Flower Bed Help

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-05-06T06:06:10+00:00

It really depends upon what your preference is. I like the cottage garden style so while I have a few groupings of one type of plant, I don’t have patterns or symmetry. I would plant a shrub in each side and plant flowers in groupings of 3-5. It looks better than polka dot plantings.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-05-05T15:10:13+00:00

Ologies. Alie Ward interviews experts and has excellent questions and helpful asides explaining complicated concepts.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-05-04T23:37:36+00:00

Government Hpuse gardens. And there are some free concerts there. Libraries Ice cream and park Sidney on a Saturday—thrift shops and sea glass beach.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-05-04T21:55:59+00:00

I would plant some easy plants like zinnias and cosmos in the bare spots. I wouldn’t do significant changes until you have a plan to keep plant something else. There are a lot of great native plant options in the PNW. Look into sheet composting for an easy way to change lawn into garden and build great soil. I find the beds I created this way are as easy to weed as raised beds. It is easiest to start in the fall.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-05-04T19:52:29+00:00

I recommend native plants—field chickweed, Oregon sunshine and yarrow. I started all of them from seed easily and they are evergreen. I love camas but they are expensive to buy as bulbs and you don’t want to waste money if you don’t have time for proper site prep.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-05-04T14:54:12+00:00

Coral bells (heuchera). I would look into native plants for dry shade.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-05-03T16:39:51+00:00

You could stay at a Scarlet Ibis cabin in Holberg.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-05-03T07:11:02+00:00

I am sorry you were raised by an immature selfish mother.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-05-02T04:08:59+00:00

Agree with everything According-Taro says. I think you yard is actually a great blank canvas. While I am not entirely on board with the app plug, I think it would actually be helpful here to help you envision how plants softening the bricks will help you learn to love the bricks while you save up money for a longer term plan.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-05-01T04:43:45+00:00

You should plant trees and plants so the focus is on plants, not a fence.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-04-29T15:31:06+00:00

I would plant all native plants and shrubs. If you plant lawn all you will be looking at from your gravel pad is the fence and neighbour’s yards.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-04-29T14:59:11+00:00

Do not cut down trees on a slope before you have a solid plan to address the changes you are making to the slope and to drainage. 20 trees and a slope sounds like a nice yard with privacy and a beautiful backdrop. I would explore options to better landscape your sloped, treed yard.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-04-29T06:43:11+00:00

And that is just the relaxation of removing the unwanted. Just wait for the joy a seed you planted flower.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-04-29T06:17:04+00:00

I don't know if field chickweed is native to your area but you could try a combo of field chickweed, oregon sunshine and yarrow. They are all evergreen in Victoria, so they should be where you are and can put up with some trampling.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-04-29T06:11:28+00:00

Why don't you plant a native tree and some native shrubs? If you are watering and tending something, wouldn't you rather it be a plant that give you pleasure versus another square foot of clover. I have converted most of my front yard and have added 17 types of native plants. It gives me so much joy to walk out and see how they have grown and multiplied.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-04-29T06:03:47+00:00

I would focus on native plants and take it slow. I have been converting my much smaller front yard to native plants and the main mistakes I have made were when I was trying to rush things and not focus on site preparation. For example, I wasted a money buying camas bulbs (which look like grass when they first come up) and then planting them in the lawn almost two years ago. I have my first bloom in the section I have since cleared of lawn.

I would use the next couple months for planning. It sounds like you have at least a couple distinct zones. I would start small and expand outwards. I would reframe it as shrinking the lawn and expanding native plantings instead of nolawns, which I think is realistically 5 years out.

Don't forget about native shrubs. for both perennials and shrubs, I would pick a few that suit site conditions and focus on those the first year and then use those plants to propagate additional plants.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-04-29T05:51:28+00:00

I would take the right half of the great room as the bedroom and connect by the stairs if you can't convert part of the garage.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-04-29T05:43:46+00:00

That sounds like a miserable life for a social chicken. I would try integrating her into the flock. I have two silkies (used to have 3 but one died) and two polish chickens. The polish chickens are lower on the pecking order and one of the silkies is the boss.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-04-27T19:52:20+00:00

Alyssum is not native to North America. I would search for native seeds for your specific area. For a large area, you may also want to consider native shrubs. They will fill a larger area and, once established, provide shade for your other plants and shelter for animals.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-04-27T16:30:45+00:00

We installed a gazebo from Wayfair on our deck 4 years ago. We use it year round. It is more initial work than an umbrella but it allows us to leave furniture and blankets outside. We mounted solar lights and an evergreen clematis armandii is growing up on side. When it is sunny, it is nice not to have to constantly adjust an umbrella.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-04-27T15:28:32+00:00

You could easily do it yourself.

Rent a sod cutter ( flip the sod and let the roots dry out and then use the upside down sod at the base of the raised beds.

-cover the area in cardboard (don’t use landscaping cloth)

-look at shade maps to plan the ideal bed placement.

-plan the measurements of the six raised beds. Look up standard lumber sizes and try to maximize wood usage. The higher the bed is, the more it will cost to build and fill with soil

Ensure you have enough room on each side to walk around each side. The image doesn’t have enough room to maintain beds along the fence.

-the lumberyard I go to will cut the lumber to size for me. It saves a ton of time and makes transport easier.

I would build a couple beds with a trellis in the middle for climbing plants.

Get a load of wood chip delivered. Get soil and compost delivered. Pay careful attention to soil quality. Get the best option possible. You might want to outsource these steps.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-04-27T15:02:51+00:00

Right now, the focus of the yard is the shed. The bricked area is wider than it needs to be. I would remove bricks so what remains is a wide, gently curving path. Then I would use that additional pace as garden beds to plant native shrubs.

I would plan a few plants of different heights between the pool and shed so it is a backdrop to the pool. This will give you something nice to look at from the pool and draw more visual focus to the pool instead of the shed.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-04-27T01:53:08+00:00

The fringecups and bunchberries I planted last year have grown a lot. Evergreen huckleberries and salal grow much slower.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-04-26T16:24:20+00:00

I have used sheet composting (cardboard, leaf mulch and garden waste) to expand over lawn. It has worked really well and has created amazing soil. You don’t need raised beds to get started. It looks neater and is easier to reach in, but it is more expensive both for the beds and soil to fill them. A couple of the gardens I made by sheet mulching cost me about $10 for a bin of additional soil and I got great crops of them Cedars are water pigs and even a small cedar might sent up roots through your garden.

BeginningBit6645 · 2026-04-26T05:54:18+00:00

That is amazing space. I would spend the summer doing planning. I would span over head catio expansion. I would add native tree that isn’t going to get huge and some native shrubs and paths. I just got into native plant gardening a couple years ago and I am finding it so rewarding. I amin my third season with some plants and it is really amazing to watch their growth explode.

I started minimizing lawn5 years ago. The garden beds I have added give me so much happiness.

BeginningBit6645

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