The Secret Garden

Our home has many gardens scattered around it. The previous owner was a master gardener and really understood how gardens work and planted everything herself. Yes, we inherited some incredible gardens. Sadly, we don’t fully know how to care for them and are learning as we go.

One of the gardens around our house, we have named The Secret Garden because it has an adorable little brick patio and is sheltered by some beautiful hedges. You need to go outside the bottom floor to be able to access the garden which is on one side of the house.

Last year, we put a lot of time and energy into the garden. We purchased a fire pit and some chairs so that the garden could have some purpose and it looked fantastic. Lillies, hostas, and other beautiful plants surround the brick which is shaped like a church window.

We even cleared out a space in the back of the garden by the hedges so that my husband could put his hammock. A perfect spot for it since any other place on the grass would require us moving it every time we mowed the lawn or trimming around it which is a ton of extra unneeded work as we have lots of other things to trim out.

This year, we have been focusing a great deal more on other gardens in the house. We planted the vegetable garden; and I started an Aerogarden. There are gardens at the front of the house that need tending and one in our driveway as well as in front of the house. Needless to say, with our attentions else elsewhere and just having more on our plate this year– The Secret Garden was ignored.

Honestly, I had not even been down to the garden for a couple months as the kids and I spend our time on the deck and patio and out back. We usually don’t start using the fire pit until fall. This weekend I happened to go out to The Secret Garden to find it overgrown by Creeping Charlie and some other kind of noxious vine. It was a mess.

My mom and I decided to tackle it together. The vines were pretty easy to pull out but the evil Creeping Charlie I tried to dig up at the roots. Even though we were sprayed this last year, it did not stop this invasive plant from spreading.

Normally we would have just cut it back and let the plants grow free but we are planning to take out some of the lilies and transplant them into the new gardens by the vegetables. As it it lilies multiply and even when the weeds are not in the mix…we have too many lilies for them to thrive.

This weekend, we did step one of the process. We cleared out the weed and cut back the plants in half the garden. The next steps will be to finish cleaning up the garden, weed whack the brick, transplant the bulbs into the other garden. Below are some pictures of our work.

I know we were doing something that seems routine and necessary. But even though it was something that needed to be done, there is something therapeutic about having your hands in the dirt. Even thought I was pulling out weeds and cutting back plants– it is a slower pace. I enjoyed being outside. Outside there is time and space to think and process and I think we all need a little bit of that this year. Stay tuned for more of our crazy gardening adventures.