New View

Now that we have the wonderful new "kitty door" in the kitchen, we reinstalled the old one on the east end of the new room between the garage and the house (where it works perfectly for the first time in twenty-five years.)

The view to the east includes this small garden. (Top, before weeding; bottom, after.) I started this garden years ago primarily to eliminate the need to mow among the trees. I put in a few hostas for structure and transplanted some native ferns. Most of the rest of the plants are native. So the maintenance is mostly deciding which weeds to favor over others.

I always eliminate dandelions. I like them and I have plenty in the lawns. But they're too aggressive in the gardens.

And I always preserve B's favorite, wild geraniums. They're beautiful and a bit too delicate to make a statement without encouragement.

I was reflecting on my choices as I weeded. Take out Creeping Charlie (too aggressive - and face it, no matter how much I pull out, it will always be there); keep most of the Lysimachia (attractive ground covering foliage with great yellow flowers in season.) Keep some of the Celandine and a few patches of violets. It turns out that most of my efforts are to steer the plants I like to places where they look good.