Once we took the big old Manitoba maple tree down from our patio area, and filled in the ponds, that area out back looked very bare. It didn't cost as much to fill them as I had anticipated. We had a yard of fill and a yard of topsoil delivered. Total cost, including delivery charge, was $80.
Medium and small rocks were sourced from our local on line buy and sell site, kijiji. They were free, we just had to go pick them up from a woman's garden. Most were just your basic brown rocks, but a few were quite decorative.
New plants could have been a very costly investment for my new rock garden. Our local Canadian Tire store offers mature perennials in two gallon pots priced between $12 - $17. Several of these larger plants would make a nice immediate showing in the garden, but I really didn't want to pay that much.
I was happy to plant smaller plants and wait a couple of years for them to establish. Especially as I am not really a gardener and don't know a lot about plants. I knew that there might be some I'd decide I didn't really want in that space, or some that I might move later in favour of others.
I am fortunate that my mother is an avid gardener with a small but beautiful (and award winning!) garden. She generously donated some of the plants she had divided from her garden. Additionally, she gifted me a few others that she had picked up from a Mennonite plant sale in her town.
Thanks to my mom I had a good start on things. We planted a few irises, dwarf and regular. She gave me a hosta, coral bells, a couple of Stella D'oro day lilies and lady's mantle. We also transplanted a chunk of oleander from another part of my garden. My initial financial outlay on plants....nothing!
I knew that you always see perennials at yard sales at this time of year, and on my next few outings I was able to pick up additional plants. The most that I paid was $3 for a hosta. The other plants were $1 for small to medium sized pots. I love the late summer and fall wild flowers and was happy to be able to pick up black-eyed Susans and purple coneflowers.
I found daisies, bee balm, sweet William, evening primrose. I also bought a couple of 'mystery plants' that I will just have to wait to see what they are.
This past Sunday my husband's friend and co-worker, Rob, stopped by to bring me a couple of large clumps of larger leaved sedum from his garden. He tells me that they will flower in the fall. I really appreciated his generosity and I will repay it once some of my plants are big enough to be divided.
My daisies.
Sweet William (upper left hand corner). The cast iron fish was a yard sale find that I have had for many years. The day lily is in behind the fish, and in the bottom right corner is some kind of sedum. If you look closely, you can see a small toad who was checking out my new garden.
This is the lady's mantle. It will have an interesting chartreuse flower when it blooms.
Here is one of the 'mystery plants' on the bottom right hand corner. It should be blooming soon, and I am curious to see what it will look like. The copper roofed bird house was a garage sale buy that I have had for a long time.
The purple flowered oleander, the violets, and the sedum with the yellow flowers were there originally when the ponds were up and running, and we managed to preserve them.
I found this small stump in a rarely used side area of the garden and thought it would give some visual interest. The plants in the front are the black-eyed Susans.
I bought this small watering can from a garage sale a couple of weeks ago for fifty cents. I call it my 'Aladdin's lamp'. Since the above photo was taken, I decided to plant a small piece of the yellow flowering sedum from the exterior of the garden.
The sedum that Rob so kindly donated to me.
Once things mature and fill in, and once the plants begin to bloom, I think my rock garden will look quite nice. I am already enjoying sitting out on the patio, letting my eyes wander from plant to plant, keeping an eye out for toads, or watching the chipmunks (who live under the back of the rock garden) cavort through the space.
My next posting will feature some of the decorative items I have thrifted from garage sales for the space.
Nifty Thrifty and (Over) Fifty
Cathy
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