Returning from drought ridden California, I returned to Virginia where my garden was a jungle.
Nearly 40″ of rain had dumped on Northern Virginia from April to July.
In fact, before the trip our days were Texas hot and humid with lots of rain.
Upon returning, we felt the sweet freshness of Canadian coolness immersing our summer experience.
Thrilled with the cooler temps, I weeded my garden, which took days.
THRIVING HANGING BASKETS
Meanwhile, I enjoyed my sweet hanging baskets which thrived from all the rain.
Usually quick to die during my 2 week summer vacations, the hanging baskets looked better than ever from all the moisture.
As seen in the header photo, the fuchsia and caladiums brought forth their pinks and greens in dewy splendor!
YEARNING TO MULCH
Although I initially wanted to mulch the garden when it was established two years ago, the insane heat and house projects kept the plan at bay, then last summer I was super busy with my new preemie granddaughter and her daddy (my son) and her mom.
When I busily helped my daughter get homeschool ready for her daughter this year, I presumed mulching wouldn’t be in this year’s plans either.
However, the coolness of the air helped me conquer, after long days helping my daughter. (more on that soon)
MULCH GREATNESS
Propelling me was the knowledge that mulch keeps weeds at bay, while holding in moisture to prevent the need to continually water the plants through the summer.
In between helping my daughter and weeding, I researched a Northern Virginia locale with my favorite mulch, hearkening back to my Texas garden days.
MERRIFIELD GARDEN CENTER
Seeking a natural mulch, with no chemicals or dyes, I discovered shredded hardwood mulch at my favorite Northern Virginia nursery, Merrifields.
Excitedly, we drove to Merrifield Garden Center to load up the car, upon my husband’s insistence that he’d rather make a few trips doing that and lugging the bags in the back for me to spread.
Otherwise, Merrifield absolutely delivers…but in our case they loaded our car for us.
Nearly done, I decided to grab a few more bags in the autumn when I cut the hostas back, which have taken over the back of the garden.
MULCHED GARDEN
Until then, the rest of the garden was beautifully mulched, about 4-5″ deep.
My crepe myrtle has more than doubled in height, and all the limelight hydrangeas have beautifully bloomed!
During the mulching process, I also relaid all the stone, that had been discovered inside my garden-to-be two years ago!
And now that’s conquered, I need to figure out the camera setting to get back to normal picture sizes again…hence the wonky photos that began during my West Coast trip.
