The Forgotten Garden

I'm reading the book The Forgotten Garden and thought this a fitting description for the gardens we recently inherited. We are pretty sure that the gardens had not been maintained for about three years. Over Memorial Day weekend, Ian's mom helped us tackle one of the three gardens. She is our resident green thumb, so she was able to guide us in the right direction. Unfortunately, I did not get a 'before' picture of this garden, but here is an after for your viewing pleasure.

The dirt you see here was once covered by the super-invasive violets.

In this garden you will find a variety of hostas, tiger lilies, Asian lilies, irises, columbine, bleeding heart, a rhododendron bush, azalea bushes, ginger, helleborus, astilbe, and a magnolia bush.

Red Asian Lily

Pink and White Asian Lily

Yellow Asian Lily

Orange Tiger Lilies

Astilbe

One of the previous home owners happened to be master gardeners. We had the pleasure of meeting them last Sunday. They walked us through the 'jungle' and identified which were the actual plants and which were the weeds. We then spent our first week of summer vacation tackling the forgotten garden. Mom and I started along the edge on Monday. Ian tackled the larger vegetation and trimmed trees as well as the forsythia bush.

Jungle Garden Before - Monday

Jungle Garden Before - Monday

Jungle Garden Before - Monday

Jungle Garden After - Monday

Jungle Garden After - Monday

My goal for Tuesday was to find the path that led into the 'forgotten' garden. In my way was a swarm of violets and an unforgiving holly bush. A public service announcement from me: Holly leaves hurt even after they have fallen off the tree and turned brown! My fingers and rear can provide testimonials!

Jungle Garden Before - Tuesday

Jungle Garden Before - Tuesday

Jungle Garden After - Tuesday

Jungle Garden After - Tuesday

Jungle Garden After - Tuesday

Our neighborhood is called Golden Acres. We learned that it got its name for two reasons. The first, originally the houses were built on one acre lots. The second, there were several forsythia bushes found on the land. In early spring, these bushes bloom with golden yellow flowers.

Forsythia Hedge

Ian tackling the forsythia bush.

The forsythia bushes were hanging over this fence into the neighbor's yard!

I neglected to get a before shot on Wednesday. I spent a good part of Wednesday morning taking care of the weeds and plants closer to the house. Ian's mom delivered a hydrangea bush and stayed to help for a few hours. Here is what we accomplished on day three.

Wednesday's Accomplishment Part 1

Here is a third garden needing attention!

Ground level view of the third garden.

Wednesday's Accomplishment Part 2

This is what the garden looked like Thursday morning.

Thursday's Accomplishment Part 1

Project #2 Before - Thursday

Project #2 After - Thursday

After working four days in the gardens, Ian and I decided to take Friday off. There are still areas of the yard that need attention, and those pesky violets keep blooming. However, we have made amazing progress and are learning the names of all the plants in our yard.