When I first moved to my house the yard was in a derelict condition. What few plants were there had all grown into each other, having been planted 19 years before. New mulch had been thrown over knee-high weeds. Nothing had been trimmed correctly. Many of the plants were dead, and the ones that remained were diseased and had grown one-sided in their struggle for sun.
I started by clearing out the dead plants, transplanting, and then pruning the others. This quickly started looking better, and attracting attention from long-time neighbors. Many of the original owners still lived here, and were so glad to see that someone was turning the place around. I started receiving gifts of plants from my gardening neighbors — 3 kinds of iris, lillies, lamb’s ear, all kinds of wonderful cuttings. Fabulous gifts!
This tree and all plants in this garden were started in the last 10 years.
I had also brought with me from my last house small divisions of my perennials and herbs. Just one of everything to start with at that point. When I look at my garden today, it amazes me to see how bountiful so many of these gifts have become. A true Gardener’s gold! It has given me the opportunity to share all of these with other friends and new neighbors, and spread the wealth and beauty. To a gardener, there is no greater gift.
So many plants are easy to divide or start from cuttings. You can really fill a yard quickly and have ample surplus to share. Some of my very favorites are: Corkscrew willow (seen in photo), sedum, liriope, yarrow, lillies, coreopsis and many ornamental grasses. These are all tried and true in my own yard; what about yours?
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