The second phase of the plan involved repositioning the current plants, adding to area where the shrubs were removed, mulching and putting in the decorative stone around the tree. My neighbor suggested I visit the Super Wal-Mart Garden Center in Willow Grove. With that recommendation, the night before the great dig, we head out to Wal-Mart to pick out plants. The idea was to get all perennials so we wouldn’t have to replant the main area every year. We did we come away with? Annuals. Trays and trays of annuals. Why? Because, for some reason Super Wal-Mart didn’t have a large selection of perennials for the garden. I rationalized that we can get more down the line, or plant bulbs before the season ends. At least, right now, the garden will look colorful and nice.
Saturday morning came and so did another trip to Home Depot. This time I needed to buy garden soil, mulch and corner bricks. After going back and forth about the plants I purchased being annuals and not perennials, the guys got to work. During an impromptu trip to Lowes the night before (decided to go there after Wal-Mart since it was around the corner), I found some lavender for $2.00 that was hanging on by a thread. So, I picked up three to see if I could plant them along the side of the walk and bring them back to life.
They dig up the hostas, a nameless bush that blooms yellow at certain times of the year, and a small azaleas bush that has seen better days.
The hostas was planted closest to the tree to act as a divider, lilies along the fence, and our annuals of impatience were planted in the front. A co-worker of mine, was also kind enough to donate Black Eye Susan, a Flag Plant and another unidentifiable plant (once it blooms we can tell her what it is) from her garden. (There was a little creative discussion between worker and the help. Can you guess who is who? Thankfully, they worked it out.)
Because there is another tree on the sidewalk that is often mistaken for a trash dump, we decided to clean it up, place a fence around it and plant Four O’clock seeds. Once the plants were…ah, planted, and the bricks set in the ground, the mulch was added and the front yard began to come to life.
It was such a great feeling and, it was when I got my second revelation: clearing things out will free up space and allow things to grow. Sometimes it really is the simple act of clearing out your physical space that will add a lot of clarity to your world. You will be able to see things with a fresh perspective.
