THE YEAR OF THE GARDEN

I've decided that this is the year of my successful garden. Full disclosure: I've been saying this for about five years now, even back when I had an apartment and kept herbs in planters on the balcony. It hasn't come true yet. Last spring we had just moved into the house, and while I was excited to garden, I held off on any major work because I wanted to see what the conditions were first.

Although we didn't tackle anything big, we did take on a few projects with mixed results. (A Few Projects With Mixed Results could be the name of my design book.) We planted vegetables where a previous owner had built raised beds. It seemed like a good spot at the time, until our two giant crepe myrtles bloomed and blocked out all the sun. I think I harvested one cucumber and three cherry tomatoes last year. I planted some azaleas by our fence and they died of... malaise, I'm guessing. We went on a weeding frenzy and almost-but-didn't pull out some questionable looking shrubs that then turned out to be glorious peony bushes, so that was nice. We did not come up with a solution to the muddy, weedy patch under the crepe myrtles that takes up about a third of the yard, but we did plant some lovely lavender and tall grasses in front of it so you can't see it from the sidewalk anymore. Mixed results about sums it up.

This year though, I'm going all in. I found a spot in a corner of our yard that I believe will have sufficient sun for vegetables. If you follow me on snapchat, you may have seen that I just got a composter and am unreasonably excited. I plan on enlisting some help from experts as to what plants should go where. I'm beginning to come to terms with the fact that I need low-maintenance plants if I intend to keep them alive. Because we love to entertain, I hope to turn some of the yard into a spot where people can lounge and enjoy the good weather when we get it. 

So those are my goals. Remind me of them in July when it's a zillion degrees and I'm too lazy to water. I'm traveling again for work this week (see you tomorrow, Baltimore!) but when I'm back I'll draw up and share the existing space and go further into details for plans. 

Do you have any gardening plans now that spring is just around the corner? Apartment balconies or rolling acres? Any advice for newbies? Bring it.

Image credits: A walled Manhattan garden via Dwell / A super low-key vegetable garden plan via Martha Stewart. Never change, Martha / Fab outdoor entertaining via Lonny / Grand scale garden boxes via Domino

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