A couple of years ago I was given an old cement fountain that no longer worked. Right away I could visualize it being used as a planter for succulents. Trouble is it was so heavy I couldn’t move it or even help to move it.
It came apart into 4 pieces and the bottom piece was so heavy it had to be put on a cart and wheeled into the garden. But it finally arrived at its destination in the windmill garden in the summer of 2013.
The old fountain was filled with potting soil and I started planting in the top layer. As it was late in the season I didn’t know what would survive and what wouldn’t.
Here are some different views and different stages.
In 2014 the windmill garden started to get a make over. In April (left photo) I started edging the garden with old cement blocks. By June (right photo) it looked a little different still.
Here’s a closer look at the counter planter at the end of June 2014. The layers are filling in nicely and the trailing creeping jenny is starting to hang over the second layer. The layers aren’t that deep so it was going to be a challenge to find plants that would overwinter.
In May 2015 the garden is taking shape. There are a couple more breeze/cement blocks than last week and all of one side has now been planted with various herbs. The fountain has had a bit of an update … the sedum kamtschaticum has been removed as it got so big it took over the lower level. I’ve filled in some hens & chicks, some creeping jenny and some stringy stonecrop for now. The creeping jenny didn’t survive the winter but thank goodness it grows freely in another part of the garden. I’m going to be looking for some different varieties of plants to add as well. I’ve added mossy stonecrop to the top layer as it seems to survive in the worst circumstances in other parts of the garden. I’ll find out if it will be a trowel and error for my garden updates.
There are lots of plants around the base of the fountain garden … drumstick allium, iris, and daisy. Other plants in the windmill garden are daylilies, heliopsis, coreopsis, bee balm, obedient plant, and chives and of course the odd weed and bit of grass. If we don’t get some rain soon the ground will be rock hard and I won’t be able to do weed out what I don’t want.
The hummingbird and oriole feeders are in the corner of this garden. The hummers have been back this week. but we haven’t seen the orioles yet.
I’m sharing with Mosaic Monday and Tuesday Garden Party.
Changes in the windmill garden
June 2013 July 2014
February 2015 May 2015
