Hello, my name is Barb Mrgich. I’ve been gardening on the same property for 31 years now and have contributed to GPOD once before. Each year, I usually start a new project or garden area. I started this project in the late summer on a whim when I bought an antique birdbath.
I brought it home and was looking for a good spot for it when I decided it needed to have its own little garden right in front of this hedge. The first thing I did was dig out an outline in the grass to see what I wanted the edge, shape, and size to be.
Next, I dug my outline a little deeper, then pounded some run and crush stone into my little ditch to make a footer for the landscape blocks I had bought. Then I laid my block, trying to be careful to keep it all level. I spent some time shoveling compost out of my bins to fill the area right up to the tops of the block. Then I left the project sit over the winter so that everything could settle.
In the spring when I tried to fill my birdbath, I discovered it just wouldn’t hold water, so I decided to turn it into a planter. Because it is shallow for plants, I used succulents that would handle the dry soil. I was pleased with the results.
I added a mixture of annuals and perennials to complete my new little garden, then had the remaining grass in the area bricked to blend in with the existing patio. I was happy with my results, except that next year I will move those daylilies. They tried to hide the birdbath, and the rabbits ate most of the wave petunias!
Overall, I liked the way the new garden blended into the patio area.
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Comments
Love how this all came about over the purchase of a birdbath! Love the bed & thanks for the inspiration! Enjoy!
I love the shape of the birdbath, I also like the way you've used different size and shape of brick. It also gave me a laugh when you said you had to move the day lilies. My deer would have long since taken care of that problem for you.
Nice find on the birdbath, too bad it wouldn't hold water. Everything turned out in the end. :)
Barb - thank you for documenting your gardening project and sharing it with us! I also enjoyed looking at the link to your other Garden Photo of the Day feature. All of your knowledge and practice has come together to create a terrific garden.
It really did turn out super nice! I love the way you showed how it evolved and grew into a nice design connected to the rest of the garden.
And all inspired by a vintage birdbath!
And I can totally relate to how you will end up digging up some plants and adjusting things...sound like me!
Love that you showed the steps to the birdbath garden.
Great to see this lovely birdbath planting! Years ago in my northern NJ garden, a neighbor had thrown out a lovely concrete birdbath because it had a slight crack and was leaking. I rescued it from the curb and planted it with succulents and a few rock garden plants. Used a combination of potting soil and pebbles. Looked quite similar to yours and I was delighted to see that someone had had the same idea! The bed around mine was planted with Stella d'Ora daylilies, peonies, lace cap hydrangea, bleeding heart, Asian lilies, and a few grasses. Thanks for sharing!
Barb, that antique bird bath makes a gorgeous succulent garden. Love the evolution of the entire garden, and the extension of the brick patio. You did a beautiful job. Enjoy!
Great job!✨✨✨
You created a whole new look just because of a birdbath! How amazing and how beautiful it all turned out to be! Just love everything you did, bricks and plantings!
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