When Less is More

 This post is not very exciting and it's a little bit embarrassing to even blog about a garden that looks this terrible. As I said in my previous post, Indiana has been in a severe drought with water restrictions. We have also had record breaking temperatures with about 28 days straight in the 90° range. This hasn't happened since 1901!

It just so happened that the Lowe's challenge for July was , "Problem Solving – Tackling tough spots in your yard or garden.  From mulching ideas to decorative rocks, use your Lowe’s card to tackle your most troublesome gardening spots."

When I saw the July challenge I immediately zeroed in on the word "mulch" and decided to take this opportunity to pretty much start over. I removed most of my grasses, shrubs and perennials and even a few small trees. It was too depressing to look at all of the dead and struggling plants.


 I used all of the Lowe's card on mulch, (23, 3 cu. ft. bags of cypress mulch) . It looks so much better! Hopefully in the fall, if weather conditions are more normal,  I can add a few plants. It makes me feel better just having things prepped and ready! 

Here is a view from my landing window, (through the screen). We've had a few rain showers and some of the grass has perked up. Hopefully the rest will come back in the spring.

On a side note, the wrens have been using my nest box for months now, (since early spring). I'm not sure if they ever had a brood, or I guess it's possible that they have raised multiple broods, I haven't seen any baby wrens. A few weeks ago, the top of the nest box came detached from the tree and was leaning sideways, since I didn't want to disturb them I wrapped a bungee cord around the box and the tree. I may be from Alabama but I promise that is not my normal way to hang a birdhouse!

Since gardening is rather depressing these days, I have been working on my craft room, doing a lot of painting and fun projects! I'm not quite ready for a full reveal, but I will share a sneak peak in my next post!

http://www.lowescreativeideas.com/