Spring Through the Garden

The following photographs capture some of the fleeting moments that made this spring such a remarkable season in the garden. Some showcase vibrant blossoms at their peak, while others reveal the subtle beauty of fresh foliage, morning light, and tender new growth. Together, they tell the story of a garden awakening and beginning another year of growth.

I hope these photographs inspire you to slow down, step outside, and appreciate the beauty that surrounds us. Whether your garden spans several acres or consists of a few pots on a patio, spring offers the same promise: every new beginning starts with a single bud, and every garden rewards those who patiently nurture it.

Getting the Blues

The Reblooming Mountain Hydrangeas along the stroll garden have grown considerably since they were planted here in May 2025.

I have been trying to lower the soil pH to 5.5 or below by applying aluminum sulfate and sulfur. Although the blooms are attractive, they are not nearly as blue as they were when the shrubs were first planted. Achieving that rich blue color will likely require another season of soil amendments and patience.

I've also noticed that the plants have produced fewer flowers this year, so I'll need to reconsider my pruning schedule after the blooms have faded. I may have been pruning at the wrong time and inadvertently removing next season's flower buds.

Even so, I'm very pleased with their growth. They are now large enough to conceal the exposed concrete block foundation of the garage, which makes a tremendous difference in the appearance of the stroll garden.

Overall, this bed within the stroll garden has matured nicely and looks much more attractive than it did just a year ago.

Shuffling Shrubs

I finally decided where to relocate the damaged Pink Azalea (Azalea 'Blaauw's Pink'), which I planted last May near the back gate of the vegetable garden.

It had been severely browsed by deer, forcing me to dig it up and keep it in a bucket until I could find a new home for it.

Unfortunately, the garden suffered another setback when the Golden Dwarf Hinoki Cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Lutea'), which I also planted last May, did not survive the winter. 

By spring, it was approximately 95% dead, most likely due to winter cold or insufficient moisture. It was disappointing, as I had hoped it would become a beautiful addition to the garden.

Its untimely demise left a significant empty space in the bed along the back of the garage—the Guanyin Bed. The azalea fits this location perfectly, but I have growing concerns about the bed as a whole. 

The nearby Crimson Pygmy Barberry (Berberis thunbergii var. atropurpurea 'Crimson Pygmy') and Summer Crush Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla 'Bailmacfive') are not receiving enough sunlight to perform their best. As a result, I plan to redesign the entire bed next year. I also want to remove the old cedar 4×4 landscape timbers that have bordered the bed for nearly 20 years.

That project will have to wait until next season, so for now the azalea will be relocated to this vacant spot. It has already demonstrated remarkable resilience by recovering from the deer damage. While it was growing in the bucket, it also benefited from a bright, sunny location. Planting it behind the garage may allow it to establish well, although the reduced sunlight could limit flowering next season. Even so, I have no better location available in the garden, so this will be its temporary home. 

We'll let it settle in and see how it performs.

Hosta Haircut

The Dragon's Spine bed, which is planted primarily with hosta, has been thriving this spring. 

Back in 2024, I reimagined the bed as a dedicated hosta garden, planting at least 23 different hosta throughout the space.

The plan was simple: let them grow naturally and see how the bed evolved.

2024

By 2025, the results exceeded my expectations. The bed looked fantastic and required very little maintenance beyond routine care.

2025

This year, however, the first signs of overcrowding have begun to appear.

While not every hosta has expanded, most have grown enough that neighboring plants are beginning to overlap. As the leaves compete for space, some plants are no longer displaying their best form, and a few have started to suffer from reduced airflow and crowding.

The long-term solution will come this fall. Many of the hosta will need to be divided, with half of each clump replanted in the bed and the remaining divisions potted into buckets. That should restore adequate spacing, provide another couple of years of relatively low maintenance, and—perhaps best of all—leave me with plenty of bucketed hosta for other projects.

For now, I opted for a temporary fix by selectively pruning some of the overlapping leaves.

Post Prune

Post Prune

The light thinning has opened up the bed considerably. It still looks lush and full, but the plants now have a little more room to breathe, and the overall appearance is noticeably improved.

I also took this opportunity to prune back the Dwarf Maple at the center of the bed.

Doing so provided additional space for hosta leaves and sunlight to access the underside of the tree.

Pot Luck: A New Routine

Over the last few years years, I planted hosta in the two red planters at the edge of the Zen garden. The routine was always the same: plant hosta in the spring, enjoy them through the growing season, and then transplant them into a garden bed in the fall wherever another hosta was needed.

2025

2023

Over time, however, the garden has become well stocked with hosta—especially the Dragon's Spine Bed. As a result, I've simply run out of places to plant them.

So this year I decided it was time for a change in routine.

While visiting a local nursery, I came across several Hardy Small-Leaf Rhododendrons (Rhododendron × 'Purple Gem') that had been marked down. Since I've never grown rhododendrons anywhere in the garden, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give them a try.

'Purple Gem' is a naturally compact, dwarf variety that typically grows to about 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide. With occasional pruning, I should be able to keep the plants even smaller and well suited for the containers. I repotted them into larger buckets with an amended soil mix, but if they eventually outgrow the pots, I should be able to find a permanent home for them somewhere in the garden.

My plan is to overwinter the pots by sinking them into one of the vegetable garden beds, then return them to the red planters next spring. With a little luck, they'll reward me with another display of vibrant purple flowers just as May arrives.

Under Fire

Once the gazebo floor was finished, there were still ten 16-by-16-inch pavers left over. Rather than letting them go to waste, I decided to use nine of them to create a solid base beneath the nearby fire table.

Because a compacted gravel foundation extends throughout the courtyard, the same installation method used for the gazebo worked well here. A layer of leveling sand was spread over the gravel, the pavers were carefully set in place, plastic edging was installed to hold everything securely, and the joints were filled with paver sand.

Unlike the gazebo project, no additional border pavers were needed. The base had to be sized carefully—wide enough to support the fire table, yet small enough to allow the Adirondack chairs to remain comfortably positioned around it. Since there were not enough leftover pavers to cover a larger area, keeping the footprint compact was both practical and visually appropriate.

The project was completed in a single day, including power washing the pavers, resulting in a stable, level platform for the fire table. It was another satisfying way to repurpose the old walkway pavers.

One unexpected consequence, however, is that the straight, level paver base now highlights another project waiting for attention. The nearby Zen garden wall, which has gradually leaned over the past 17 years, looks noticeably more uneven by comparison. 

Repairing it will require a more extensive reconstruction than this project, so for now, that improvement will have to wait.

Recycle, Reuse

After completing the new front-yard walkway, it was time to find a new purpose for the old pavers.

The original walkway consisted of 46 16-by-16-inch pavers, giving us several options for reuse. The most practical choice was to create a solid base for the 10-by-10-foot gazebo in the courtyard.

For more than a decade, the gazebo floor consisted of an outdoor rug. 

2019

While the synthetic rug was easy to power-wash each year, replacing it with a permanent paver base seemed like a much better long-term solution.

Fortunately, beneath the rug was a solid foundation of crushed gravel. Rather than starting from scratch, I spread a layer of leveling sand over the existing base to compensate for the gravel's uneven surface before laying the pavers.

To maximize the base so it extended fully beneath the gazebo, I purchased 24 additional half-sized pavers to create a border around the perimeter. Because the original pavers had weathered and darkened over nearly 20 years, the new border pieces were noticeably brighter. Instead of looking out of place, the contrast created an attractive ribbon effect that nicely frames the base. The half-sized pavers was omitted at each corner to accommodate the gazebo's post supports.

After carefully placing and leveling each paver, 36 total, I installed plastic edging around the perimeter to hold everything securely in place and help prevent the joint sand from washing away.

Before sweeping sand into the joints, I power-washed the pavers to remove years of accumulated dirt and grime. The cleaning made a remarkable difference, restoring much of their original appearance.

Overall, the project was a complete success. The pavers were installed in a single day, and the joints were finished with a second application of sand on the following day.

The transformation has been well worth the effort. The gazebo looks more finished, the floor is now level, and moving furniture is much easier. 

Best of all, the entire project cost less than $100 for the plastic edging, additional pavers, and paver sand—a small fraction of what a professional installation would have cost.