The Frugal Gardener 3

It's been a while since I shared my garden with you.  Just to bring you up to date on my philosophy, I think you can have a beautiful garden and a beautiful home if you just exercise patience and collect only things that you love.  We have lived in our home for 31 years, and I still love to go out in the morning and visit my lovely garden and marvel at nature's generosity in sharing so much beauty with us.  If you would like to see my previous posts click here and here.

Our lot size is not very large, however, like the front yard I shared in earlier posts, our yard is broken up into many different areas.  I have taken advantage of every corner and turn to create little vignettes or "garden rooms."  If you are wondering what I feed my plants to get them to grow so huge, I will tell you my secret.  Number one, when I plant a pot this size, I start with small 4 inch plants or pony packs.  I use regular potting soil and Osmocote which is a three-month general fertilizer.  For this sized pot, I simply reach into the bag of Osmocote and grab five handfuls of fertilizer and mix it with the potting soil.  That's it!  And I only do this in the spring around March. For established pots which most of mine are, I trim them way back in the spring, and put the fertilizer on the plants and that's it.  Of course I water the plants too.  In the spring and fall I water twice a week.  You can see by the stains on our brick our water is incredibly hard and leaves deposits.  It's part of life and I just live with it.  But our water is nothing special either.  In the hot summer months I water every other day.  I don't like things getting too water dependent because we live in a drought area.  In the winter time they only get watered once a week. 

I love statuary.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!  I put it anywhere I can find a spot.

An hour in the garden puts life's problems in perspective.  Isn't that the truth?  I found the above statue at a salvage yard of all places.  She is pure cement and she's not going anywhere.  My garden tends to be 95 percent white flowers with the green foliage.  I just love the peacefulness of an all white garden.  It is so restful.  I call it my French cemetery look since I have so many statues.

Another thing I have a lot of is Shepherd's hooks with lanterns.  I have found a ton of these at yard sales.  They just add so much to the ambiance.

I bought this little beauty in Mexico.  Isn't she wonderful?

I call these two my wild birds.  Just like living in the countryside.

Of course watch out for the alligator, or is this a crocodile?  He is almost buried in the ground I have had him for so long.

I have lots of frog statuary too.  I used to have a pond (a little one) but the raccoons ate all my fish and it was a lot to keep clean so I removed it.  The frogs got to stay.

All of these hydrangeas came from the kind you buy in the grocery store and take along for a hostess gift.  They are enormous.  Now I must tell you that I do not use Osmocote in my yard in the soil.  I mulch with Gardner & Bloom soil amendment.  Between the front and back I used approximately 15 bags and I feed with organic fertilizers.  The only time I used anything like Miracle Grow is when I was getting ready for my daughter's wedding and I needed to speed up the growing process.  Now that the yard is established I have the opposite problem of keeping everything under control.  This yard can be a real jungle if not kept in check.

Here is one of my New Dawn roses peaking out.  Isn't it divine?

I love bird houses, bird cages, and metal accents too.  My back yard is a little more wild than the front yard, but I love its ever changing atmosphere and welcoming feeling.  I hope you enjoyed today's tour.  I will save the rest for another post.  Thanks for stopping by.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs        The Graphics Fairy     Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Tutus and Tea Parties       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life      It All Started with Paint
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style         Ivy and Elephants        Faded Charm Cottage            
                                     Fine Craft Guild      
Thursdays        Embracing Change     The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    Fishtail Cottage
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    At the Picket Fence     Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Decorating Insanity
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           It's Overflowing