made sure there was still room with enough level ground for a walking path to be built along the bed.

Step 2: Decide on Your Bed Size

Before buying anything, figure out how large you want your bed to be. I used slim concrete blocks (16″ x 8″ x 4″) to save space. For my hydrangeas, which grow about 3–4 feet wide, I aimed for a bed about 11 ft long and 3 ft wide based on the area I had to work with.

Here’s How I Did the Math:

• Length: 132 inches ÷ 16″ blocks = 8.25 blocks (I used 8 per side)
  
• Width: 36 inches ÷ 16″ blocks = a little over 2 blocks
  
• Height: Two layers of 8″ high blocks = 16″ total height
  

Total blocks needed: 40

Step 3: Gather Materials

Here’s what I used (prices based on what I paid at the time):

Essential Materials

Optional Add-Ons (for aesthetics + support)

Total Project Cost: Around $363.43

Note: This doesn’t include soil. More on that below.

Step 4: Prep the Ground

This is the most important step, and it takes a bit of effort is leveling the ground before adding your base.

What I Did:

1. Dug down about 6–7 inches where the blocks would sit.
   
2. Raked the area smooth to help level it out.
   
3. Laid my first row of blocks, then removed them one by one to:
   
   • Add a layer of pea gravel for drainage.
     
   • Use a torpedo level to make sure each block was even before stacking the next.
     

Tip: Use a flat piece of wood across blocks to help with leveling if your having a hard time gauging how level your bricks are using the torpedo. This should help you feel it out too if the wood starts to wobble.

Step 5: Build the Bed

Once your base is level:

1. Dry stack the second layer to test placement.
   
2. Stagger the blocks for better structure.
   
3. Use rebar in corners and midpoints if you want extra support.
   
4. Once happy with the layout:
   
   • Use the Construction Adhesives on top of each base block, plus the sides.
     

Secure the second layer block-by-block.

Step 6: Customize (Optional)

I added a stained wood trim to the top of the bed for a polished finish.

What I Did:

• Cut wood to size (I used 16-foot boards to reduce waste).
  
• Stained and sealed the wood completely.
  
• Glued it down with construction adhesives and added heavy objects on top to keep it in place while drying.
  

You can also paint the blocks if you’d like. I did this for fun — but honestly, it’s totally optional. Just sweep off any dirt before painting, and don’t stress about perfection.

Step 7: Fill the Bed

Soil can be expensive — and in fact, soil cost can rival the project itself.

Budget-Friendly Tips:

• Layer the bottom of your bed with yard waste: sticks, branches, leaves, grass clippings.
  
• Use the hugelkultur method if you’re building a deep bed.
  
• Check Facebook Marketplace for free dirt or compost.
  
• Buy in bulk from local landscape suppliers if needed.
  

For my hydrangea bed, I had leftover soil from other projects — a lucky break!

Final Thoughts: Would I Do It Again?

Absolutely! Building with concrete blocks was:

• Affordable
• Simple (no power tools required!)
• Long-lasting
• Customizable

It took some patience, especially during leveling and block stacking, but once the foundation was set, the rest came together fast. My hydrangeas are thriving in their new, elevated space.

Alternatively if you want to build this bed for vegetables that would work too, however I chose to build mine out of wood for added features needed to hold back invasive grape vines. You can read how I built that bed under, How to Build Functional Raised Garden Beds.

If you’re looking for a DIY raised bed option that’s accessible and sturdy, I highly recommend giving concrete blocks a try.

Have Questions?

Feel free to leave a comment or share your own raised bed tips below! I’d love to hear how your project goes.

Happy gardening! 🌿

Why Plant Hydrangeas In A Raised Bed (And How It Saved My Shrubs)?

I feel that raised beds can serve multiple purposes in your garden. You can take an area of your yard that may seem flat and boring and bring additional character by raising up your gardens and adding height or layers that will be visually appealing when overlooking your lawn.  Not only that but it can improve your ability to provide the right growing conditions, or simply give you the option to plant in an area you may have otherwise deemed hopeless due to drainage issues (spoiler alert: this was my issue). 

Below are a few reasons why I think planting hydrangeas in a raised bed is a great idea.

Adds Aesthetics To Your Garden

Now I didn’t choose to build beds myself for this reason, but I will say that I’ve enjoyed the look it has brought to our backyard. I built my raised bed out of concrete blocks and painted them a slate blue color to match my garden shed door, and let me tell you that finding a matching color was quite the challenge for me. 

I would grab color samples based on memory, but get home to compare to the shed door and would just laugh at how wrong I was.  You should have seen me the day I found it though, as I was ecstatic and had to go tell my husband how proud I was for finally finding the right color match. 

Here is a picture I had to take just so that I could prove just how close of a match I found when comparing it to our shed door off in the distance.  It really is the simple things. 🙂 

I try not to care too much about something like this since at the time it was just my solution to keep my hydrangeas alive, but a small part of me really just wanted to see if I could do it, and it looks so much nicer because I took the time to focus in on those details.  I’ve also chosen to continue this paint color with the other beds I’ve built for my vegetable garden in my front yard, to keep things uniform, as shown below. 

I like the idea of raised beds because there are so many options to choose from, and even though I went with concrete blocks, you could really go with just about anything. Think about building your beds using lumber/wood, bricks, stones/rocks, or even recycled materials like old used tires.  

The list could go on I’m sure, but obviously you want to consider your situation and why you are choosing to add raised beds into your landscape, and what sort of look you are going for in your design. Raised beds will allow you to define your space, and how you might want to use it.  They can give a clean look as well if you choose to build them that way.  Here is how my bed turned out once built and my hydrangeas started to spring to life once planted. 

However you choose to incorporate raised beds in your landscape, it will provide you the added character in your garden, and with the added height you will be able to see the layers in your plants even without having to buy a larger sized plant to gain that extra height. 

Help Manage Soil Conditions

Another beneficial reason to incorporate raised beds into your landscape is when you might be dealing with soil conditions that are not ideal for the particular plant you want. 

I live in Minnesota and we are known to have clay and slightly acidic to neutral pH rated soils (meaning we fall around the 6.0-7.0 pH scale), which honestly works great for many plant varieties.  My hydrangeas seem to thrive wherever I plant them around my house, although this too is not a reason I chose to plant them in a raised bed. 

However, this is another excellent reason TO plant these shrubs in raised beds because if your area does not have ideal pH levels, perhaps much too alkaline for your plant, you can correct this from the start with a raised garden bed! Add in the right type of soil and amendments from the start, and it will turn the soil into the perfect conditions your hydrangeas will thrive in. 

Also, it would be much easier to maintain and likely last longer than planting directly into the ground because you can try to amend your natural soil as best you can, but unless you keep it up there’s a great chance that it will return to its original state eventually as this is where it’s supposed to be.  

Improves Drainage Issues

And here we are, the main reason and only reason I chose to plant my hydrangeas in a raised bed. I probably wouldn’t have thought to do this early on in my landscaping journey, but thankfully I had to experience it for myself, and in turn it has brought me more inspiration and confidence to include raised beds in my garden designs. 

Before building this bed, I started by landscaping around our deck, and simply planting my hydrangeas directly into the ground.  It looked really nice, until it didn’t work for us anymore. 

This was truly a trial and error garden experience too, as you will see in the pictures I’ve shared, this was not the first design attempt. I should have known it wouldn’t work from the get go as I was fully aware of our drainage issues during the spring, however we did have a french drain installed so I was hopeful that this would be our final solution to our flooded spring seasons. 

The image below demonstrates what we were dealing with after winter passed and all of the snow melted.
Note: this was before our french drain was installed. 

However when you are also working against a steep hill leading down to your house, I feel you are destined to have to deal with some sort of standing water regardless of having a french drain.  The snow will melt and in turn that water will flow downhill and concentrate where it starts to level out. 

Here is a picture the following season after a heavy rain when I was working on my first garden design.  This was one of the original garden projects I was doing when I initially started landscaping around our house, and I think I was digging my holes so deep because I thought it would help with drainage beneath the plant, since the soil in this area was so compact and I didn’t want my newly planted hydrangeas to get waterlogged.  I was still learning, and through this experience I’ve taught myself that there are multiple things to consider when landscaping, which I share more of down below. 

Because we live in Minnesota, and the snow is not going anywhere, we will always find that we are going to have to deal with some sort of standing water, at least once the snow melts or we have days with continuous heavy rain. Through experience, we’ve discovered ways to speed up the drying process.  One not so fun way was on a nice sunny day I’d go out with my bucket and scoop up water to then pour into the french drain basins, haha.  

This worked, however it took a long time, so I will share a product I found that has been a life saver for us.  I highly recommend this water pump if you deal with drainage issues of your own, or to be honest, simply need an easy way to move water from one point to another.  

I don’t like to waste water, so I decided to test it on our dog’s kitty pool at the end of a hot summer day. I grabbed our ‘WaterBug’ and tossed it into the pool, hooked up the hose, and directed the water to my plants. This worked so well too, and I didn’t have to just pour the water out into the lawn in one spot where it’d get sloppy, and depending on my dog’s mood that day, it wouldn’t become a target mud spot he’d dart back and forth in, out of excitement, getting his paws all filthy. 🙂 

Anyway, back to what may seem like an obvious reason now, but by building a raised bed I was able to lift my garden space above its flood zone and keep my hydrangeas from getting waterlogged. 

Do Hydrangeas Grow Well In Raised Beds?

You might be thinking it is not as common to landscape with raised beds, especially when you are planting larger sized shrubs or anything besides vegetables really.  The idea behind raised beds is for convenience right?  Well yes, but truthfully there are many other reasons as you hopefully learned above, that make the idea seem more appealing now, right?  

Hopefully I’ve given you a reason to want to think about using raised beds in your own garden design, but another thought comes to mind, and that is can your hydrangeas even grow well in beds?  I’ve shared my reasons down below to hopefully better persuade you, but as shown below, through my own experience, these hydrangeas are thriving in this raised bed. 

Ideal Growing Conditions

As mentioned previously, hydrangeas can do very well in raised beds because you have the ability to provide them their ideal growing conditions by amending the soil to match their needs. 

Managing pH Levels: 

Hydrangeas do well when your pH levels are falling closer to being slightly acidic, and if you are living in an area with highly alkaline soils your plant may not receive the appropriate nutrients it needs to perform like it should. 

Soils Compaction: 

Raised beds will keep the soil from becoming too compacted as well since it remains undisturbed by human (or pet) traffic. Compacted soils can become an issue if you are experiencing heavy rains, and the soil does not absorb the water as easily which will affect the plants ability to pull in water or nutrients when it needs them. 

Soil Erosion: 

Another thing you may not think about when starting a garden, is having to deal with things like wind or heavy rains which can remove the top layer of your garden’s soil and take the nutrients with it. At least in a raised bed, it has no place to go but remain inside of your planter. 

Provides Hydrangeas Added Protection

I included this section in my list because my mind instantly goes back to all of those times my hydrangea’s branches would break off because I happened to find the most fun ball for my dog to play with in the backyard, and he becomes so obsessed as well as fast with it that he pushes it all the way up the hill with his nose and charges back down straight towards my hydrangeas.  These were not in the ideal spot for this type of play and I attempted to protect my hydrangea by barricading them with a plastic garden netting as shown below, but I didn’t have the heart to take this toy away from him because it has come in so handy when needing to tire him out.  

If you are interested at all I’ve linked it here because besides it being tough against my plants at times, it has been enjoyable to watch. Even my neighbor a couple doors down had to come over and ask me where I got it because they enjoyed seeing him play in the backyard and wanted one for their own dog. 

Alternatively, raised beds may help keep smaller animals away from your plants since they could be more skeptical to jump into something unfamiliar, or depending on the height of your bed, won’t be able to access them at all.  

However, do know that if they are determined, they WILL get into your bed.  This is confirmed through experience, as my neighbor next door sent me a picture of a rabbit nest full of baby bunnies, in her raised garden bed last summer, and her beds have to be waist high. 

Lastly I think raised beds will add the necessary protection to your hydrangeas or other plants when dealing with lawn maintenance. Think of the maintenance that goes into your lawn care, or perhaps you have a landscaping or lawn service that comes by to spread weed control or use string trimmers.  By lifting your plants above ground level, it can also prevent them from receiving unnecessary herbicides or harmed by a string trimmer. 

What Should You Know Before Planting Hydrangeas In Raised Beds

I know I’ve shared my reasons above as to why you should consider adding raised beds in your landscape, but there are always other things you should take into consideration before fully committing, so you can give yourself the best chances of success from the start.

Here are a few things I think you should also know before you start building beds of your own.

Consider The Space

It’s important in all situations to consider the space whenever you’re going to be landscaping around your home, and even more so when you are limiting your space with a raised bed. 

Some plants may be too large for the bed you place them in, so please always check the mature size beforehand.  Hydrangeas are shallow rooted shrubs and I’ve noticed they tend to spread out near the surface, so you can imagine if they reach the outer edge of your bed they may end up becoming rootbound if it would have needed more room to spread. 

The hydrangeas you see in my bed are known as Bobo hydrangeas.  This dwarf variety is considered to be the smaller compact version of Limelights which you may know can get very large. This is why I think mine have done so well these past few years as their root balls stay fairly compact, and their size shouldn’t get more than 3 feet around. 

Think of the root ball as a mirror image of the plant you see above ground. If you know the mature width of the plant you plan to use, this will likely end up the size of its root ball.  I think that might also be the reason you want to follow the drip line when fertilizing or watering, so that you are placing the nutrients the plant needs where it’ll be most successful in reaching the active roots. 

And it goes without saying, if you are planting more than one plant in your raised bed be sure to space them far enough apart so they will not overcrowd each other. I might have gone a tad bit too close with my own, but I think they are still far enough apart to get adequate air circulation to keep from the leaves forming any fungal diseases.

Provide Adequate Irrigation

The major advantage of planting directly into the ground is that your plants have the best chance of absorbing the natural moisture in the soil.  It will not dry out too fast either, so you are having to irrigate a lot less frequently. 

Not the case with raised beds.  If you choose to plant in raised beds, you will need to know that the soil within the bed walls will dry up much faster, and in turn you will need to remember to water your plants more frequently. Consider the days you get rain too, as this does help delay the frequency of you having to water your own beds thankfully.  

You could also consider using mulch, or do what I did and plant Creeping Jenny to shade out the soil and protect the roots from the direct afternoon sun my hydrangeas receive during the day.  Just know this is a spreading ground cover and it does grow quickly.  I have trimmed it back during the summer to prevent it from entering my lawn, although it is easy to pull up if I don’t get to it in time. 

Location

Location is very important to consider as well when planning a garden design using raised beds because unlike simply planting something in the ground and moving it if it doesn’t work out, you are sort of stuck with your decision on where you build this raised bed. 

I know it can be done of course, with effort, but chances of you relocating a raised bed once it’s been built is slim. So be sure to clock the amount of sun you are receiving in the location you plan to add raised beds.  

It is always wise to consider what your beds are made out of as well, or what the outer color of the beds will be, as the sun will be absorbed into darker colors better than lighter, as well as certain materials will take in more heat. I did not build my beds very tall, so the concrete blocks, which I painted a dark color, do not see a lot of the sun during the day.  Besides, the Creeping Jenny does a good job at spilling over the edges anyway…  

Should You Plant Hydrangeas In A Raised Bed?

Now that you have read from my point of view on why I think landscaping with raised beds can certainly work, as well as what things you should consider before moving forward with a project like this of your own, it’s time to think if this is something you should do in your own garden plans.

I’ve listed a couple recap questions to ask yourself, that might help with your decision.

How Are Your Drainage Conditions?

If you are dealing with a situation like me, I say without a doubt, adding a raised bed would be a great idea and provide you the ability to grow the plants you want in this area of your yard that may have seemed hopeless before. 

Just be wise about the material you choose to build your bed with.  I deal with standing water in the spring or after heavy rains, so there was no way I’d build my bed out of wood, even if it was treated, because the water is bound to win eventually and the wood will deteriorate. 

Could Your Yard Use Some Added Aesthetics?

Some people’s yards are simply flat and perhaps boring to look at, and plants of various sizes can certainly help grab your eye and define layers in your landscape, but if you’re someone like me that likes to incorporate a little character with additional aesthetics other than just plants, I think adding raised beds can provide something extra to your design. 

In my case, I was able to add some color in my garden by painting the sides of the bed, and I framed it with stained wood to give it a more elegant look.  Now when I’m in my backyard, I get a sense of pride to see how nice my raised bed compliments the flagstone patio and path I installed, to help from walking on the wet ground until it had a chance to dry up. 🙂 

If you’ve made it to the end, thank you so much for spending the time to read my post.  Hopefully I was able to provide you with enough to think about to help you decide if adding raised beds into your landscape is the right choice for you.

If you like what you see, or learned anything, please tell me about it by commenting down below!

Happy Gardening!🌿

After watching the snowflakes fall to the ground however, I thought it would be fun to write about some ways to bring winter interest into your landscape.  This way, come Spring when you are starting to work on your own outdoor projects, perhaps you will keep some of these ideas in mind when picking out your plants. 

Bringing Winter Interest to Your Landscape

There are other reasons to bring a unique arrangement of plants to your landscape besides just adding more character to a pretty bleak space once the snow has covered the ground. Although it is nice to bring more appeal to your gardens, it’s helpful to the wildlife and beneficial insects as well. 

Why Winter Interest Matters

If you have these plants that can remain left alone come fall, and still look attractive in the landscape in the winter, you will be providing shelter for the wildlife in your area as well as giving a safe environment for the beneficial insects we want to keep. In turn they will lay their eggs in your gardens, which will aid in controlling the insect pests we don’t want because they eat the plants and bring diseases to your gardens.. 

So where to begin… There are several various plants, shrubs, and trees you can consider as they will all bring definition to your landscape whether it be their foliage, branches, or even just the general form of the plant. 

The types I will share will be deciduous plants, perennials and of course evergreens or conifers. 

Deciduous Plants: Adding Texture and Color

I know what you might be thinking.  Why would I suggest something that will drop all of its leaves in the winter to be something to add to your landscape for interest? 

Well, there are deciduous plants that not only look nice in the landscapes due to their foliage, but their branches as well.  I’m talking about Red Twig Dogwoods. 

Red Twig Dogwood: 

Although there are a variety of different dogwoods available today for you to choose from, I’m going to stick with sharing this in reference to Red Twig Dogwoods, which the bark will provide a nice red pop of color against the white snow in your yards.  An excellent contrast to provide the much needed winter interest when everything can be so gray outside. 

Hydrangea: 

Yes, of course I will include my Hydrangeas on this list since I do have them in my own landscape and enjoy what they bring to my yard. 

These deciduous shrubs or even tree forms do not provide any appeal in their branches like the previous dogwoods mentioned, however if you chose to leave your blooms intact, then they will provide a nice dried flower ball to create definition against the branches of the plant. 

Winterberry: 

I think the name says it all, but an amazing looking deciduous shrub I would suggest adding into your landscape to bring winter interest would be the Winterberry. 

This is such a lovely looking plant that not only brings that pop of color from the berries, but will serve an additional purpose in your landscape by providing food for the wildlife. 

Unfortunately, according to ASPCA.org, the berries are considered toxic to dogs so I will likely keep this shrub out of my gardens.  I try to be mindful of this when I choose my plants, and it’s not as common now that my dog is getting older to be scooping everything in his mouth to test, I’d like to keep his options limited.  So please keep this in mind when you are choosing plants for your own landscapes. 

Perennials: Nature’s Winter Sculptures

I like to bring perennials into this winter interest category because if you are a lazy gardener like I am, I tend to leave my perennials alone in the Fall and cut them back in the Spring. 

There are also a couple reasons to leave your perennials in the Fall that have nothing to do with being lazy. 🙂  

Why Leave Perennials Standing Through Winter?

One of those reasons is to provide homes to beneficial insects.  Following the pollinating season they will end up finding a home in your garden to overwinter, whether that being they burrow into your plants stems or under the fallen foliage or soil surrounding your plant. 

Another reason I choose not to cut back my perennials is to allow the foliage to provide the added warmth around the base of my plant so the cold winds of winter won’t damage the root system.

Here are a few different plants to consider in your own gardens that will provide you that additional winter interest.

Astilbes:

One of my most favorite perennials in my own garden are the Astilbes.  I do not receive a ton of sun in my yard, so I’ve had to look for plants with low sun requirements, and this is one of them that I absolutely love.  The flowers come in several colors and I love that they offer a fern like look with their foliage. 

Once the blooms have dried up, the stems of the plants remain rather strong, so come winter the flowers of the Astilbe sort of look like feathers to me, sticking straight up from the snow. It could be a personal preference, but I like the appearance it provides in my winter landscape. 

Alliums: 

Another wonderful plant to consider adding to your landscape would be Alliums. I have them included on the side of my house around the base of my Lilac Tree because they provide a pop of color once the blooms of my Lilac have faded. 

Alliums, much like the Astilbe, hold their blooms on tall sturdy stems as well, so come the winter season you will receive that added interest of these cute little ball-like blooms floating above the white winter snow.  They remind me of a large dandelion when it reaches its final stage and turns into a puffball, when you pluck it from the ground and make your wish. 

Echinacea (Coneflower):

This native flower is a must have in your garden.  If you are unfamiliar with the name, Echinacea, I started out knowing them as Coneflowers. By the look of the flower, it is very easy to remember Coneflower over Echinacea, so feel free to call it whatever since others will know what you are referring to. 

Here is another plant I love having in my garden because it can grow to a decent height and appear over other perennials in your garden without being hidden.  The bees and butterflies love this flower too, as I find them all over mine during the summer. 

I like to leave these alone in the winter because they not only provide winter interest, but seeds for the birds.  

Sedums:

I’ve included Sedum, known as the Autumn Joy Sedum, in my pollinator garden.  I might have planted too many in this small garden in my front yard, but this perennial is so pretty throughout the season I couldn’t help myself but plant several of them. 

Sedum plants provide a unique form in my winter landscape because they stand out from my other perennials by their shape alone.  They remind me of broccoli heads with a pop of color.  Although the color has faded since Fall, they still give you the winter interest by their mounding shape and definition in the flowers. 

Ornamental Grass:

A top choice for me when landscaping, is including ornamental grass. There are so many types of grasses you can include in your own landscape, and I’m sure many of them will bring winter interest. I like the look of the tall varieties that will sway in the wind and form a nice tall upright form against the snow.  

Evergreens & Conifers: Year-Round Beauty

Of course before I end my post, I will need to include both Evergreens and Conifers on my list of trees and shrubs that will bring you winter interest into your landscape.  Each of these are going to be my number one choice, and there are so many options to choose from, all of which are dependent on their size and space you have available to grow them. 

I don’t have a very large yard, so it would look quite odd if I were to add something like an Eastern White Pine tree, which does make me slightly sad since this is one of my absolute favorite Conifers. They give a soft appearance that stands out amongst the other trees, with their long blue green needles.  I will just have to continue to enjoy them when hiking through our nearby trails. 

Arborvitae: 

You will find that I have a couple varieties of Arborvitae in my personal landscape, and these types were chosen due to their mature size remaining smaller than most Evergreens. I was looking for something to plant along our walkway that wouldn’t get much bigger than 2-3 feet around, so I decided on the Technito Globe Arborvitae.  

This shrub looks so nice in the winter, and provides lush dark green foliage all year round.  I also enjoy how the snow layers on the leaves and branches, and looks so beautiful in the landscape during winter. 

Boxwood:

Before I chose the Arborvitae, mentioned previously, in my landscape, I had considered going with a Boxwoods because they had smaller varieties to choose from and seem to keep their tight compact form as well as look nice when trimmed, and provide a clean appearance to the landscape. 

I chose against Boxwoods because I was new to gardening with a new puppy at the time, so I was focusing mostly on pet friendly shrubs, and these are considered toxic if ingested as well as a skin irritant from the sap. Although if I were selecting plants to add to my landscape today, I don’t think this would deter me because I know now that my dog wouldn’t be eating the leaves, and I could simply wear gloves when having to prune the shrub. 

Spruce:

There are so many Evergreen and Conifer varieties that can add winter interest, but I will end this by listing the Dwarf Globe Blue Spruce because I just love the color that this shrub can provide in the landscape with its blue needle leaves and mounded shape. 

It’s nice to include a variation of colors in the landscape that will balance nicely against the greens and yellows, allowing everything to pop against each other and stand out. I like to bring this added interest into the landscape for foliage and color alone, since we can’t always have something flowering in our gardens.  

Of course this will add wonderful winter interest as well with the way it collects the snow on the needles and a touch of blue color against the other green Conifers or Evergreens. 

Non-Plant Options: Adding Structure to Your Winter Garden

Alternatively if you wanted to add anything else into your landscape that does not fall under the plant category could be things like: 

• Sculptures
• Trellises or Arches
• Arbors
• Fountains
• Benches
• Rocks/Boulders

Planning Ahead for Year-Round Garden Beauty

The list could go on, but I hope what I have provided above gave you some inspiration for your next landscaping project, and allow you to think ahead on what types of plants, shrubs or even trees you might want to think about adding into your garden to bring that added interest to your landscape when everything else has been spent until the following season. 

If you like what you see, or learned anything, please tell me about it by commenting down below!

Happy Gardening!🌿

At least this is what I thought at first until my Mother-in-Law gifted me with a Peony and I wanted to find the perfect place to plant it.  I realized before that, I wasn’t opening my mind to the possibility of simply creating a spot in the sunniest part of our yard for this sole purpose. 

Before I really started gardening, I could only imagine landscaping around our house, but as I’ve continued my new hobby I’ve begun to become more confident in expanding my options. 

Why Consider a Pollinator Garden?

We all know too well that we can’t survive without bees, so why not help support the environment by contributing to their success and provide our beneficial insects a place to nourish themselves. In addition you will be rewarded by being able to enjoy the butterflies and bees in your yard, jumping from flower to flower. 

What You Need To Know Before Starting A Pollinator Garden

Sun Requirements

Most flowering plants will do best under full sun, so try finding an area of your yard that you know receives sun most of the day, or at least 6 hours.  This should provide you the best chance of success with plenty of blooming flowers. 

Understand Each Plants Watering Needs

When I was choosing my plants, I tried paying attention to the drought tolerant plants because I do not have irrigation set up, and only plan to hand water this garden.  

It’s always advised to look into plants that are native to your location too. This way you should have great success in them flourishing since they are created to survive your exact growing conditions, and often do not require much water either. 

I had not considered native plants in the beginning (although I’ve started to incorporate them this year when I had other plants fail on me).  I started my garden only focusing on which plants fit my design I’ve drawn out, shown in the image below.

Seasonal Interest

When you add plants to your pollinator garden, try paying close attention to when they will start to bloom.  I sort of accomplished this in my own garden, but was so focused on the look of the plants, that I forgot to ensure they would look amazing throughout the entire season as well. 

I do love each of the plants that I’ve added on their own, but if I could do it all over again, I would consider adding various types of plants that achieve the same look I was going for, but extend the blooming time. 

For example: I absolutely love my purple Salvias, but they bloom earlier in the season during the Spring-time while everything else is still green, or waiting to come up.  If I considered including later blooming Salvia’s, or another plant I found known as Liatris Spicata or Blazing Star (native to Minnesota), I would be able to retain this same color when my other plants finally start to come alive mid-summer. 

Know the Mature Size of Your Plants

This is often one of the hardest rules to follow.  It’s difficult to see all that space between each tiny plant when you start off your garden that first year. You can see in my picture below, that there was plenty of space left when I made my plant placements.  It is so hard not to want to fill it in so that we can achieve that full look, and see all those pretty flowers next to each other.

However, even when I thought I was doing a good job at keeping my plants far enough apart so that they would not overcrowd each other once mature, I’m already finding that they are just too close and I will have to remove some of them from the garden next year. 

You can see how my plants are starting to crowd each other in the image below.

Choose Plant Placement on Height

As mentioned above, it’s important to know the mature size of your plants, which not only is regarding how wide they get but how tall as well. 

Another thing I chose to ignore or overlook was the bee balm that I planted in my pollinator garden. I suppose I thought the bee balm I picked up was one of the taller varieties, but that was quite the opposite.  I don’t believe these plants have gone over 10” in height if I were to take a guess, but you can see them hiding in the picture below. 

If I considered this, I should have planted these on the outside or in front of the taller plants, but instead they were tucked in the middle and have been hidden since day one.  I plan on moving this too next Spring so they have a better chance of seeing the sun.  They really are a beautiful magenta color when they first bloom, and I’m missing out on getting to see it before they begin to fade. 

Other than that, I feel I did a pretty good job with placement as I focused my taller plants in the back or closest to the fence that I included for added interest. 

7 Steps to Create Your Pollinator Garden

As I’ve shared above, there is a lot that goes into planning out a garden, and I’m a true believer in having a good idea of what your next moves are before beginning a project.  I think it allows everything to move a lot quicker, and you have more confidence going into it than you would if you were to make it up as you go. 

1. Layout Your Design

I find it very helpful to have your physical plants before you start digging, because you can visually see what it may look like before even starting. 

Of course, these plants are at a much smaller scale, but you will give yourself a chance to rearrange or reconsider the placement before putting them in the ground.  I have done this with every garden project I’ve started.  I’m a visual person, and struggle seeing the full picture without having it in front of me. 

2. Mark Your Garden Bed Area

You may have already decided how far out your bed would be before your plant placement, but I have found myself expanding or reshaping my garden beds after I made my final decision on plant location, so be flexible and allow yourself more room if you can allow it.  

3. Remove the Turf

I’ve mentioned this in other posts I’ve written, but this has to be my least favorite part of landscaping. Thankfully I’ve accumulated garden tools that have made this task a bit easier, but by no means do I look forward to this step.

If you want this to be a little less difficult, check out this Saw-Tooth Edger, which is one of the garden tools I highly recommend if you have to deal with removing turf, or simply cutting out and shaping your garden bed

4. Add Edging (If Using)

If you plan on using edging, I like to start placing this around the shape of the bed after I’ve removed all of the grass.  It starts to pull everything together, and holds in the mulch when you add it at the end. 

5. Start Digging

Now that you have your garden space cleared out, you are ready to dig the holes for your plants.  I like to have a bag of Epsoma’s Plant-Tone All Purpose Fertilizer and Bonide’s Root & Grow Concentrate nearby as I have had great success in my plants growth when I’ve started them off right from the start.

Make sure to dig your holes wider than the pot the plant came in, but just as deep so you aren’t burying your plant lower than the current dirt level removed from the pot.  

Tousle the side of the dirt to loosen the roots, but not too forceful to cause damage to them.  Just enough so the plant will want to start feeding off and start growing through your own garden’s soil. 

Sprinkle a small handful of fertilizer pellets, and water your plants with your root concentrate and finish by filling the rest of your empty hole with more dirt. Depending on the condition of my soil, which I work with a lot of hard clay soil, I like to incorporate some compost as well if I have it on hand. 

6. Water and Set Your Plants

Continue to water your plants once all have been put in the ground.  This should hopefully keep them from too much transplant shock, and be happy in their new home. 

7. Finish With Mulch

I like to include wood mulch in my gardens, directly surrounding my plants to provide insulation and shade from the sun.  It also keeps the weed seeds from germinating and filling up my beds.  

Besides serving the functional purpose mentioned above, I think mulch adds the final touch needed to your garden and makes it complete.  You may notice after a year or two, you will need less and less of it as the plants start to mature and fill in the space. 

Here is a finishing picture of my garden, including my little helper who was happy to know his mama was finished playing in the dirt and ready to play ball with him.

Final Thoughts

Now that I have been enjoying my pollinator garden for a few years, I’m starting to think about ways to update it based on my suggestions above. I think I will start by removing some of the plants I have multiples of, and that are too short for the space they’re in. 

I’ll need to find a new home for those plants, which may just mean I need to come up with a new garden bed elsewhere. 😉 Then I think I’ll replace the plants removed with native plants that will fit the space and provide me with more seasonal interest that I can enjoy more than I do today.

If you like what you see, or learned anything, please tell me about it by commenting down below!

Happy Gardening!🌿

…Then I would get back to our own house and see nothing but grass – how boring. This was my very first start at landscaping, when I started on our own front yard. I didn’t know what I was doing, or how big of an area I wanted to start planting, whether I’d be using rock or much… I was at a loss, but was taking notes during my long walks with my dog, to get ideas from others, although I’m not even sure my end result was anything like what my neighbors have done. 

What To Consider When You Want to Landscape around Your Home

Hardiness Zone, Sun Requirements, Plant Size…

I began my search for shrubs in my zone, that could handle late afternoon sun, and wouldn’t get too large for the space.  These are important factors to consider, as you want to make sure your plant selection will thrive in the location you place them, and will not outgrow the area, which would result in having to remove them and start over again at some point in their life.

Design Layout

Since this was my first real try at landscaping, I didn’t know how large of a project I wanted to give myself.  Besides, the idea of tearing up perfectly good grass was a hard decision to make, especially when we were planting grass seed the year prior in this very spot. 

I started out small, and would show my husband by marking up the yard with spray paint, or through a quick sketch over an image on my tablet, where I’d like the bed to extend to.  

I think this was harder for him, as I remember the first time showing him, he was a bit shocked at how far out from the house I was planning to design this garden, haha.  What’s even funnier now, is the fact that this area I ended up designing was even larger than my original sketch.  

I kept extending it out further and further during my planning stages, and would explain why I had to make it larger and to trust me as it would look nice in the end. 🙂   I think he was in a similar situation as I was though and needed to see it on paper to get the full picture. 

Should You Consider Using Design Tools?

I decided to look online for one of those online design tools and ended up finding one through BHG called Garden Puzzle.  I paid for a standard plan to allow just enough of their features that I could get the vision I had out of my head.  This helped me tremendously (as well as my husband to see what I was thinking), and I began to get more excited to work on our yard.

I find being able to physically see what I’m visualizing in my head to be the most productive option for me.  It’s so hard to have this thought floating around, and not being able to clearly explain that same image I’ve been dreaming up in my head, with another person.  

There have been times that I would get out paper or my tablet to start sketching, but even then it would be difficult to draw well enough to capture what you’re trying to imagine. With this software tool I found, I was able to upload a picture of our front yard, and use their plants to fill in the blank spaces.  It may not have had the right type of plants, but allowed me to choose similar looking plants to complete the picture.  

Here’s an image of what I had done, but as you will see it’s not the exact look I ended with, but very close! 

Finding the Right Plants For Your Landscape

It can be very daunting when trying to figure out the right type of plants to fill a space in your garden.  As discussed above, at least I had a general idea of what I’d like these plants to look like and roughly the size I’d need to focus on.  

We don’t have a large front yard, and our house isn’t huge, so I wanted to make sure these plants wouldn’t outgrow their space at maturity.  Also I love to mix different types of plants together to display different colors and shapes of their leaves, since you won’t always be working with blooming types each time – I find it beneficial to display how appealing they can be by their foliage alone. 

Another thing to consider is whether they are deciduous shrubs, and lose their foliage at the end of the season, or if they retain their green foliage all year round like evergreens or coniferous shrubs.  I love both, and find they all have a purpose in your landscape design. 

Which Plant Varieties Did I Go With?

Arborvitae

I’m so happy I decided to incorporate the Technito Globe Arborvitae into my plans, as this is a coniferous type that remains beautifully green all year.  I even love the winter interest it provides during the snowier months, with the foliage being layered with white snow.  Although our winters here in Minnesota can be quite harsh at times, these poor plants end up being covered almost completely under the snow.  Haha, not so much of a winter interest during these months, but overlooked since that’s expected. 

These are also great because they stay fairly formed in a globe shape, and with a little Spring trimming they tend to keep to their smaller size.  Supposedly they should only grow to be about 2 feet all the way around, however I think they are capable of getting larger if allowed, so keep this in mind if you decide to grow these in your own gardens.  

Hydrangeas

I decided to use the all so common panicle hydrangeas as my main focal point in this design, as they were the right size I was looking for.  I chose to go with Little Quick Fire Hydrangea Paniculata because I loved the added pink tones the flowers have. Although I may have reconsidered if I knew how much they would blend in with the red brick against our house during the fall months… They are still very beautiful, and offer a nice sized bloom later in the season, as well as being simple to care for with some Spring pruning and fertilizer to start them off. There is really nothing more needed by me besides watering if we get any extended dry periods with no rain. 

Spiraea

I needed to add a larger taller shrub at the corner of our house so it could balance the rest of my design.  The row of arborvitae made the left side heavier, so I thought by adding in this Renaissance Bridal Wreath Spirea it could provide that necessary balance with its overflowing branches that are completely covered in tiny white flowers in the Spring.  I really wished they lasted longer, but the other reason I chose this plant was for the foliage.  

This shrub has tiny leaves that cascade down the flowing branches, later showing a beautiful green color in the foliage early Spring once the flowers have dropped. In the Fall they will start to turn a reddish yellow color that bring the right amount of interest, when everything else starts to lose their vibrant colors in the garden. 

These shrubs should reach about 6 feet tall and a little wider. This may not be ideal for the corner of our house, but I have seen how these can be pruned into a vase shape which sold me on the idea of adding it to my garden. Our spirea still has a while to reach its mature size since the first year the rabbits chewed it to the ground, but I have been working at protecting it since to allow it to grow a bit larger. 

Ornamental Grass

With all my designs, I’ve found myself adding in ornamental grass.  There is just something about how it looks against other plants. It will add a little extra interest with its upright shape, and the way the grass blades wave in the wind.  I feel everyone needs to add some ornamental grass in their own landscapes.  I chose to add Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass, and tuck it away in the corner since it provides a good height to peek out behind my shrubs. 

Grass is also incredibly easy to care for.  I leave it standing tall throughout winter, as this allows some protection around the base of the plant to keep it from getting too cold.  Then come Spring I just hack it down to the ground to allow that fresh new grass to start emerging.  

This grass grows rather quickly too, and it goes through these phases that I find so beautiful.  The seed heads at the top have a soft purple hue colored flower at first before they turn tan. I love when they look this way, but are also very appealing after too. 

Create Clean Lines With Rock & Mulch

I ended up choosing to add both mulch and river rock in my design because of the clean look it would provide, but also to give my plants the right growing conditions. 

Why Choose River Rock?

I looked into my options early on, and knew that rock would give me that long lasting coverage, unlike mulch that would require a refresh every so often when it started to decompose.  Rock was a more expensive choice by far, but if you do some research you might find a reasonable rate through a local landscaping company within your budget, and they deliver it to your home.  

To be honest, it’s well worth going this route when deciding on adding rock to your landscapes. Everything else we had a truck for, and picked up ourselves, but when you are dealing with covering the area around your house with river rock, the volume you would need certainly requires a dump truck delivery.  

It doesn’t even look like a lot when they drop it in your driveway either, however in the end it covers the area well.  Just make sure you calculate what’s needed correctly, and ask for assistance if you are unsure.  We got lucky I think, because I tried to do the math, but was not a professional by any means. I say “got lucky” due to my actual designs changing as I went, so with the addition of mulch in my design, I would have needed much more river rock if I chose to use less mulch. 

Why Include Wood Mulch?

The decision to add mulch to the beds was certainly due to providing my plants with a better growing condition than being surrounded by rocks and getting heated too quickly from being in a sunnier location. 

Another main reason was for the actual design itself.  I find that creating a layout with mulch surrounded by rock, has such a clean look and they contrast so well together.  It was a bit difficult at first to decide how exactly I wanted these two to balance each other out, but that’s where using garden edging helps, as you can see the layout before adding in any of the plants and materials. 

Should You Use Garden Edging?

I find any landscape should have some sort of edging.  Not only does this help maintain your garden and materials and keep it within its space it’s meant for, but it certainly provides better guidance in your garden layout. 

I chose to go with a simple no dig type of edging because I wanted to keep this as easy as I could, and this landscape edging doesn’t require you to dig into your soil, which was ideal for me as I would find so many rocks as well as roots in some areas. If this is what you feel would work best for you too I’ve linked this No-Dig Landscape Edging here if you’d like to check it out.

I also like how easy this is to stake into the ground as you begin to shape your area out to get the full picture. Just know that it will require you to unravel, so it’s best to do this on a nice sunny day that you can let it lay flat in your yard to allow the plastic to heat up and be much easier to manage when you get around to your garden project. More advice through my own experience, if you’re willing to take the time, is bending it the opposite direction and wrap it up again which can get tricky, but really speeds up the process of it flattening out.

There are several kinds of edging and different looks you can choose for your own landscaping, but I’ve stuck with this option because it has always been available for me when I needed more and gives me the bigger picture with simple staking and making my temporary garden layout during my design plan. 

Prepare for Changes

Throughout this entire project, I was making tweaks here and there, and although similar to my vision in the beginning I definitely tried different things along the way.  This is why I find it so important to really put in the time to research your options before starting your own landscaping around your home. 

This way when you really dive in, you can move along comfortably, and feel confident in what you are doing.  Otherwise you might start, and push the rest off for too long while you question what should be done next.  

Enjoy the Process: 

As you can see here, I was thinking about only my plants and thought I just needed to provide enough area of mulch to surround the plant through its mature size.  Not realizing at the time what this looked like as I was staking in the edging to get the big picture.  I pulled out my phone to record it as part of my overall project process, but started to laugh at myself as there was NO WAY I was going to keep this look in our front yard.  

The added flags made this image all that more hilarious, and I can’t recall why I felt the need to include them since I had already marked up the plant location with spray paint. This could have looked a lot different once the actual plants were in place, but just the vision alone made me change my mind. I had to share the humor with my husband first, of course.  If you don’t see it, maybe I need to get my mind out of the gutter. ;-P 

When Or If To Use Landscape Fabric

I find landscape fabric is very controversial to many, and each of you will have your own opinion on it, which is perfectly fair.  When I first started my research I assumed landscape fabric was supposed to be used in all landscaping designs, since it gave you that fresh starting off point by covering up the soil beneath it allowing you to make your plant placement, toss your mulch on top and be weed and grass free. 

However soon you come to realize, or find in your research, that it will help temporarily, yes, but with time the weed seeds and grass do find their way above the fabric.  Dirt will eventually blow into the beds as well, and that fabric will serve little purpose. 

Use Landscape Fabric With Purpose

I chose to use the fabric in the areas that I plan to lay rock.  I did have it overlap slightly into the mulched areas, however this past year I realized my plants were growing wider than I must have expected when laying the fabric down, so I pulled away the mulch and started cutting out a wider space.  I tore out a lot of fabric this year, as I really wanted the wood mulch to decompose into the soil, and benefit the drainage for the plants. 

Use Fabric To Keep Things Simple (Temporarily)

Other ways I’ve used this fabric is when I was too lazy to rip out turf.  Honestly the worst part of any garden or landscape project.  I absolutely loathe having to clear an area of grass, just to spread mulch and add my plants. 

Last year I chose to lay down fabric to plant a new arborvitae tree/shrub, and pile it with mulch on top.  This worked beautifully as I pulled back the mulch this following Spring and took my utility knife and cut out the fabric, leaving nothing but dirt beneath.  I threw the mulch back on top and gave myself props for saving myself the backache. 

Enjoy the View

After all the sweat and tears, you can step back and truly enjoy your hard work.  Take the time to reminisce of the day you spent your entire afternoon in the hot blazing sun with multiple shovels in your hand, trying to maneuver them in such a way so that you could pull out that massive boulder you happened to find while digging a hole for one of your shrubs… 

There will always be a lot of effort you put into each of your projects, but in the end you will truly be happy with yourself and your accomplishments. You will even start to notice that you are already visualizing what other additions you can add to your space to really start creating your own oasis. 

Thank you for taking the time to read about my experience, and hopefully you gained some helpful insights or inspiration.  Maybe even enjoyed a chuckle through my process.  Either way, I appreciate you reading, and wish you the best luck on your own projects. 

If you like what you see, or learned anything, please tell me about it by commenting down below!

Happy Gardening!🌿

You can imagine I’ve thought of every way to get rid of these annoying vines, but chose to go with raised beds that would allow me to get use out of this area in our yard that before would only be looked at in disgust. 

What To Do About The Invasive Vines?

Unlike most raised beds that you see with just the base to hold the soil, I needed something that would hold back these vines as well.  I decided to build a back panel that would allow me some privacy, look nice, but specifically hold back the vines from hanging over the garden beds. 

Privacy Hedge Was Not An Option

You might be thinking – won’t these vines just grow straight through the slots? You are correct!  I thought long and hard on this, even before having the garden bed idea.  I wanted to plant tall arborvitae that would eventually grow a privacy hedge.  That’s when I realized these vines would just grow through and around, and become more difficult to maintain (as I will still need to cut them back each year). 

I had imagined building posts behind these arborvitaes and using a large amount of screen cloth to shield the vines back. This could have looked quite horrendous to be honest, so I kept thinking of possible solutions.  At the same time I had been itching to start growing a garden, but had a hard time deciding where we received enough sun to grow most of the vegetables I would like to plant.  As I clocked the sun during the season, I started to notice this was truly my only best spot, and that’s when the planning began. 

Raised Beds Were The Solution

I decided to build raised beds with a tall enough backing that would allow me to utilize my screen idea without the unsightliness, as it would be hidden by my wood slots or the neighbor’s vines. 

Best Type of Garden Bed

However now I had to decide what type of bed I’d want to build.  I’ve always loved the look of beds built with galvanized steel and a wood frame, so I started pricing out the materials needed for something like this.  I began watching plenty of videos to understand how to build these too, which didn’t look all that bad.  However I decided against it after realizing I didn’t want to have to deal with buying these steel sheets and then cutting them to my preferred size.  I felt more comfortable dealing with wood, so I went that direction instead. 

Sketch Out Your Design

Before I begin a project, I need to visualize what I’m working with, and what I’d like it to look like, so I went outside with my tape measure and spray paint and started marking up the area.  Then after I got an idea of how many beds I’d like to build, I went back inside to start sketching a rough draft for the look of the beds and made note of the measurements.  

Plan Ahead

When I realized that I was intentionally spacing my beds apart so that I can easily access around them for fall cleanup, I was dealing with a decent 3’ space between each of them which was a welcome space for vines to make their appearance.  I had to solve that problem quickly, which is when I started looking up how to build privacy panels using lattice fencing, knowing that it also had to be removable so I can still get behind each bed. It’s amazing how much planning goes into what started off seeming like a simple enough DIY.  

Trial & Error

I ended up finding a product online called a ‘keyhole hanger’ that I thought was a perfect solution (at the time) to mount the lattice panels to the back of the garden bed.  Spoiler alert, this was not ideal and very difficult to line up perfectly between both bed and lattice panel.  We nixed that idea pretty quickly. 

My husband thought up the idea of using really strong magnets, which too, sounded perfect!  We started looking up strong but flat magnets that we could screw into the wood post, and panel frame.  He found some magnets on Amazon, and we gave those a shot.  They arrived, and we both got to work.  It all seemed to be going well at first, and we grabbed the lattice panel to hold up to the now mounted magnet, and it latched on instantly which brought a smile to my face. We did it!  Until we let go of the panel and it just dropped.  I think I laughed pretty hard, my husband not so much, haha.  I just realized we didn’t factor in gravity.  Sure it was a strong magnet to pull things together, but not hold things up. 

Finding The Right Product

Back to the drawing board we went.  This is when we came up with the idea of adding ‘U’ shaped brackets at the bottom back of the garden bed, which we could rest the lattice panel on to bear the weight, and the magnets would pull the top and hold it in place.  Ding, ding, ding!  This was our solution, and it worked wonderfully.  It’s so easy to pull these things off now and place them back. 

Make Sure To Complete Your Project

I do need to add in another failure that occurred, but this was only due to the fact that we had not finished the lattice panels before eagerly using them between the beds. My design on the panels wasn’t the best, as I wanted wood that would be light enough and cheap, which is why I went with ‘dog eared fence’ to frame the lattice.  I only bought enough to frame the front, in such a way that got the job done.  If you look closely I framed the top (bottom) fence shorter than the vertical side pieces for the frame. I had not been thinking at the time, and thought this made sense structurally in my head.  

When making lattice panels, make sure you have a solid frame on the back as well.  Without a frame on both sides, you will be dealing with a wobbly panel.  This was the reason our magnets eventually failed too.  The sun started to warp our lattice frame, and with the heavy winds we were getting, I’d find these panels unlatched and not lining up as well.  

I thought I had to find another solution, so I found these wide furniture clips on Amazon, which was my cheap fix to holding the panel to the garden bed.  It worked great, but I wasn’t happy with it.  This is when I realized we needed to finish building a frame backing to our lattice panels to straighten them out again.  I used the same wooden slots we had used on the bed as we had leftovers that were the perfect length.  We screwed them into the lattice and the dog eared frame in the front.  Noting, we had to find the perfect length screw so it would not go all the way through, so please make note of this if you make it a DIY of your own. 

Final Touches

This was the completion of our project.  Everything is still holding up nicely, and I no longer have to use the furniture clips.  The vines are remaining behind the garden beds, and the screen cloth is working to keep them from growing through.  I’ve added some stain and paint to the beds to match up with another raised bed I built out of concrete blocks in the back, and now I just need to fill them with dirt and start planting my vegetable garden. 

Another project in the books, and reason to enjoy our yard.

If you like what you see, or learned anything, please tell me about it by commenting down below!

Happy Gardening!🌿

One thing we did not know when purchasing our home in the Winter of 2018, was just how wet our backyard would get come Spring after all the snow melted. 

Yes, of course there was the expectation we could be dealing with some aftermath of wet soil, being at the bottom of a pretty steep hill and all.  However, the length of time it would take before it would dry up was not something we thought we’d encounter…

This area where it would remain wet for a long period of time just so happened to be the very area that our stairs from our deck would lead us to, and where you would need to walk if you wanted access to the rest of our backyard. 

For a long while we were unable to mow this section of our lawn, and let me tell you, that grass was certainly starting to get tall.  I’d try to run our lawn mower through it from time to time just to see how it’d take, but as you can see here in the middle of June when this picture was taken, we are still dealing with a wet lawn. 

We ended up purchasing a lawn trimmer just to “cut our grass” before it got out of hand.  This worked, but we really just wanted to enjoy our new backyard so we had to find a way to fix this issue we had. 

Some days it was like walking through quicksand (disclaimer: I don’t actually know what quicksand feels like, but I imagine it was close enough, haha).  My feet would sink into the mucky soil as I tried to get through it, and the bottom of my shoes would be caked in wet heavy mud, which would make it all that more irritating to deal with. 

Since this was our first full year living in our home, we thought we’d give it some time.  Maybe it was a bad season with a lot of rain. I can’t remember to be honest, but I did start researching and watching a lot of YouTube videos on how to install a french drain because we knew something had to be done eventually, and this seemed like the obvious solution. 

We were new homeowners again, this time with a yard we needed to take care of, so of course we will try to solve our problem ourselves to save a buck right?  Seems like it should be an easy enough DIY project.  

I was all ready to do this too, after watching who knows how many hours of YouTube videos, it seemed “simple” enough so I thought sure, why not?!   However, that’s how I am when I start an idea.  I figure if I learn everything I can about something, I can do it myself. 

Then reality struck, and I began to realize just how much would have been needed to do this correctly by sloping it appropriately, factoring in that our yard was already sloping towards the road from the backyard, so I just started to confuse myself with the math required for this part of the job.  Then I started researching materials and costs, and knew we’d need additional labor to pull this off correctly.  So, in the end, unless you truly know what you are doing, and you have the equipment and help to perform the job, just hire a professional. It’ll likely save you money, and most definitely time, and maybe even a headache, depending on your situation. 

Now fast forward to the beginning of 2020, the year we brought our new puppy, Archie, home who was a ball of energy, and loved to play outside any chance he could get.  He was still rather small by the time spring came around however even with a french drain installed, he’d still end up with muddy little paws when he’d come running up the stairs. 

Then he got bigger, faster, and loved to jump off the end of the steps when running down to go outside, which of course depending on the time of year he’d create a muddy section on our lawn until things started to dry up again towards the summer months.  

So what happens next you wonder?  My head began to fill with ideas to prevent this issue we are facing with “still”. Although I’m sure our french drain is contributing a lot to filtering out the water more quickly, as we do see it spewing out in the road when it’s full, in the short term our issue will remain where we deal with wet soil near the end of our steps during the wet months or rainy season. 

The Patio Planning Begins

As you may have learned a little about me above when I explained how we got to this point, you might already know what I’m about to share with you next as I begin the planning stages of building a patio.  

Yep! You got it! (maybe;)) …I began to watch SEVERAL YouTube videos, as well as image searching ideas online for patios that people have installed to get my inspiration and understanding of what will be needed for a project like this, and I knew hiring this out was not going to be an option since we just spent $$$ having our french drain installed.  

Because I like to consider DIY first, I’m fine not paying someone to do something I very well may be capable of doing myself.  Also, I wanted this patio badly enough that I would put in the effort to figure it out because I knew once it was done, I’d no longer have to deal with so much mud at the bottom of our stairs.

What Kind Of Patio Do You Choose?

After watching so many others build their own DIY patios, I wondered what style of patio I could see myself building. I also questioned the cost of materials, which I started paying closer attention to when I’d make my visits to the garden center “just to look”.

What about Brick?

I started thinking I could make a small section using brick, just enough to extend the section of our cement stoop that Archie would jump over to, when leaping off the stairs.  However after thinking about the process going into this, and having to ensure I had a good flat foundation to start laying brick down onto, I started to think this was not what I wanted to do.  

I consider myself an imperfect perfectionist, as I like to do my best with the projects I work on and usually spend a great deal trying to make it look good, I don’t always have the necessary skill to perform certain tasks so will choose a look or style that doesn’t necessarily have to be done perfectly in order to look perfect.  Hopefully that made sense. 🙂 

In this case, I really didn’t want to have to get out any string and make sure the foundation was perfectly level, etc. to perform the job… I want the option to eyeball what I’m doing sometimes, haha.  

With brick, I felt in order for this to look right, I’d need to do everything perfectly.  I didn’t completely knock the idea right away though, as I did make my trips to Home Depot to check out prices, and style options.  In the end, I wanted something more natural looking. 

Why Not Concrete?

I figured I’d include this idea to the mix since it was brought up as another option when discussing the idea of what type of patio to build at the bottom of our stairs.  It would have likely been a lot less expensive and would solve the issue at hand.  However, as mentioned above, I just didn’t have it in me to want to deal with the effort to make it look perfectly level and smooth.  

Also I strongly believe we would have ended up with cracks in the concrete eventually with the ground shifting during the seasons freeze and thaw cycles, and it wasn’t the look I was going for. 

Flagstone it is!

Not only does flagstone look great no matter where it is, and how it’s used, it provides you the flexibility of making your project imperfect, and still look great.  Another bonus is if you have yourself a landscape supply company nearby where you can buy a pallet of flagstone like we do, it’s much more affordable, in my opinion. 

This is what remained of our pallet after filling our truck, but we ended up coming back for the rest of it to complete another project I had in mind which was to create a flagstone path from the back gate door to our new patio. 

We had already been purchasing our river rock and mulch through this company, so when we explored the flagstone options, I was itching to get started right away.  

I was happy to finally have found something that we were ready to move forward with.  However, now that we know what we want to use, how do you begin?

How To Install a Flagstone Patio:

Now that you know what materials you want to build a patio with, where do you begin?  If this is a first time for you too it can be hard to see the end result.  I like to begin all my projects, if I’m able, by marking up the area with visual cues to help me see the picture more clearly in my head.  Somehow when I see a layout in front of me, my imagination steps in, and I can see what things might look like. 

Spray Paint Helps Visualize

I have always found it helpful to visualize my plans by grabbing a can of spray paint, and marking out where I want things to be. When you begin to mark up the layout, and step back, you will find yourself making tweaks to your design ahead of time which for me, saves time. 

You will be able to see if you prefer straight edges over curved ones.  It will allow you to decide the shape of your patio, maybe you want it larger than originally intended.  

I started with a tape measure to determine the size I wanted at first, and later began to mark up the grass based on those measurements.  I found out that I liked a more curved look, and I also made it larger than originally planned because I was trying to think ahead on what I’d like to do with the space. 

Rip Out the Turf

This has to be my least favorite part of landscaping.  If you have an area of your lawn and do not have the patience or time to lay down cardboard to kill the grass, you will need to rip up the grass yourself.  

I will warn you, it’s a great deal of work if you have thick grass.  Thankfully I wasn’t dealing with too much of it in this area at the time, but I do want to share this link to a garden tool that has come in handy for me for several of my landscaping projects.  It’s a Steel Landscape Edger and it makes shaping your border and cutting into grass roots so much easier. Alternatively you could use a shovel, but the teeth on the edger is what will make this job less difficult. 

Keep in mind too, if you are like me and could use the grass you remove from one project, to fill a space in your lawn that has exposed dirt or maybe a dip in your yard, having an edger with teeth will help you cut deeping under the turf to pull up a decent strip of grass.  I’ve been doing this around my lawn, and it has worked very well.  Just remember to water those strips and step on them enough to make good ground contact with the soil. 

Time to Start Digging

It is always best to call ahead before you start digging into your dirt, and regardless of the area being marked by your city, if you are new to the property, it doesn’t hurt to still be cautious when you push your shovel down into the dirt. You will either run into plenty of rocks, or potentially unmarked cables like me.  

I knew from earlier projects that we had a cable running all the way around our home that the prior owner installed, likely a satellite cable we thought.  Fortunately, I  found this again while shoveling dirt away at a slight angle, and not sticking it straight into the ground.  I was playing it cautious because I suspected a cable would be in this area, based on where I spotted this cable during other projects. 

Making Layers

You will need to start digging deep enough, around 6-7″ to allow you enough depth to provide a solid base for your patio.  

Keep in mind what material you are using to build your patio, as you need to factor in the depth of your rock, brick, or whatever you are adding to the top.  In my case the slabs of flagstone were roughly the same, but some of the thinner slabs we’d simply add more sand to raise them up with the rest.

Crushed Rock (Class 5 Gravel):

Your first layer should be to add a couple inches of Class 5 gravel.  This will help with drainage and provide a stable base.  We filled the bed of my husband’s F150, and that was enough for this space of about roughly 100 square feet (+).  

In between each layer, don’t forget to tamp down your rock or sand.  This will make sure you have a solid layer without loose areas that may shift or weaken your flagstone slabs later.  If you don’t already own a tamper or know of someone that does, you will want to pick this up prior to starting your project.  Here is a link to a Steel Tamper that will be required for a project like this. 

Sand

Our next layer was sand, which this time we just picked up bags of it from Home Depot since I think they were running us about $3-4 per bag at the time.  Here is the sand we had been using, called Paver Sand.

This worked well for us, and was fairly inexpensive.  I can’t recall how many bags we used, but I think we might have purchased around 6-8 bags. 

We too needed to make sure to add our edging before adding too much of the sand so we could ensure we had a good frame for our patio.

Flagstone

This portion of the project is definitely a two person task, as some of these large slabs were incredibly heavy!  They don’t appear this way at first, but just wait until you experience this for yourselves.  I find projects like this an incredible workout.  Don’t forget to lift with your legs! 😉 

The tricky part of this next step is finding out how everything will piece together.  I still have no idea how we got some of these pieces to align so well, but there was quite a bit of rearranging.  Don’t jump into this part right away.  You might need to lay some out, sit on it for a bit, and do some more rearranging. 

We started with several of the larger pieces around the outside, although I think the “rule” is to start in the middle and work your way out.  This is where I remind you that I’m not perfect.  I go with what works for me, and I believe this turned out quite beautifully.

Crushed Granite

The last step to complete this project was to add in the crushed granite.  We chose this over small pebble rock, or another product I’ve recently learned about that is made of polymeric sand that you simply brush into the cracks while wet and allow it to harden, which will help bond the pavers together, and prevent weed growth. 

Although I do like the look of having a sand like appearance in between these pavers, the crushed gravel pairs well with the flagstone, and allows this area of our yard to shift without any issue with cracking.  Plus unlike pebble rock (so I’ve heard), the crushed granite doesn’t move around as much.  I have had very few instances where too much of it has escaped from the patio area and ended up in the grass.  In the fall I have taken the leaf blower at this, and the rocks will barely move.  Just a few will fly out, but easy enough to see and throw back in. 

Final Result

I’m very pleased with how this patio turned out, and although not a cheap project, as it was around $1000+ for all the materials, based on the receipts I kept, it most certainly was less expensive doing the work ourselves. 

We no longer have to deal with walking down the steps into soft wet soil after a good rain, or during the spring while the dirt is still waiting to dry up.  We can even enjoy a fire for two on a nice summer’s night.  

Although this is a perfectly good sized patio for two, I am already dreaming up my next project to add a firepit area on the top of our hill that will seat at least 6.  I’ve already begun the layout, and this season will begin to dig into the hill to start leveling out an area for seating, but ideas are still stewing so come back later if you want to see that project, and how I built it. 

Thank you for reading, and I hope I was able to share enough with you from my own experience that will give you a good start with your own patio DIY. 

If you like what you see, or learned anything, please tell me about it by commenting down below!

Happy Gardening!🌿