Planting Progress
Let’s Gussy up the Gazebo: Week 3 of the $100 Room Challenge
Eek! This past week was rough between my September 15 tax deadline, a quick (ha) day trip to Long Island for my cousin’s beautiful baby shower, and my husband’s birthday! I did manage to get the plants and bulbs in the ground and the rocks back into place as a border (vs. spread everywhere like a mulch). I’m pretty happy with the rock border!
I need to get some more dirt to throw on top of the bulbs – they definitely are NOT planted as deep as their bags instructed. They probably are too close to one another too (wtf does 6 per square foot meeeeeean when you are planting in a row??)- but who needs to follow all of the rules. If they look like crap in the spring, I can move them again. I often talk about my decision/analysis paralysis and there is probably something to the fact that I love gardening because I know everything is pretty easily changed. I’ll eventually pick up some regular wood chip mulch to keep the weeds at bay. Between the dirt and the mulch that’ll probably add another $6 unless I can steal something elsewhere in yard…
Here’s some progress pictures! The aster in the back won’t come back next year so I’ll have to put something else on either side of the heather eventually…or maybe I’ll get lucky and the heather will spread out? I’ve never planted heather – who knows! This is part of the fun with gardening. You just have to sit back and wait and see.
The hope is that the new clearance mums will catch up in size with the sole existing mum and this will be a pretty full hedge next Fall. They kinda die down during the winter and you can cut the brown stalks back to just a few inches height. So in the spring and summer, when my row of daffodils and tulips and alliums are up, the mums won’t really be in the way. Guys, I barely know what I’m doing but this all makes sense in my head. I’m happy to hear any advice you have if my thinking isn’t sound on this!
The Budget So Far
I have to admit – I haven’t been playing close attention to the budget up until now. Let’s see how we are doing so far:
1 bag White Tulip bulbs $3.98
1 bag White Daffodil bulbs $3.98 (I’m saving the second bag I bought for another area of the yard)
1 bag Purple Allium bulbs $3.98
5 $1 on Clearance! Mums $5
1 Pink Heather $19.98
2 $9.98 on Clearance! Hot Pink Outdoor Tables $19.96
1 Purple Aster $7.98 (the other was gifted to me)
$64.86
Double eek! This doesn’t leave much room for the shuzzing up and cozy-ifying. We bought the stain months ago – I’ll have to dig up the price we paid for the official count, but I might cheat a little bit and put it in the “had it on hand” column if I find something else I think I REALLY need to finish the space 🙂 This is a self-imposed challenge after all – I don’t actually win anything if I stay under or lose anything if I go a little over. The point is to show you how far $100 (or $80 or $120) can go!
Wish me luck with our new paint sprayer (technically purchased for another HUGE project in our yard that I haven’t talked too much about – but I will soon!) this weekend! Triple eek!
Check Out My Progress!
Week 1 * Week 2 * Week 3 * Week 4 Reveal
Check out the other bloggers participating this month! A huge thank you to Erin for creating such a fun event.
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I really love how your garden area is turning out! So pretty!
It’s really coming along. I too have just about blown my budget. Can’t wait for the reveal.
I am loving your landscaping. The rocks are a great option for edging. It is going to look so nice.
Your projects are looking great and I am looking forward to seeing the transformation next week!
That rock board is beautiful! I love that you kept the larger rocks as accent pieces. I would love a few of those in my yard.
Progress! That’s all that matters, right? Too bad you won’t get the full effect of the bulbs until next spring. That’s the hard part of gardening – waiting for it to grow and hoping it turns out even partially how you pictured it. But you’re right, the beauty of gardening is that it’s not that hard to change or add when things don’t work.
I’m so impressed! This space looks great already, with the pretty plants and rock border. I’ve got a black thumb, so this would be way out of my league. I’ll just enjoy yours!
This is turning out so good!! I cannot wait to find out what you’re painting!!
What you’ve done so far looks aaaahhhhmazing! I can hardly wait to see what else you do with the rest of your budget.