Less is more

I have a tendency to cram a lot of plants into a small space, thinking the density will discourage weeds. It does somewhat, but I find it is also difficult to remove the weeds without disturbing something. So my new philosophy is to limit the varieties I plant in each bed.

Toward that end, I moved some sedum of an unknown variety and some catmint of a questionable variety to the bed under the hawthorn tree. I think the catmint is 'Six Hills Giant'. The mystery sedum is tallish, like 'Autumn Joy', but the scanty blossoms are white and pink. It always gets leggy in its current bed; I'm hoping it will thrive better in more sun.

(I searched my blog for mentions of sedum and came up with nothing that helps identify the mystery sedum. Now I'm wondering if it accidently snuck in with another sedum purchase. I also saw a lot of other sedums I have planted over the years that did not do well at all.)

So that is two types of plants under the hawthorn. The 'Golden Spirit' smokebush has just one, the 'Perfect Purple' crabapple just two. The bed by the front walk will probably end up with two or three, while the purple smokebush may have just one. (I'm not counting spring bulbs.)

The other day I tried to dig up some of the 'Hameln' dwarf fountain grass to transplant it, but the shovel would not penetrate the soil. It doesn't help that the bed used to be covered with lava rock. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, to maybe I will try again on Monday, maybe with other garden tools.

It's hard to believe that it is October already. Some leaves are turning, some are falling, but it hasn't really started here yet. Last night there was a frost warning, so I covered the coleus on the front porch with a sheet. I also purchased some hardy mums that I may try to winter over in the garage.

The underground utilties guys were here this past week, marking the yard so the fence work can begin. I'm anxious to get that taken care of so that I can finish transplanting to the south side of the house.