It is now Spring of 2011. My spouse and I are beginning our second year of the creation of a native plants wetlands area in the back yard of our house here in Kentucky. We bought the house a year ago primarily because the back property backs up to a stand of tall old trees which, when full with summer foliage, looks like a dense thick forest. Our first goal upon moving in was to remove the two Koi ponds we inherited and replace them with native soil, leaves and compost. We wanted our yard to be a natural flow right into the forest. With the help of a native plants and restoration expert, Margaret Shea of Dropseed Nursery, we planted a number of water and clay-tolerant plants such as Monkey Flower, Rattlebox, Joe Pye Weed, Tall Ticseed and Orange Coneflower. We now have two raingarden/wetland areas into which the rainwater from the roof and the forest is channeled. We are enjoying this project immensely, as this second year is affording us an abundance of returning plants with all kinds of surprise additions. My blog is a kind of journal of personal life lessons from the garden. As a therapist and an artist/painter, I find much inspiration in gardening and hope you enjoy reading my upcoming reflections as much as I enjoy posting them. I'm not planning to do much "advertising" of my blog, since I'm usually either outside or working in my office, so please feel free to become a "follower" and share this with others if you think they'll enjoy reading it. Please post your experiences with native gardening also. Please visit my nature art and music pages at http://www.singingrockmusic.com/ If you click on the title of this post, you will be instantly directed to the website).
Great start, Annie! Keep up the good work!
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