Blood meal also works to keep rabbits away but they do love lily leaves and they eat a lot of them at night.

Poor doggie. He has a desire to keep you hard at work.

He is quite funny really. Only chews the brown things. Not anything green. Chewed up both my wine and roses weigelia. I was mad over the lily though since it had just started to bud when he pulled it. Only out 5 minutes till back in the ground. Still bloomimg and budding

Lucky you!

Use spray paint and paint everything green!

I started the border for a new large bed under two very large trees today. The large Spruce tree is always dropping pine cones and the very large white ash drops seedlings. Both trees suck up the water and the grass is thin. So I'm turning the area under the trees into a large low maintenance bed with bark mulch and natural grasses, ferns, bearded iris, but keeping the number of new plants in there to a minimum. This photo shows the border I created today, as a starting point. Then I'll cover the grass with dead grass clippings, layers of newspaper and cardboard, and then bark mulch. I won't add any new plants for awhile, I think, until the grass has died off.

Love your design. The bearded irises will absolutely love it.

Jo Ann,
And just like that, it's May second, lol! May is going too fast already!

Dave,
Can you hear me scream ''lily envy'' from here. Oh wow! I can't wait to see pictures as it grows!
What kind of dog do you have?

Connie,
Laughing! Usually we are so desperate for grass that we end up stripping it off a new bed to transplant elsewhere. I can't wait to see how your bed progresses too!

My only project is to mow today. I am a few days behind and I think the wheels will have to be raised.

Lol Sally, i have 2 golden retrievers

Beautiful dogs! A friend in town has two, male and female and the male will hold his own leash and walk himself.

I have a regular golden female. My other dog is an english golden. He is all white. But each dog totally has their own personality
and their own mannerisms. Quite fun to watch.

Dave,
You'll have to post pictures. They both sound beautiful! I've never seen an English golden

I have 2 large projects to do for 2016. One is renovating the front bed of our house. I had about 15 years of neglect before we moved in. The before:


Eeek! We removed everything but one rhododendron , which I am not sure is salvageable, but I don't want to take it out until after it blooms since the bees love it so much. There was ivy growing up the house, which we removed, but let me tell you - digging out an ivy root system takes for-ever. Not quite done yet, but here is the progress so far:





Almost ready to plant. My husband is doing the pathway and I am digging in the dirt LOL.

Our second project will be a pondless waterfall in the back, which hopefully we will be able to get to.

I love a fresh clean slate!!

Sorry about the ivy!

oops I forgot

Welcome, Lori. Love your home, especially the curved entrance! You've done a great job! Removing ivy prepares you for any other evil you may find in the garden! I've gone through it and don't miss the ivy one bit.

Keep posting photos for us.

Hi Lori,
I would hate removing the ivy too. What a mess!
WHAT a difference! The windows just popped!
You have such a BEAUTIFUL house! I can't wait to see the bed when in full bloom.

Lorik ,welcome. I am an UpStater also.
Glad you are here. Your project is going to be great.
Keep posting pix of the water feature also.

Jen, Dave, and Connie- great work on the expansions and new beds- looking forward to progress pics!

Lori, that was an ambitious project and it surely paid off! Beautiful house, and now it can be seen well! Aren't those hackberry tree seedlings awful- they pop up all over the place here, often obscured by a desirable plant. By the time I see them, they have roots to China!

Yes, it took a few weeks to get to this stage and there is still of chunk of the bed with roots in it, but at least we have a clearer work space LOL! I love gardening, but I sure don't like root digging. At least it's an upper body workout at any rate.

Looks great - what a difference Lori!

I'm doing a front entrance 'remodel' too....my space is cleared and ready for planting but I'm struggling with plant choices. Would love to know your plant choices for the area especially since you're in a 4 season zone. I'm determined to have winter interest since we get 6 months of freeze! Can't wait to see photos!

Catherine

Sallly, these are my two dogs