Low maintenance garden... and the kindness of neighbors

In 2007 we moved from a small house on 1/4 acre packed into a growing neighborhood into a mid sized house with 1 acre of land. We are on a dead end road and have open acreage behind us giving the illusion of more space. Della Mountain is the backdrop for our growing garden. When we moved in we were blessed with mature landscaping and large expanses of green grass. Spruce and Aspen trees provided privacy and shade and we had a berm filled with oriental poppies. Our first spring here I put in a vegetable garden. I mapped out the area our existing sprinklers hit on the edge of our lawn and then fenced it in using recycled 2x4’s from a neighbor who had torn out an old deck. I dug out weeds and quack grass and collected river rock to define the planting beds. My husband and I then literally hauled tons of flagstone from the side of a mountain to create paths and walkways. Another neighbor gave me my first perennials, daisies (my favorite flower) and purple iris which I flanked the garden with. I slowly added in ground cover to fill in around the flagstone. Over the years I expanded the garden, adding more areas for veggies and perennials. I created a beautifully intricate and time consuming garden. The tedious weeding between the flagstone could take up to 6 hours alone. For years I didn’t mind the hours spent weeding and maintaining the garden but as life got busier I realized that it wasn’t very practical. We live in a mecca for outdoor recreation. I could spend 6 hours weeding or I could spend that time hiking, running, fishing or paddleboarding. I decided the latter was more enjoyable.

Last spring, with a heavy heart, I tore out my entire garden. Moving out the tons of flagstone and river rock and digging up all the ground cover. I leveled out the ground with a shovel, laid down old carpet and cardboard and built 5 raised beds using lumber from an old fence a friend tore down. I hauled in several truck loads of bark mulch to cover the cardboard/carpet, installed drip lines to the beds and planted veggies and flowers. Viola, low maintenance garden. It’s a very different look but beautiful in its own way.

Fourteen years later my garden is still enclosed by my salvaged 2x4 fence and surrounded by an abundance of daisies and iris. My new/used raised beds will be filled with veggies and flowers this summer ready to share with our community in our U-pick farm. It has been years of trial and error, hard work, and the kindness and generosity of neighbors that has made our property what it is today.