Designing the Side Garden

The side garden in 2012:

The side garden in 2010:

Our side garden has been a struggle ever since we moved here 12 years ago.  It's wet and filled with roots.  In 2010, I declared it a "garden" after grass refused to grow in the space, and then spent a fair amount of time reading garden design books and setting out a plan for the space.  I purchased a fern and hosta garden for the shady area, along with some other plants......and nothing grew.  Then, I just decided to move things from other parts of the yard.  That worked.  So much for the official plan! 

I then decided to plant blueberries long with the hostas, lirope, and other plans in the space.  When the new bushes arrived and I told Jeff where I needed holes dug, he politely refused, with a decent reason since the roots in the area make it just too difficult to dig proper holes.

So, this side area remains as it is...a hodgepodge of plants that like the space.   It's so much better than it was two years ago when I decided to tackle the area and turn it into a garden.  The blueberries, though, necessitated a move of our entire front picket fence to place them within our fenced in yard.  It might have been easier to dig in the side garden with all the roots!