Let’s Create a Secret Garden! Part 2

I have been transforming the east side of our front yard from grass-edged by flower gardens to what I have been calling a Secret Garden. The grass hasn’t been doing well since our neighbor’s walnut tree shades it most of the day. I finally decided how I wanted it to look and got busy!

Secret Garden Part 1

In part 1, I removed the sod and gave it to a neighbor. I then bought a focal point for the Secret Garden – a 3-tiered, 60″ tall water fountain and created a garden area around it with edging bricks. You can read all about that part of the project here.

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Adding a walkway

Now that I have the bricks set around the fountain area, it’s time to add a pathway between the old garden area and the new one. Here is where the cross-fit training continues….sand, gravel, bricks, flagstone all need to be moved from the truck to the east side yard.

To prevent the grass or weeds from growing into the path, I laid down newspaper. I have used landscape cloth before but have found that newspaper is more effective for weed control. And since we buy it anyway, it’s a good way to repurpose it. After laying it down, I soak it with water then lay the sand on top of it. It’s easier to do this if you work in sections. That way, you aren’t walking over a lot of wet newspaper which will rip it. After all the sand was in place, I raked it to level it out.

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Stepping stones

The next 2 loads were stepping stones. I used flagstone (which is mined locally) and bricks that I bought at Home Depot. I spaced them out on the sand and using extra sand, leveled them.

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Adding gravel

The last truckload was the small rock that would go between the stepping stones. We bought 1/4 yard @ $9. Placing the rocks between the stepping stones helps provide stability and serves to keep them in place. I filled the spaces between the stepping stones then brought the level of the rocks to the top of the flagstone & bricks. The rocks will settle over time.

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Adding plants

I’m sure I’ll be doing some transplanting in the future. But they look great for now, hehe. For the circle around the fountain, I bought 2 spider plants and a couple of flowering ones. I’m looking forward to seeing how they grow.

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Part 1 & Part 2 complete!

Whew! Part 1 took 3 days, approximately 20 hours, for me to remove the sod and a couple of days to arrange the bricks and dig the trenches. Part 2 took 2 days to build the walkway and plant the perennials.

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Next Up

The next step will be to build a picket fence! I will be using reclaimed wood for the fence. I saved the wood last year when the deck floor needed to be replaced. The boards are 2″ x 6″ so I plan to split them in 1/2 for both the pickets and crossbars. I’ve never built a picket fence before…. so stay tuned! I’m so excited!!!

Supplies Used

• Garden wagon
• Garden gloves
• Kneeling pad
• Newspaper
• 1/2 yd paver sand $9
• 1/4 yd gravel $17
• Flagstone – 630 lbs @ .28 = $187
• Bricks – $15
• Perennial plants – $180
• Soil – 2 1 cubic feet bags @ $2.50 = $5

Instructions

• Lay down newspaper and wet with water
• Cover newspaper with paver sand and rake level
• Add pavers, bricks, and/or flagstone
  • Level using more paver sand
• Fill in spaces between stepping stones with small rock or gravel
• Plant perennials

If you need supplies

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