This is an area that was full of weeds, quack grass, and self-seeders. Needed a lot of work and has many bare places. I did buy a few new plants but will be moving a lot of plants from other areas here. Beginning of labyrinth in the background. Rockery in foreground still needs some renovating.

The bed in the foreground is an oval bed I enlarged last year and it needed a lot of work this year to amend the soil, move plants, and weed. I used annuals to fill some bare spots but it needs more perennials to fill in.

This is the oval bed from a distance. Left foreground shows grass clippings mulch which has since been over-mulched with shredded bark. Still lots of weeds in this pic.

Path thru oval bed is bordered by Dusty Miller with perennial flax on one side and Munstead lavender on the other.

Lilac shrubs which may bloom next spring as the deer won't have 'pruned' them over winter.

I found an inexpensive source of shredded bark mulch so had 4 dump truck loads delivered. Part of it was used for the labyrinth which is still a work in progress. Many, many, many wheelbarrow loads were spread on the beds this year.

Dark delphinium...

Monkshood...

Pink yarrow... There were a lot of these in the wild garden as I allowed them to self-seed for years. Weeded out most and will probably seed more red ones in the spring.

Walker's Low - I propagated a lot of these last year but not all survived. I plan to take more slips next spring to make more as I like them as border plants.

I no longer winterize my roses and they all survived very well. This is Therese Brunet which is very hardy and vigorous and got a really good pruning this year.

Fall views:

Autumn Joy sedum in foreground and the posts for 7' tall deer fence in background. The mesh for the deer fencing is almost invisible.

I used these dark red snapdragons to fill in spaces and like them a lot. Will definitely use them again.

Perennial sunflowers which are really tall and bloom late summer and into fall. I need to move a few of these next spring.

Autumn Joy sedum close up. This is the first year they have not been eaten by the deer as I now have deer-proof fencing.

Annette

I must correct the name of that rose - it's Country Dancer, not Therese Bugnet. I both mislabeled and misspelled it!

I feel your pain with spreading the mulch. We too get bulk trailer loads of it. But the past several years we have not had to put down nearly as much, as the gardens have filled in so much. Come spring I really need to divide and move many things.

I started going through my pictures from this summer and found that I had taken many more than I realized. I am still working on resizing the pictures from the spring gardens.....

Hosenemesis, thank you. My garden will always be a work-in-progress altho I do feel I made great progress this year in improving it. Have a lot of work to do with rearranging plants next spring.

Calamity, last year was my 'write-off' year so my garden really needed help this year. Appreciate that you understand - thanks! It's bare in places but I'll fill in some of those spaces come spring. Wishing you a better year next year. :)

Freezengirl it felt as if I should have been called "Works all the time Gal" last summer. I hope I don't have to work as hard this coming year. Not yet sure how much the mulch will control the weeds.

Ogrose, I'd like to use some type of edging but haven't yet figured out what would work. It has to be frost-resistant and not cost too much so it's easier just to have someone edge it. As long as it's done yearly the grass can be controlled.

Schoolhouse, I'm not missing gardening at all yet but in a few months I'll be ready to go!

What kind of mulch are you using in your beds?

Last fall I scoreed about 14 yds of hardwood chips from a maple tree that was cut down in the yard behind mine. That covered nearly all my beds. But I still have a couple new beds planned this spring.

Your hardwood chips will probably last a lot longer than my shredded bark but that's part of the advantage of mulch for me, that it decomposes and improves the soil. If I have to pay trucking on a load every year it will still be a bargain.

Thanks koszta_kid. I've wondered if the reason Autumn Joy flop over is because they are not heavy feeders and perhaps the soil is too rich or they have been fertilized. An Autumn Joy I have in another bed was 'floppy' and developed aphids and I'm wondering if it's because of shadier conditions and perhaps the soil was fertilized more. I just chopped it right down in the fall and will wait to see what happens in the spring.

Glad to hear the soap worked for you. I had read about hanging various types of soap to repel deer altho because of the large size of my garden and the large number of deer I didn't try that. I live in a forest so there are a lot of deer here. I've used Plantskydd repellent and blood meal and they work but need reapplying frequently. Since I was having the fencing redone anyhow I decided to do the tall fencing as a permanent fix to the problem.

Thanks for the reply on your mulch. I asked because it looks beautiful! Before I scored on the free hardwood chips, I was typically paying for triple shred by the truckload or the bag. I don't mind that it breaks down fast, all good for the soil.

I admire your compositions, you truly have a creative flair.

Yay! A fellow Monkshood-lover ;-) That is one of my favorite plants, though most everyone else seems scared away by the poison factor, lol!
FABU! Thanks for showing
CMK

Congratulations on all your planning, forethought, and hard work. It is really paying off!
You gardens are beautiful, well planned and manicured. Looks wonderful.

I love your flower photos. Going to try the Monkshood this year. I grew three Delphiniums last year and was amazed at how well they did here in Oklahoma, even with a horrid drought and triple digit temps. Everyone here told me they couldn't be grown. Just shows to go ya. I hope they come back, but even if they don't, they bloomed all season long and I enjoyed their beauty immensely.

I love Yarrow. They grow wild here too. Most are white, but once in awhile I find some which are a pale pink or lilac colored. I also allow it to grow in places in my gardens. It is lovely and the white is so blousy and showy. However, I have difficulty growing the cultured type for some reason. I do have one clump left of the Coronation Gold that has lasted for more than ten years. Bought some of the Paprika last year, but it kicked the bucket in mid-June after blooming, then the hens dug it up. Darn! I would love to have a curved bed filled with large boulders and multi-colored Yarrow with some tall Coneflowers and/or Gloriosas here and there in the back. And some fine-leafed ornamental grasses, mayhaps.

Ha! Ha! I bought several pots of Walker's Low Nepeta last year (on sale at a summer's end sale in July). I couldn't decide where to set them at that time and with all the family issues still brewing and the extreme heat, I didn't have time to garden that much, so they were just left in the little plastic pots and never got planted. They have sat there under the big Ash tree on the South side of the house and have pretty much been neglected, except for an occasional watering, and yet they are still green and looking pretty ding-dong good! That just blows my mind!
Now I know where EXACTLY where I will plant them this Spring. If they are that hardy, I am sure they will do well in my garden!
(If I can keep the chickens and cats out of them, that is).

I really like your combination of the Dusty Miller with the Munstead. Looks terrific together and they would be very compatible. Awesome! I grow Munstead not only for the beautiful flowers and fragrance in the garden, but I also make tea from the leaves and use the Lavender blooms to make Lavender Sugar for cookies, cakes and teas. Pound Cake sprinkled with Lavender sugar before baking is absolutely scrump!

Enjoyed all your pics and comments.

Good luck with your Labyrinth. That sounds like a very big project! I wouldn't know where to start!!!

~Annie
Thanks Hon!

Thanks christinmk! I do really like Monkshood. It's a very old plant going back hundreds of years which are my favorite type of plants. It truly is "a very dangerous plant" tho, and anyone considering having one in their garden should understand this. This is the second Monkshood I've had. We destroyed the first when I realized how poisonous they are. Then the birds must have brought this one to an entirely different part of my garden so I've kept it. It seemed I was meant to have one but I'm very careful with all parts of it.

Thank you sweetannie4u. Glad you could grow Delphinium, they are one of my favorites! The labyrinth project was 'on paper' for a very long time and I decided it was now or never so just jumped into it when I found the free source of shredded bark. It will take some work to level but there are a few people around here who would like to walk it who will help so hopefully it will be done fairly quickly.