Front Yard Garden Bed Rehab

What perfect weather today, a great day for working in the garden. Today I worked in the garden bed in front of the house. It was quite a chore as I had not done anything in there for a couple of years.

Here are a few before photos:

The tall plants are some overgrown, scrawny Oregon Grape Holly. It, and the Oat Grass are obstructing my angel. This area is also invaded by Vinca, another lovely vine. I did not plant this!!!

This end is full of grass, weeds, and the dreaded ivy. There are 2 clumps of fountain grass that have never done well here.

And here is after - the result of 8 hours of work and 2 trips to the dump!!

Ivy - gone!! (Found the "Mother plant" - will spray it down on Monday.) Fountain grass - gone! Also dug a lot of dandelions out of this end. The daylilies on this end have gone crazy. I decided to leave them for right now and will divide them in the fall. Look at the beautiful curved line of that bed - love it!! I think I am going to plant some flowers in the bird bath.

Uncovered my angel and rediscovered the stepping stones in the middle of the bed that lead to the water hydrant. Got all of that Vinca vine out of there!

Decided to try to rejuvenate the holly by cutting back to about 12 inches. Found a few forgotten hostas that look like they might be in pretty good shape. The little red-leafed plant in the middle is actually a tree - a Japanese Maple. It is still alive, but not really growing. I think I will move it to a spot in the back yard in the wildflower bed.

Now I feel a trip to the garden center coming on. I accidentally sliced the soaker hose with my shovel, but it was pretty old and brittle. I also think this area needs some mulch.