From Jumbled Mess to Kitchen Herb Garden

The small flower bed in front of our house had become a jumbled mess of cactus, Spanish Daggers, ruellia, and assorted weeds. My son suggested we pull everything out, replace the dirt with garden soil and plant an herb garden. Since the kitchen window is right above this space, it seemed to make perfect sense. Now to tackle the removal of those pesky plants.

The first thing we had to do was to cut the daggers off the Spanish Daggers. Those things are lethal! Here's what it looked like when we'd finished that little chore:

Once we had them cut down to size, we had to dig everything up. I don't know if you are familiar with Spanish Daggers, but they send out runners which will produce new plants. The jungle I had growing in my small space started out as just one tiny little plant. Once we dug everything out, we covered the space with black plastic sheeting which would help kill any runners left behind. I certainly did not want another crop of daggers growing in my herb garden! I decided that the border would again be made out of Topo Chico bottles, of which we have an abundant supply, thanks to my husband's voracious Topo Chico habit.

Once I had the border finished and the new soil installed, it was off to the nursery to purchase some herbs for the garden. We got three types of basil, chive, dill, sage, mint, oregano, thyme, cilantro, parsley, and a small pepper plant.

The plants are all thriving, and now I can just clip fresh herbs whenever I need them. This is way better than dodging those sharp daggers!

From Dead Grass to Cactus Garden

Well, it's been a while since I last posted in this blog. As promised, I've been working on my front yard landscaping project. The summer of 2011 was blisteringly hot and dry, and a good-sized portion of the grass in my front yard died. I created a border around the dead area using glass Topo Chico bottles.

I thought the grass in the enclosed area was dead, but when the spring rains came, all kinds of weed grasses filled in where the St. Augustine had died. Since I was planning to plant cactus and agave, I didn't want to use any herbicides in this area, so I covered it with black plastic.

Once this was done, I left the area covered for several months to ensure that the underlying vegetation was killed. I then laid out the design for my plants, and went to a landscaping company for crushed gravel. The landscaper recommended leaving as much of the plastic in place to discourage weeds from coming back, so I cut large holes in the plastic and dug holes for planting my cactus and agave, then filled in with the granite.

I have been very pleased with the result. It was hard work, but well worth it. The agaves and cactus are thriving, and the maintenance is minimal. I don't have to water at all, which is great considering how dry we've been this summer. My next post will be all about digging up the Spanish Daggers in the front bed and turning that space into a kitchen herb garden.