# Help with my flowerbeds



## GPayne (9 mo ago)

In the process of getting my grass ready for spring, and currently have these horrid rocks and a flower bed that in my opinion isn't up to par. 
I'm thinking take the rocks out and create a natural edge, remove the bushes that I think look awful, remove the monkey grass, remove the dead roses that were dead when I moved in. Keep the Crepe Myrtle and this is where I'm unsure. What bushes or plants would you all use? I'm debating on using River rock over the black mulch because yellow jackets seem to burrow in the mulch and I'm tired of getting hit by them 🤣







This is the idea of river rock I was thinking!


THOUGHTS?!


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## potatochip (May 28, 2020)

If it were mine I might do as you suggest by ripping out the rocks and making a nice, clean live edge where the grass meets the bed. Remove the unwanted bushes and ornamental grasses. Spray out the existing weeds and then buy like 2 bails of peat moss. Till the peat moss in to the soil and plant some nice annuals. It would look great and give you a nice punch of color.


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## ScottW (Sep 16, 2019)

If it was me I'd get rid of that crepe myrtle. Planting trees that close to your house is asking for trouble in general, and it's obvious it's been hacked back to the point of no longer resembling the natural form of a crepe myrtle because some noob planted a tree that would grow 30 feet tall and 15 feet wide within 2 feet of the house. You do want something there to soften the corner of the building, but I'd make it a shrub instead of a hacked-back tree.

Agree on going with a live edge but I'd keep it mulched though. Entire beds of river rock aren't my thing, but mulch is also better for moisture retention and easier to deal with than rocks when you decide to plant new stuff, which will happen by choice or by necessity. If yellow jackets are a problem there are granular insecticides you can sprinkle in the bed, and more concentrated things if needed.

Spray/pull/dig out anything unwanted or dead, take stock of how much space you have to work with. Then drive around your neighborhood looking to see what's colorful in spring, summer, and fall and try to mix it up so you've got some interest all year. Daffodils are normally one of the first things up for us, but a freak warm spell in March followed by a later hard freeze I think may have tricked/killed those blooms this year. Tulips don't seem to work well in our area. Hyacinths do okay. I've got dianthus flowering now, azaleas are going bonkers, then the Russian sage (salvia) will start flowering followed by yellow day lilies in summer. Everything we have in the ground is perennials be it bulbs or shrubs. We have annuals in hanging baskets off the porch... I usually go with petunias because they flower until fall frost.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

I agree with @ScottW. The crepe myrtle is too close to the house. I'd stick with mulch instead of the rocks. Rocks are too hard to dig in when you do anything in the future. They also retain heat. I suggest a mass planting of something, preferably a perennial, in front of bushes that don't get too big. Check out catmint.


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