Yard Improvements

For the past several years, I have been letting the ivy slowly make its way across the front yard.  My initial plan was to let it take over this entire section of the front yard from the privet hedge to the dwarf boxwoods and then all the way to the street sidewalk.  As often happens, I have changed my mind.  I wanted to give the yard a more finished, tailored look.  So I decided to divide the yard into two distinct sections; one with ivy and one with tall fescue.

I started by surveilling the yard and deciding how I wanted the line to run between the two sections.  Then it was just a matter of installing the plastic edging.

The area to the left is ivy; to the right will be tall fescue.

This edging is so easy to install.  It has tabs along the entire length.  You simply place it where you want and secure it in place with plastic spikes that are included in the box.  If you are unhappy with your first design and want to make changes, you simply pull up the plastic spikes, reposition the edging, and secure it in place with the spike in your desired new location.  So easy and so much better than the old edging that required you to dig a trench, then set the edging base in the trench and back-fill it with soil or rocks or a combination of both.  The tabs on this new edging are unsightly at first, but once the grass or ground cover grows in, you'll never see them.

Here you can see how I divided the space free-form with gentle curving.  I try never to garden in right angles.  Always free-form.  It gives it a more natural appearance.

And one final view of the large curved area that goes to the town maintained, public sidewalk.

Notice how I curved the edging all the way through the project.  I did not end it perpendicular to the sidewalk.  When this is all grown in it will be a wonderful look with much more character than if I had simply butted the edging right up against the sidewalk.. Also note that I cut the edging on an angle at the end.  Again, this is done primarily for aesthetics.  It looks much nicer - much cleaner - than if I had simply cut it straight across.

Once I got the edging into place, I decided that the Zebra Grass that I got from Valerie when she sold her home in Erie, was out of place.  I wanted it more centered in the new ivy bed.  So I started digging.

The digging was not easy.  We have not had rain for some time so this took awhile.  Plus, the Sweet Gum tree in the background has put out many, many roots over the years.  I would dig, take a break, dig, take a break.  But I finally dug a hole that was large enough to accomodate the root ball.

It was with great struggle that I finally got it moved to its new home, which was probably only about 3 feet from where it was originally.  But that will make all the difference in how this area balances now.  This ornamental grass is about 3 feet in diameter at the base.  In the summer when it is fully opened, it spreads out well over 4 feet; probably closer to 5 feet in diameter.

A word of advice - If you are planning on moving an ornamental grass in your yard of this size, be aware that once they reach this size they are extremely heavy.  I should have hired someone to help me move this or called a friend.

With the grass in place, it was time to finish off the project by adding some nutrients around and on top of the root ball.  This Earthgro Organic Humus and Manure is the best product on the market.  It is many, many times less expensive than some other garden soils.  I purchase this particular brand from the local Wal-Mart garden center.

Once the new grass was in place, there was the issue of filling in the space where it previously resided.  Luckily I had just used the Mantis Tiller to prepare a wildflower bed and I was able to use the earth removed during that process to fill in this hole.  In time the ivy will completely cover this area and you will never know there was anything planted there.

To finish off this project, I needed to seed that part of the yard where I want Tall Fescue.  This well-worn garden seed spreader came in quite handy in getting that down.



I overseeded the area but that certainly will not hurt anything.  The only problem with overseeding is that I'll just have that much more beautiful tall fescue to cut later in the season.

And finally, a picture of the front after all my hard work.  The area we are discussing in this post is just on the other side of the boxwood hedges you see here.  Our next project in the front yard is going to be trimming these hedges.  They are starting to get a little shaggy, so a little time spent on those will bring lots of great visual beauty to the entrance.