I can’t believe it’s been a year since I posted on this blog! I took some time away to travel and focus on other projects. Now once again, it’s February, and here I am dreaming of gardens. Writing and sharing ideas about gardens are some of my favorite posts, so it felt like the perfect time to jump back in!

We are planning and working on a new garden in the courtyard area of our home and I cannot wait! I have blogged about this space multiple times because it has been a rollercoaster and keeps changing.

In a previous post in 2021, I shared some projects and a major overhaul we were forced to complete due to our sewer line collapsing. You can read that post here.

In 2022, I shared an update on changes and further improvements we made.

At the end of 2022, we had new cement laid in the entire space.

In 2023, I painted a mural on one wall and we took some time to just enjoy it.

It’s come a long way since these before pictures:

We love our courtyard. It’s one of our favorite features of our home and garden. When we replaced the cement, a lot of soil needed to be removed from the center garden area to improve the drainage. They even had to move our beloved cherry tree (Chauncey) and replant it after everything was complete. As a result, all of the top soil was removed and we were left with a muddy mess of clay.

Previously, we had planted spreading sedum in this area. None of the sedum was left and we thought that it was the right time to do something more purposeful, beautiful and functional. We tried planting a few rows of some spreading plants that we liked but they are not happy and are not spreading. Our cherry tree is also not very happy with his new digs.

We quickly realized that if we wanted anything to grow, we would need to amend the soil and would probably need some professional help. After speaking with our landscape designer, we decided to create a Native Plant Garden in our courtyard.

We are very lucky to live in a neighborhood that is part of a watershed. Because of the watershed, there is a cost share program for certain types of landscape projects that homeowners in our area can apply for. If you live in the Southside of Des Moines, or are interested in more information, here is a link to that program. The program will pay up to 75% of the entire cost of these projects and we have been taking advantage! Last year we completed a large rain garden project and a soil quality restoration project. The landscape designer we have been working with is Jeff Reiland with Abundant Design. He works closely with the team who approves the cost share projects and has been such a huge help to us. Here is a link to his blog.

Design Details: Since this is a Native Garden, all of the plants chosen are native to our area of Iowa in zone 5b. They should be easy to grow and, once established, this garden should be pretty self sustaining. We are only using 4 different types of plants, but there will be a lot of them.

• We will keep “Chauncey The Cherry Tree” where he is, amend the soil around his root ball and hope that he gets happy again.

• We will move the plants we planted last season to a new garden area we are working on (by our cut flower garden!).

Plant Details:

• Monarda/Bee Balm was chosen because we wanted something tall against the stone wall. Also, this plant helps keep mosquitos away and I like the flower along with the pop of color it gives.

• Prairie Dropseed was chosen because, again, we wanted something large/tall against the stone wall. Also, it mixes nicely with other plants like the Bee Balm.

• Jacob’s Ladder was chosen because it can tolerate some shade and the area where this will be gets shaded from the roof. We also like the look of the flowers, it’s fairly low growing, will spread and self seeds.

• Mitchella Repens it only gets about 2 inches tall. We share this space with our short-legged dachshund and loves to lay on the plants and soak in the sun. This plant is also tolerant to pet urine. It is a spreading plant that should cover the area and we like the contrast of the dark green, round leaves with the red berries and white flowers.

I think this area is perfect for spreading and self seeding plants because it is contained and the plants can only spread so far. The weather has been unseasonably nice here lately and it’s adding to my excitement for garden projects and planting. Have you been feeling the same? Do you have any garden projects planned? Let me know in the comments.

I and will post again once we complete this project!

Thanks for being here!