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What a glorious day! Raised beds put together and waiting on soil. Crape myrtle tree planted. Maybe that doesn’t sound like a lot, but I am thrilled I got that much done.

The first raised bed, a 4×8 bed from Greenes Fence Company, went together easily under sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-60s. I wanted to see how the bed, made of cedar boards, looked put together before I bought any others. After a quick lunch, it was off to the garden store to look at more raised beds, weed barriers and tomato cages. I went back and forth between attaching another 4×8 bed to the one I already had assembled or putting it separately in another spot in the yard. In the end, I attached it to the current bed, mainly because I wanted to keep all my veggies together, but also because it ended up being the best design for the yard (in my opinion, at least). The 4×8 beds were incredibly easy to put together – almost too easy for what I’m used to!

I also bought a three-tiered 4×4 Greenes bed that I plan on using for flowers. Initially, I was planning on placing it on one on the sides of the backyard, but because of the slope and underground sprinklers, I decided to put it next to the house, between the windows of the master bedroom. I can’t wait to look out those windows and see flowers blooming!

Putting the flower bed there also gave me several other ideas. There’s room on each side of the flower bed for a pot, so I think I’m going to look for a couple that will accent the cedar bed as well as the yellow siding on the house. I think that could really add some color to the backyard. I also am going to look at some shrubs for the sides of the backyard where I opted not to put the 4×8 bed. I think I can find a few shrubs that will fit nicely between the sprinkler heads and accent the stained fence nicely. Off the top of my head I’m thinking photinias.

Husband also helped me plant the pink velour crape myrtle in the corner of the backyard. Excited to see it bloom – garden center worker said it should bloom this summer. Sure hope so! Tomorrow, we will get the rest of the shrubs planted along the side of the house outside the fence. Excited to see how the golden Euonymous and Green Cloud Sage look against the red brick of the house.

Looks like rain is in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, and since the soil for the beds isn’t being delivered until Monday afternoon, I’m thinking Monday night is going to be busy. Hope I can get it all in the beds before the rain hits.