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We are currently in the process of landscaping our yard and that includes a garden design! We have so may things planned like seed starting, garden boxes, garden pathway made out of materials we already own, and a birdhouse tree!

Starting Seeds:

I’ve never started my own seeds before and was just planning on going to our local nursery right down the road and getting all of our garden plants but that sure adds up quick!

I truly have never had so much joy from a hobby before I couldn’t stop peeking over throughout the day to see if anything would pop up! After only 4 days I got the first sprout and everything kept popping up shortly after! Seriously impressed with these seeds!

This is the label maker I use and it worked so well! You use your phone to connect to it and pick your fonts, size, etc. These labels are also waterproof and keep each row organized!

Garden Beds:

With wood being so pricey nowa days I tried looking at all kinds of ways to make garden beds but we wanted something that would last. I planned out 8 garden beds and found it was cheaper to get 12x12x2 boards.

With all of our boards ready to be cut we needed 2 boards per garden bed. We only made one cut per board cutting off 3 ft and attaching them making 9x3 ft beds.

For our layout and space, I wanted them to be longer vs. wider which would also make it easier to walk around.

Filling the Beds:

We tried putting what we had on hand like dead branches and leaves we saved from the fall but didn’t have as much as we’d hoped. We heard you can get loads of compost from the dump so that’s what we did! It was $15 a load and it took two loads to fill up four beds. We put some raised bed soil on top to mix in and make the soil rich.

I watered them down through each layer and only started with filling 4 but will finish the rest this week!

This is how our garden/yard looks but below is the plan of how I intend it to look once all finished!

Garden Design:

Arches: I found these arches to connect the two beds and allow zuchinni, watermelon, or cucumbers to climb up! They’re really handy and can be wider (like mine) or be taller and narrower.

* Updated Picture *

Pathway: For our pathway, we will cut wooden discs from stumps and fill them in between with clovers or woodchips!

I decided to try putting a few little starters into the beds just to see how they’d do since we’ve had nice weather but if nothing comes of them I’ll still have plenty! I’m going into gardening with a total experimental mindest so I can learn as much as possible, hope for the best, but expect the worst.

Birdhouse Tree:

We had to cut down a tree that was sick and dying and also not naitve to our area. It would have been $500 to have them chop up the trunk and roots so I decided I could use it for something and had them leave it. It took a few months for us to figure out what to use it for and it was definitely a huge eye sore but then it hit us!….Birdhouse tree!

We plan to cover our stump with birdhouses and vines and get a whimsy look in addition to our garden!

* Inspiration *

I found this adorable strawberry birdhouse at Joans and decided it would be our first addition! We drilled a small hole in the back so we could drill it onto the tree.

Hopefully this post helps you get an idea or two and I hope you keep following along with our garden adventure!

xoxo,