Moby Dick in my front yard....

So last Saturday, I decide I'm going to need another flower bed to accomodate all the bulbs that my MIL kindly picked up for me; they were on sale, she spied them and thought I could do with more,lol. Great!

I asked DH to make a wide circle-shaped bed around the tree. I even used a hose to outline what I wanted. I go out with my kids to the dentist and come back two hours later. DH decided to alter my design a little to give me more room to plant or maybe less lawn for him to mow?? He connects the circle to an existing bed at the corner of the front yard. I get home and think how sweet! Thank you so much honey, I'm gonna make you a nice roast beef dinner for the hard work.

Next day I'm looking out my front window and down at the bed and it strikes me........OMG!!! It is in the shape of a WHALE!!!!

Took me a few days, but I'm calm now.....

I finally worked up the nerve to take a pic tonight. It's a bit hard to see but if you look at the upper left you will see some cedar mulch.....that's um, the tail....

*snort *

Don't worry. When you get Captain Ahab done it will look much better.

Lol McGlory!!
I wonder if anyone else has had anything like this happen or other garden goofs that you felt you needed to fix fast before anyone saw it?

Any ideas on how to re-shape this would be greatly appreciated..

Only in my world eh,
Erynne

Erynne,

You poor thing you,,,,LOL,,,,maybe you could just take out the grass between the tail and the head and then at least it would be a kidney shape.

Kelly

I agree with Kelly.

Erynne - I didn't even think about asking if I could alter your photo. Is it okay, if not I'll delete it.

Jody

I thought you had a flood in your front yard!! LOL

Jody,
I don't think Erynne will mind one bit that you altered her pic.

Erynne,
that's 2 votes for connecting the tail with the head, what ya think?

Kelly

You guys are awesome!!! Thank you for the suggestion!
Seeing the pic altered totally helps with how I can fix this.

Kidney shape it is!!!

TY,
Erynne
xoxo

Erynne,

Glad to hear it.

Kelly

Good job! So what are you guys going to name your new garden design business?

Kelly-Jo's Garden & Landscape Design Services?

How about Joelly's?

Sandy

No, I know! G.G. Jasmerr Garden Designs. Nice ring.

LOL,,,,,,Yeah, we could do that,,,does have a nice ring to it,,,,LOL

You know, I'm betting it will look just fine once it's planted. Seriously.

Kylee, that's what my DH said too, lol!

And it might just turn out to be the most beautiful spot in your yard! Funny how 'mistakes' end up doing that a lot of the time. LOL

Yep, have had my share of good *mistakes*.

Looks like Sandy and I could help plant it - especially if Erynne remains part of the baker's dozen. LOL

Ann

Joelly's! LOL

Erynne,

Watch it now,,,they're singling you out. Be on guard.

Jody ,

I agree LOL

There's not much to guard here yet :o(

I'd leave it as a whale and add a water fountain as a "spout"!

Erynne,,,,
There will be a bunch of yuckies if they get there,,,LOL,,,Be On Guard.

mg,

Somehow I figured you would be the one to say that,,,LOL

Ok, on guard it is, lol. I figure we have about 100 bulbs planted now in the front areas.......crocus, hyacinths, tulips & alliums. Plus I stuck in 3 different types of asiatic lilies and a daylily, though I've read that daylilies aren't really bulbs? Now where did I read that?? I think it's called Prairie Belle. I ended up buying my asiatics and daylily at a place called Gratrix Daylilies up north....gosh that place is amazing and the owner is so nice.

mg, that doesn't sound like a half bad idea but can you guess what would happen when you cross a water source like that and 4 kids,lol. It would be impossible to keep my youngest outta it! I have to wait til they grow up a little before I can even think about having a water garden either.

That'll be beautiful in the spring, erynne! I love daylilies to hide the foliage of the dying bulbs. What kind of tree is it? Does it cast a lot of shade?

Sandy
(hoping to be the 's' in Joelly's)

You know, I wouldn't let the shape bother me at all, free garden help from DH, I wouldn't care what shape it was, I'd take it!!! Legit

That's a good way to look at it Legit but ya gotta admit that the kidney shape would give me more garden space ;).

Sandy, I haven't the foggiest notion about what kind of tree I have here. The same goes for three more in my backyard. I figure I'm going to have an arborist come by and do some pruning so hopefully maybe he/she can tell me. It doesn't cast much shade to the left (which faces south/west) but to the right I have the perfect setting for hostas and ferns because my neighbor has a big maple which touches my unknown tree.

Erynne - Sounds like you have both sun and shade there. Have you decided what you will be planting, other than your 100 bulbs the 3 asiatics and your new daylily? Will you need to buy the hostas and ferns or just transplant them? What other plants are you considering in your new bed? Enquiring minds want to know.

Sandy
P.S. Hey! Have you considered a water theme e.g. Hosta 'Niagara Falls' or 'Yellow River' ? : - ^

Sandy, I do like those Hostas! There's a whole other area to the right of the tree, not shown in the pic, that's pretty much a clean slate right now. I really want to put in some variegated hostas to "lighten up" the area bit. I have some seed for Patriot but I still got to figure out where they'll do best. Toad lilies, mixed with lobelia, ferns and hostas may dominate the right side.
For the sun to part sun areas.....can I say "I just don't know yet", lol.
I have seed for quite a few things and can't seem to figure out how they're going to fit together. I think I'm leaning towards purple/blues with a splash of yellow/orange here and there. Then I'll be looking for ornamental grass and foliage plants to fill in the gaps.
The shade areas "I'm down with" because the main portion of my property is shaded and have done much research. Then I have 20 brugmansia cuttings hanging out in my basement right now and the lady I got them from just phoned and said she has 30 more she wants me to take........aaaaaahhhh! I'm going to be sharing like crazy or I'm going to have a brug farm, haha. Ooooh but that Charles Grimaldi is gonna be nice.....

Oh yeah, I will have to purchase some hostas and ferns to get going but just got to find a cheaper source than the nursery around here.

Erynne

I love that the beds are now connected, and the new, improved kidney shape means even less mowing! Definitely a win-win situation.

I think it would be fun if you added a ribbon of the grape hyacinth that's blue with white tips (Muscari armeniacum 'Mt Hood') as "the water" and have it spilling out of, say, an overturned wooden bucket (like a sap bucket?) and then the bulbs in "a pool" below that, of yellow daffodils. What do you all think?

Erynne, Noticed your mention of hosta seeds, very do-able, but don't expect to use them in your bed any time soon! Hosta seedlings take a very long time to mature. Your best bet, hit the Walmarts or whatever discount places early in the year. They put out packages of hosta crowns, bare root in a plastic bag, usually mixed varieties, dirt cheap!! If you get some you don't like, swap them. Got some a few years back, prolly March, way before anyone wants them, started in pots inside, and they were quite nice. Legit

Thanks for the info Legit regarding hosta seeds....see I know nothing,lol. It will give me a great sense of pride growing them from seed though but like I said, I'm gonna have to buy some for sure for more instant results. I had no idea that Walmart would have anything Hosta-related. I rarely go to big stores like that or even malls for that matter. I avoid shopping like the plague! I only go to garden centres and food stores because those are necessities.

PG, I love that idea with flowers spilling out of a barrel! I wanted to put an arbor out front but my DH is afraid someone would steal it. It's been known to happen in my area unfortunately so I would keep all my garden art in the back. But a barrel, I can't see someone going to all the trouble of running off with that.

Plus, you would have to bury some of it to get the dirt in it to plant the bulbs in, if they're that desperate to get the darn bucket out of the dirt, I say shoot to maim and that'll teach em! We have a new feature in our village newsletter, the police blotter (town pop. 2600). Would you believe someone stole a "small evergreen and a large landscaping rock" from someone's yard here? It really makes you wonder..

I'd be wary of buying hostas that way with all the Hosta Virus X that's out there. I'd stick with reputable nurseries.

Don't completely discard the idea of seeds. I had a couple of seedlings that I potted last spring and they were several inches across when I dug the pots into the garden this autumn. The only thing is that you have no guarantee of what they will look like.

Ann

Sorry, I never heard of Hosta Virus, got any info on it?? Legit

PG, I already have had two fair-sized rocks lifted from my front yard in the 3 1/2 months I've been here and my neighbor 2 doors down had her bird bath & rose bush taken in the same night. Big city or little town, it seems to happen anywhere evil spirits dwell.

Ann, I'm definitely going to still try my seeds out and it's okay by me about their looks but it would be a bonus if they came true!

Erynne

Hosta virus X sites -
http://www.inthecountrygardenandgifts.com/articles/hosta_virus_x.shtml

http://www.hostalibrary.org/firstlook/HVX.htm

http://www.northerngardening.com/HVX.htm

or do a Google search for more.

sorry, gotta run , eat dinner and get out to play a concert.

Ann