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celestialrose_nh

Photos of new raised beds from last summer

celeste/NH
11 years ago

I think today is the perfect day to post garden scene photos since it's snowing out and my gardens are sleeping. Many of my beds are brand-new and are still growing and maturing. I made these in the fall of 2011 and the spring of 2012. I make them from local rocks I collect andI have to buy loam by the truckload then fill them by wheelbarrow & shovel. Lots of work!

Celeste

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Comments (20)

  • organic_kitten
    11 years ago

    The beds are beautiful, and the gorgeous photos are "just what the doctor ordered." We have had a number of dreary, rainy, cold days, and are supposed to have snow tomorrow. (Not a lot of snow, this is the deep south)so beautiful flowers are an upper. thanks for sharing, Celeste.
    kay

  • gardenofeden777
    11 years ago

    My sentiments exactly Kay! I was just hoping someone did this and whadya know? Celeste to the rescue to help us get over the winter blues. Thanks Celeste your gardens are all so beautiful, I love your Japanese Maples also, that splash of purple they give just sets it all off. Beautiful!

    Rena'

  • Julia WV (6b)
    11 years ago

    Great post Celeste. Needed a break as it snowed a bit here today. Love all the color in the pics. Seems like you are like me with the rocks. I still have many I can still get from the old barn area here that use to be the walls. If that runs out, there is always the ones that pop up in the field LOL. I know all the hard work that goes into building those rock wall beds.

    Spring is only 61 days away...hurray.

    Julia

  • AnneCecilia z5 MI
    11 years ago

    So please tell us Celeste: are your stones dry stacked or do you use something as a mortar to hold all the stones together? Are they put in place first and then the loam/fill added in the middle, or is the fill mounded first and the stones stacked up around it? They look so good and sturdy (mine always seem to end up tumbling down!)
    Roses or daylilies, your gardens are always a joy to view! I love the little blue bridge!

  • celeste/NH
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    You guys are great with your comments...THANKS! It did feel like one of those bleak snow days that I just knew we ALL needed a picker-upper. I have more garden pics and will do another post soon, now that I know it is appreciated.
    Annececilia....the stones are simply dry-stacked, no mortar. I usually stack the stones first and then fill the beds with the loam. But upon occasion I have had my hubby dump the loam right in the exact spot I wanted the bed and then built it up with stone after. The usual thing is that most parts of my yard are not accessible by truck so the loam has to be dumped in a spot out of the way and then 'trucked' to the beds by wheelbarrow. I have incredibly strong arms, legs and back for a lady in her 50's...LOL.

    Celeste

  • FlowerGardener
    11 years ago

    I have to ask how many beds have you made? Your garden is absolutely beautiful.

  • jean_ar
    11 years ago

    OH CELESTE> I Just love your pictures of them gorgeeous beds.YOu really know how to build them and make them pretty as well.I did go up and down looking for the blue bridge that annie cecililia mentioned, but scrolling up and down several times,and I still could not find it.Your gardens are so very pretty, with them rock wall beds,and the blooms are gorgeous, too.OK, Waiting for more pictures:))

    Jean

  • lisa_3
    11 years ago

    Absolutely beautiful. But I was scrolling down pondering how long it will take to weed. lol I love my flowers, but sometimes by the end of the summer-I am so glad to get away from weeds for awhile.
    Also-I have often wondered (as I have considered putting hostas around a tree)-does it hurt the trees to build a little soil around them once they are that established?

  • mantis__oh
    11 years ago

    Amazing stone work! How about naming some of the daylilies that are more prominent? For example, eyed in #4; large rose pink in #4; rose in #6; foreground potted in 3rd from end.

  • celeste/NH
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    HI again & THANKS for more comments. Now to answer your questions....

    flowergardener....I don't even know how many I have and would go out and count but now they're all under the snow.
    You know you have a lot when you have lost count...LOL.
    I'm just going to guess and say over 15 beds, as I try to visualize them in my head. Some are mixed beds with roses and perennials, some are daylilies mixed with true lilies & perennials and some are just daylilies. I usually add a bed or two each year but I am running out of room!

    Jean, the blue bridge is in photos #3, #5, and the second photo from the bottom. But I am putting up another picture for you! The little bridge is there because in the springtime the water from the melting snow forms a run-off stream.

    Lisa....I have put raised beds around several trees with no ill effects. Of course, the trees in my yard are very hardy native trees that go through zone 4/5 winters and are tough as nails. I have hostas planted around one of my sugar maple trees in a raised bed and they have been there for 25 years with no problem.

    Mantis....the daylilies in question are: eyed in photo #4 is 'Eyes on the Prize' and in the same photo the large pink is 'America the Beautiful'. In photo #6 the pink is 'Finish with a Flourish'. The potted red in the 3rd photo from the end is 'Joan Derifield'. Here's another photo of it...
    Celeste

    'Joan Derifield'
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    little blue footbridge for Jean
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  • swontgirl_z5a
    11 years ago

    Your rock beds are just amazing. We have lots of rocks around here on our farm but so many are small. You have done an incredible job building those walls. You must be strong!
    I have noticed that you seem to have many trees. Do your daylilies get alot of shade? If so how do they do? I have 2 beds out front that get quite a bit of shade and the daylilies at the back really lean over. It doesn't help that it is often really windy too and they usually get blown the same direction they are leaning.
    Again just beautiful, beautiful gardens. Thanks for sharing.
    Debbie

  • jean_ar
    11 years ago

    Oh Goodness, Celeste.I seen this little bridge in the other pictures, but, it just didnt dawn on me that it was a little bridge,I guess because I seen no water under it,and just thought its some steps for some thing.:(Dumb me)I love that "Joan Derifiels daylily in that pot,its gorgeous.You have a bunch of beauties.I could just grab me a chair and sit out there all afternoon, looking at all the beauty you have created.

    Jean

  • houstmag
    11 years ago

    Celeste your garden is stunning it may be a lot of work but the end results are amazing.
    Linda

  • katlynn719
    11 years ago

    I can't decide which I like more - the rocks or the flowers - LOL! It's an amazing combo - both natural and both beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
    Kathy

  • Cindy zone 6a
    11 years ago

    The beds are wonderful. Thanks for posting these, now I have to go look at the others you have posted!
    Cindy

  • rose23_gw
    11 years ago

    I received my issue of the Daylily E-News this morning which is excellent reading for a cold,snowy day. And it's FREE.
    Charles Harper's photo of Jamie Gossard's 'Heavenly Ooh La La' is beautiful. Tim Herington has a humerous but true story "Personal Safety in the Garden". I enjoyed the story "Is Getting Dirty Good for You". Julie Covington has good information concerning International membership in the AHS. These are just some highlights.
    Rosy

  • flowergirl929
    11 years ago

    Beautiful!

  • Jeanne
    6 years ago

    Celeste, I know this is last year's post. I am making new beds and my question is: do you remove the grass/lawn before you dump the loam?

  • celeste/NH
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Actually, it was a post from 2013 and looking at my photos here I realize just how much daylilies fill in a bed in 4 years! LOL. Actually, I think these were made even earlier, like in 2011 and 12 so that would be 5 years ago. I guess this year I should update the forum with what the beds look like now. I have added MORE beds since then....what a nut I am for daylilies.

    So to answer your question, I never have had grass existing beneath these beds. These are in areas that were formerly forested so I was covering up tree roots, stumps and rocks more so than grass or vegetation. Essentially I put in these beds using the rocks I dug up. I planted the grass after I made up the raised beds. I know some people do make raised beds atop lawn or grass and lay down several thicknesses of newspaper before adding the soil. Maybe someone else who has done so will chime in? Good luck with your beds!

  • Jeanne
    6 years ago

    I have the opposite of your "forested" i have pasture that we turned into lawn and now want to turn into beds, lol

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