Netty totally inspired me with her triumph and gave me a great idea for the end of the driveway. I can only hope that over time it will look half as good as hers. Thank you , Netty.


Before:



After:

Mel, That is so pretty! You have gotten a lot done there. It looks great!

Thanks , Triss! The weeds, some thorny, some stubborn, were atrocious! and the beautiful white rock ledge was almost completely covered over by dirt and weeds. It's been a long time coming to fix this area up!

Looking good Mel
I'm very flattered that I helped inspire that great looking garden!

Wow what a difference Mel...That looks super....Little elbow grease and some plants and voila! The hard work paid off....that looks like it was meant to be there!

Oh, wow!!!
That looks so good, Mel!
What a big difference!

I love that cabbage looking stuff!

Great job....well done

WOW, Mel that looks awesome! It's perfect! You did a great job on everything!

The rock was there ,Patti, It's a long , gigantic ledge that goes as far almost as the utility pole in the background of that picture. The maple tree growing in the ledge I'm going to tackle, but not until spring. I want the fall foliage out of that before it comes out.The little evergreen in front of that is also growing in the ledge, that I'll leave.

My whole yard is all ledge. In some places the soil could be 3 ft deep, in others it's 6 inches. 90% of all the dirt on my 1.5 acre lot has been trucked in. I've gradually been uncovering it in key places, it's so beautiful. I love rock! Rock rocks!

Here's the back side of the new garden. The sedum and mums were freebies from work, the sedum is all gangly now, but next year will be nice. The mums are 'Victoria', a pretty lavender-pink.



Do you like my rock mushroom?

Here's another ledge I've been working on.

Mel...that looks so good!

If Jiffy ever makes it up there she will steal that rock ledge!

Boy, some people would pay a fortune to have that rock ledge in their yard. I didn't realize it was that large, but it really looks great there and sets it off! It's quite a showpiece! If it is, it's amazing!

Wow, in your second picture you've sure got the makings of an awesome rock garden! Boy, that could really be turned into something fantastic! It looks like you've at least got some dirt to work with there. I'll be anxious to see it when it's done. Actually, I'll be anxious to see it as you're working on it. I think work in progress is always more exciting!

All I can say is WOW!!!! I love what you've done. The mushroom is adorable.

About those last pictures!!! Those rocks are amazing. I can just see coneflowers, succulants, shasta daisies, crocosmia, and other beauties in that area. A water feature would be terrific!!

What a wonderful challange you have. Can I come over and give you a hand??

Hey Mel, I would have to agree with Pburgh about the coneflowers and Shasta Daisies looking great in that rocky area. I think it would enhance the open, natural look! Of course, those are two of my favorite flowers and they really look awesome together.

Gorgeous,Mel!!
I love the flowering cabbage. thinking of getting some of those myself.

wow mel!!! How did I miss this thread???
You've done a fantastic job on both areas so far!
I love the salvia in the second area - maybe add some sedum autumn joy there too?

I also love flowering kale - I've only seen 1 store with it for sale here so far, and it was pretty raggy looking. How long does it grow for you up there? The first time I ever saw it was in a November, and peaking out of snow at Thanksgiving out in East Hampton, NY - it was so pretty I just had to find out what it was!

Can't wait to see more pictures as your gardens come along!

Yeah, how did you miss this! I do that all the time!

Anyway, the red salvia my boss was throwing in the trash. No one was buying it and we had to water it every day. It was in six-packs and so tall, it needed so much water, twice a day! So I took home 24 six-packs and had clumps of it everywhere. The hummers LOVED it.

This is the first year I planted the ornamental kale, everyone up here tells me how great it looks in the winter too! I'll let you know.

WOW AGAIN!!! 24 six packs?!?!?!?

I feel I should contribute a word of caution in terms of landscaping the ends of driveways - if you live along a state route, please be aware that the state owns the right-of-way at the end of your driveway. If you place obstacles (e.g., landscape boulders) at the very end of your driveway, they are encroaching on the state right-of-way and also pose a safety hazard to the traveling public. There is a good chance that someone from your state DOT will come and knock on your door and ask you to remove the boulders further back from the road.

No problem like that here, the whole town is a giant ledge! They don't call it the rocky coast of Maine for nothing. I didn't put any rocks down there, it's all part of the natural ledges that make up my yard. They say we can never have town water system because of all the ledge, so we all have wells and septic tanks of our own here. My ledge doesn't stick out as much as some in the town.

Sorry, I just saw this...It is very cool mel! what a transformation,love the placement of the plants and rocks!Great job!

beautiful, and it gives me ideas for my driveway!

Looks amazing

That looks great, Mel! Wanna come do mine?

Dianna