We have a group of trees in our front yard, that have not been touched since we moved in to our home. We would trim the weeds etc every so often but that was it. It’s rocky, shady and uneven and I had no desire to make anything of it.
*This post is generously sponsored by STIHL. All opinions are my own.*
A few years ago I stumbled on the American Hosta Society Facebook page and took a look around. People were showing off their amazing Hosta Gardens and I instantly knew I what I wanted to create in that shady tree area.
I have always had Hosta around our home. They’re so easy to care for and you can multiply them simply by spitting and transplanting them all around.
I knew getting this garden bed area ready to plant was going to be a lot of work but I was determined.
Creating a Hosta Garden Bed
I started off my marking the edges of my garden bed with orange spray paint so I knew where where I wanted to work within.
I did an initial raking of leaves and pulled some big weeds by hand.
But this ground needed prepping before we could start planting. I have used my STIHL Yard Boss for cultivating the soil when creating this garden bed, to aerate the yard and to edge the driveway.
I knew it would be up to the task of this neglected bed. I first had to change the attachments to the cultivating blades which is as simple as removing a pin and replacing the attachments.
After putting on my proper safety gear it was time to get started. I took my time to go slow because there are a lot of roots and rocks in our yard.
When I was finished with the Yard Boss I raked it our and it looked so much better.
I also used my STIHL Loppers and the STIHL Garden Pruner to prune our Dog Wood tree. Doing that really opened up the space.
For the plants I grabbed a few shade loving plants at my local nursery but for the Hosta I split and transferred ones I already had. I also put some of the Hosta and plants into pots. To give height variation. Also because it’s so hard to dig in our yard pots make it easy!
After planting we got a load of mulch which makes the plants pop. When mulching mourned Hosta make sure not to put the mulch right up to the plant.
I added pavers to create a small path and then started looking for small rocks to edge the bed. I don’t have them all placed yet but I’ll get there.
This spot went from a neglected part of our yard where I never wanted to go to this beautiful garden and I can’t wait to see how it grows each year. ‘
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