Ivy Bed

Another new bed!
Even thought I went furniture shopping with Mom today, this bed is not a sleigh bed, poster bed or even the pencil bed that I’ve been eyeing for some time. This winter I will have the pleasure of designing another gardening spot, about 15’ by 5’ between the driveway and the house, with the bay window jutting into it. Until yesterday, this little piece of land was filled with ivy, which looked lovely against the brick façade of the house, but it kept trying to sneak into the house by creeping through the windows.

So this week I cut the ivy back to the ground. Cut is actually much too dainty of a word for this activity. I used a garden knife, clippers, and a mini-mattock. Despite the tools, my knuckles are raw from scraping the brick. The next step is to eradicate the ivy by spraying and/or digging. The dense woody roots may require use of a pickaxe! Once clean, I can amend the soil, probably with shredded leaves, so next spring I will be ready to plant.

As the bed rests this winter, I’ll be snug inside dreaming of how I will use this good earth. It segues into my cottage garden, so I will need to keep a similar style. Height is needed between the garage doors and the bay window. I’m thinking about a trellis with clematis or roses, tall grasses, or perhaps a columnar evergreen for winter color. I’ve decided to put window boxes around the bay window. Not only will they be attractive accents in the landscape, it will improve our view from the inside.

The bed is limited to 5’ in width by the house and the driveway. Actually, it is more like a parking lot. It has bugged me for years. They could have put a parking pad on the other side of the driveway, but they chose to put it in front of the house. I've asked Steve to rent a jack hammer and dig it up for flower gardens. He responds with either an incredulous look or “Put it on the list.”