So I have written about this new edge of the woods garden. I call it the Derecho garden because the Derecho winds a few weeks ago created the opportunity to take this to a level I had wondered about, but figured would take years to evolve completely. I had started planting it last year after I took out a crazy amount of overgrown forsythia.

You see, when I moved here I learned that forsythia can grow OVER an area like a crazy kudzu-like shrub without necessarily rooting in the center of an area. They arch and grow over. It’s crazy. But this is why I think forsythia should be be treated like an invasive species – because it IS an invasive species IMHO.

Last year I had planted things you see in the first photo of this post. When we first moved here this space was not only forsythia but tons of invasive weeds and dead stuff and thorny vines. It was a trashy area that time and man had ignored for decades. So messy. It made me crazy and I decided that wasn’t the edge of the woods I wanted to see. (If you look to the left of the first post photo, those things I planted a few years ago now and are all growing in nicely. But BEHIND it, that was just my crazy gardening imagination at work initially. I envisioned what I wanted and over the past couple of years, I have planted it.

So as you can see, everything is in and a slew of impatiens plants not blooming yet. It’s not perfect and once the latest batch of wood chips have sat a while, I will put down chips. And yes the deer repellent is down. Although some of what I chose is not liked by deer. But I know when they are hungry they might nibble.

The photo right above this paragraph is the rear. It has been evolving for a few years, but major changes came two summers ago when I re-worked everything. No plants went to waste, but I have done significant planting since. But two years ago, the above area was raw and newly planted like the new side “Derecho garden”.

So yes, the garden evolves and changes over time. It evolves and you also evolve as a gardener. Sometimes Mother Nature tells us something needs to be in a different spot. Or something you might have liked at one time, you no longer like. So you move it or take it out and gift it to another garden and gardener. Or you sell it. Although every time I re-home anything, I end up gifting it.

I know some find my garden too busy because it is so lush. Layered and cottage gardening is not for everyone. But all of this? It just makes me happy. It’s my secret garden.

Thunderstorms just passed over, so no watering needed for me ! Happy gardening!