A renovation is a renewal and in this case, out with the old, in with the new. I have been displeased with a couple of spots in the garden for a few years now and I’ve finally taken the bull by the horns and dug out one of the offending areas. The major problem with the bed in question is that an invasive ground cover has been infiltrating my garden from across the fence for a long time now and I didn’t take the trouble to check it early enough. What I should have done was pull it out every spring to keep it under control. However, when I first noticed it, I thought it was quite pretty and I decided to let it be. That was a mistake. I looked it up and it’s called Lamiastrum galeobdolon, or, commonly, yellow archangel. It might not be quite as awful as goutweed but it’s close.
Anyway, I felt the only way to make something of that area was to dig it out completely. Other than the ground cover, there were only some bachelor’s buttons, some forlorn raspberry stalks and various other weedy objects. A couple of weeks ago I started the job and once I finished what I could do in a day, I lay down some black garden cloth to inhibit any growth until I coud get back to finish it and plant some new things.
Today, I dug out the rest of it, trying not to kill a couple of nice plants (including my Joe Pye Weed and a phlox) in the process. I got the brainy idea to move some Japanese anemone into the area I just dug. However, I am an impatient transplanter and I have my doubts whether I got enough of the root system to give the anemone a good chance at life in its new spot. If it survives, I think it will bloom more because it will have a little more sun. I absolutely have to water it copiously in the next few days and weeks because we’re supposed to get a serious heat wave on the weekend. I’m sure by tomorrow I’ll have a good idea whether I killed that poor anemone. However, if so, no great loss as it hasn’t been blooming much in the last few years where it was. I’d like to get a hydrangea to put in the very corner of the yard where I dug all this stuff out to create a nice focal point and anchor.
The hydrangea I planted under the front window is doing nicely, I’m happy to say. The buds that were on it when I bought it are developing and I have hopes that it will do very well there.
For your viewing pleasure, here’s the beautiful female cardinal who frequents our feeder. 
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