Imagine the horror I put Margaret, a vegetarian for more than thirty years, through when I posted all about our chicken butchering. But, in great Margaret fashion her reply to me was, “That chicken thing was harsh, but interesting. Wow.” Despite our differences, Margaret and I share a love for humor, the great outdoors and animals. I just happen to eat the animals.
Margaret is a busy woman especially in May when she hosts a huge garden tour. Hundreds of people travel to her little piece of paradise to take in the beauty of her labors. For more than twenty years Margaret has been working on her gardens. She’s perfectly honest about her failures and successes, which came in handy when she began to guide me through plant selection. And I was humbled every time I got a new email from her asking about my progress with the landscaping project. I also realized there was no way in hell I was going to be able to get out of doing this project.
Margaret and her tractor. Try not to make fun of her for wearing a necklace. Look at her plants!
First Margaret wanted to know specifics about the area that would be planted, how high, how wide, what zone, sun or shade, what colors. how do we use the area, is there heavy foot traffic or paths?
I explained that I didn’t want the bushes to be too tall or they would overpower the porch and block the view out my dining room window. We needed to stay below six feet and I didn’t want anything that would require regular trimming because I hate sculpting bushes and I have more important things to do, like blog. The spot I wanted to plant was mostly shade, zone 7 and we have no gutters on our house so when it rains….it pours, but there is sufficient drainage. I also wanted to stay away from any contemporary landscaping and be true to the old farmhouse look. We use the porch a lot to entertain and we set up tables on the basketball court when we have a large crowd. We needed room for circulation and to be able to maneuver easily from the side of the house to the back porch. I didn’t really have a preference on colors as long as it didn’t clash with the porch. I sent Margaret a link to a local nursery to peruse their plant selections, told her to take her time, then I sat back and thought that Margaret would send me a list of plants to go purchase and we would be done.
Instead I got an email from Margaret telling me that we needed to talk on the phone. I was going to have to call Margaret. It’s one thing to email a person, but talking on the phone? That’s like meeting the person and shaking their hand. So, I sent her this email to give her fair warning:
Hi Margaret,
Yes I’m typing you an email at the ungodly hour of 2am. Drinking iced coffee at my son’s baseball game was not the wisest decision, but I am getting a lot done on this here computer.Anyway, I’m charging up my cell phone, because my house phone got hit by Swine Flu and all we get is a busy signal. The guys can’t get out here to fix the line until later in the week. But, you don’t care about that. I’m just warning you that I’m going to call you tomorrow. So be prepared. I have a western Kansas accent which means I used to say Warshington, but going to college broke me of that. Also, I can’t get my mower started and my yard looks like hell, so I really need to go to work on that spot with your help. I think it’s going to be over 100 degrees here tomorrow…burrrr.
Talk to you soon. Really.
And that’s just a small sampling of the insane emails I have sent her. I busied my children with pitting a large bowl of cherries from our orchard grabed a pen and some paper and called Margaret Roach. She answered the phone, “Chicken Girl? Is that you? I don’t know anyone else from Kansas that would be calling me.” And now, I’m known as Chicken Girl. We were just starting to talk about Viburnum and Hydrangeas when I hung up on her, “Margaret? Margaret? Are you there?” OH CRAP! I just hung up on Margaret Roach! I called her back again and asked her if something was wrong with her phone and we talked about Dogwoods and ferns and Fothergilla and I hung up on her again, at least four times this happened and it was my cellphone each time. It’s a good thing that Margaret is patient and compasionate towards the irritatingly annoying bloggers in this world and I was really glad I remembered to take notes.
We started digging up the yard in preparation of planting. My goal now was to do a few bushes by the porch steps, a few bushes to screen the back concrete porch and prepare the way for underplantings as directed an inspired from this post on successful underplanting and this one on the area a year later. I decided to take my notes to the nursery and look at the plants that Margaret thought would fit the area. Ater five trips back and forth to two nurserys we decided on three Little Lamb Hydrangeas for the spot by the steps and three Fothergilla to put back by the concrete patio. We also brought home one very beautiful red twig Dogwood that I thought we would plant in the adjacent area, but now that we have the area cleared, I’m thinking differently.
The total for the seven plants was $165 dollars. So, a bit more than my original $100 project, but we also expanded it quite a bit. We’ll fill in the blank spots with some ground cover that Margaret has offered to send me this fall from her abundant supply and as I save money for our gardening, we’ll fill in with a few other plants that I loved like the Viburnum and Limelight Hydrangea. For now, the color pallette is white and green to simplify all the business of the porch detailing. In the fall the foilage on these plants will burst with robust reds that should look beautiful with the surrounding trees.
Now, let’s walk through the process with pictures, shall we?
We tore out the winding brick path and expanded the planting area by removing all the grass around the tree making way for what Margaret calls “mosaic planting”.
This is what is used to look like. The lava rock was used to fill a couple of holes in my driveway. The brick will be used for a dreamy patio with a built-in fire place and it will be finished just in time to celebrate my 85th birthday.
We chose Little Lamb Hydrangea for their small stature. They should get to be around 4X5, so they won’t overpower the porch. And look how beautiful the flowers are. So lovely. They cost $30 per plant.
This is the Fothergilla or a bottle brush if you will. They will get to be around 5X5 and make a nice screen to hide our grilling area although that might take a few years.
We bought the smaller plants, they cost $15 per plant. Their flowers will all add nice texture to contrast the hydrangea. Hey, Margaret I haven’t taken the tags off my plants yet, they’re the Minnie Pearl of plants, how badly does that annoy you? Oh, I love to annoy Margaret.
We unloaded the plants and placed them far enough away from the roof where the rain pours down and far enough apart to allow them to fill in as they grow. It’s amazing what three plants can do for a small area. Please ignore the dismantled board on the porch….it’s on the “TO-DO” list that will be done before the big birthday bash I mentioned earlier.
Guess how I used my feed bags? Yep. Weed barrier. Thanks for that idea, you all are so smart. Look at my chicken helping to spread the mulch. My animals are so helpful.
We hauled home three truck loads of free city mulch and covered all the bags. I also placed soaker hoses around all the new plants, because I’m such a smart person and I don’t forget anything. I’m all about the details.
Which makes me wonder how I let this happen. I had been soaking my new plants everyday. Sadly, the hose around this plant must have had a kink in it. It just about dried up and died before I realized what was happening. It was not a very happy moment for me. Poor Little Lamb.
Three Little Lambs all in a row.
Three Fothergilla spaced just so.
I know, I’m so cute. Now the thing about gardening is this; you need some patience. If you are into instant gratification, you are going to need to spend huge American dollars on your landscaping, but if your willing to start small and fill in as you can then you will have the pleasure of watching your garden grow and change and have the satisfaction that you worked very hard to make it that way. Can I get an AMEN?!
I’ll add some ground cover around the tree and some more large plants when I can afford them, but I’m so happy with what we have started.
Before.
After.
Notice all the plants have been removed from that spot on the right. I’m pretty sure we dug out enough Yucca roots to supply the world. Please let me know if you want ten million Yucca plants, I can hook you up. We decided against planting the Dogwood in that spot because it was so nice to have the uncluttered space and when the brick patio gets done I will sit in my wheelchair and admire the open spaces while my great-grandchildren run under the old oak tree.
Before.
After.
We’ll throw grass seed on the bare spot this fall. Next year I’d like to start some roses on the fence you see at the bottom of the picture, wouldn’t that be pretty?
I owe Margaret a ton of thanks for guiding me through this. She really helped me see the big picture and she did it all from New York even after I begged her to come to Kansas and pick out the plants for me. I promised her food and entertainment and a futon to sleep on, but for some reason she never took me up on the offer. I think it might have been all the pork and chicken I told her I would feed her. Regardless, I had a wonderful time getting to know her and working on this project. Thanks Margaret, you’re wonderful.
Links for this post:
Margaret’s toughest ground covers.
Margaret’s spring garden tour slideshow.
Go ahead ask Margaret, she won’t mind.
Part I of Margaret’s adventure with April
Need a Chicken Doctor?
Contact 
I love your home. I could move right in. My dream is to live on what I dub a microfarm. I live now on an acre in a subdivision, can have chicken, but have a family of red tail hawks and owls living in the back woods, so they would be doomed. I want a garden, clothesline, chickens, so on……
Your landscaping is beautiful. I want your porch.
Laughing my butt off! The plants look wonderful. I’m so glad you can still see the skirt around the house, I love that skirt so much!
So funny…! Your yard looks great! I love the Little Lambs – so beautiful. HOpefully that one will spring back!
Wow! What a change. 6 plants and a different look! We’ve done the bit at a time landscaping also. Some I can seperate others…die and need replaced. You know by the time the plants are to tall, they will have invented extra options for your wheel chair that will raise you up, let you chase after those great grands with a stick when they run thru your garden! Nice work…just please tell me the soaker hoses are under the feed bags?
Yes, yes Katie the hoses are under the feed bags, that part I got right.
Great plant choices. Congrats on finishing the job. That is where I get stumbled up. I have a grand idea, get started and then…poof, my mind wanders to another project.
It has taken me 3 years to get the gardens at my house done, and I’m not so sure it is finished.
Charity
I never thought that reading about a garden project could be so funny….I’m pulling for you to get that patio ready for your 85th!
I love that House Skirt MORE than Renovation Therapy!
As you were planting, I kept thinking please don’t cover up the house skirt. The little Lambs do add a feel softness to your home. Looks wonderful.
And Margaret, I promise i will not hang up on you if you help out at the Kudzu Jungle. Well it will be a bit, the Kudzu has to die first.
Not only will the feed bags keep the weeds out, they’ll help attract worms. Now, if you’re done with Margaret, I’ll be happy to take her. Cause I’m nice like that.
April,
You are one person who can make me laugh out loud and I am by myself. You are so funny.
Your landscaping is really very pretty…I am glad that you are keeping the farm house theme.
My only complaint about your blog is that it is too short. I truly enjoy going online every day and checking your blog.
Blessings to you,
charlotte
Dear Minnie Pearl,
Um, that is not a necklace, but my mala, the traditional ancient prayer beads that were the precursor to the more familiar rosary, 108 beads…and I never leave home without them (even on the tractor).
I especially like the parts about “WE started digging…” and so on, but all I see is Clay, shovel in hand. Apparently you are already at the advanced-intermediate gardener stage, where you get others to wield the heavy tools. Good student! (In the super-advanced stage, my stage, you buy the tractor with the loader.)
And I’m with Charlotte: You slay me, Chicken Girl. (Now, don’t go sharpening those poultry-and-pig butcher knives, I mean that in the idiomatic sense.) Peace, sister, peace.
It looks so good. It is amazing what a few plants do to make such a change.
Your place is adorable.
I love it! And I love how your chickens help. My chickens help me, too. That’s why a couple of my beds are totally devoid of plants–because the chickens so thoughtfully scratched them all out. I think they talked to your chickens and they are expecting Margaret to help us, too. Thanks, Chicken Girl! Um, what’s Margaret’s number? I need to call and hang up on her a few times, too.
Great story telling! And I love how this project worked out!
We got a notice from the city sanitation dept. last week telling us we had to remove “litter, debris, and trash” from our back yard or face a hefty fine. Trouble is, I’m not sure what they’re talking about. My husband dug up our back patio last fall and wheelbarrowed the broken concrete down behind the garage in two wall shaped mounds. I think he has plans for it. He collects all kinds of neat stuff and makes them into sculpture in our yard – and actually gets lots of compliments from passersby. But sometimes when he’s in between projects, our driveway and yard get a little cluttered.
So now I’m thinking if we get Margaret to recommend some things that grow over 6 feet, maybe the neighbors won’t see the clutter and will stop complaining. Or maybe we should just move to the country.
I read the title and started reading the post, thinking: “Is she writing about this stuff because she is trying to make me hate her? She is trying to get rid of me isn’t she!?” (Yes, it’s all about me, me, me) Reading the part about buying six shrubs and a DOGWOOD for $165 made me burst into sobbing tears. Around here a dogwood alone is half that amount. Never mind that you have Margaret Roach as your personal landscaping consultant, you also have a farmhouse with a wrap-around porch!
Go ahead and write about your perfect farmhouse life with your profusely blooming hydrangea {{sniff}}, you can’t get rid of me that easily.
The sight of all that bare dirt makes me want to load the car with bedding plants and drive all the way (from California) to your house to plant them. I don’t have a square inch of planting space left in my own yard. Let’s see, white… Candytuft, Shasta daisies, Banksia, white lilies, white impatiens, begonias, Alyssum, even white marigolds. Chickens especially love to keep the Alyssum trimmed. But you should only have white chickens running around the yard, to keep the color theme.
I love that skirt more than Renovation Therapy or that other Jenni, so there! The landscaping is lookin’ good, April! I adore hydrangeas and viburnum. Don’t forget the peonies. They’re such wonderful, old fashioned plants, perfect for a sweet Kansas farmhouse. (Gosh I love farmhouses!) I can see all those things you’d like to add, too, especially an antique or heirloom rose variety.
Your dirt is beautiful! I am experiencing terrible soil envy looking at your dirt! Oh…You lucky girl. Oh my gosh……sigh….and the plants are beautiful, too. I need to move to Kansas.
Jill (mired in red Georgia clay)
You have a great start on the garden. Now your plan should be to become friends with gardeners in town. Perhaps even join the local garden club. Then, you will be the recipient of more plants than you can plant, when they thin out theirs. My gardens have always been friendship gardens, lots free plants from friends. I splurge on the big stuff, but have filled in with iris, black eyed-susans, mums, lily of the valley to name a few, all free, all hardy and easy to plant. Not to mention, how much I enjoy working in my garden and remembering who gave me the plants.
And you and Clay are really funny, I love visiting your blog.
Those plants are beautiful!! Did she say what they will look like in the winter months?
Adorable post! Gorgeous after photos! Congrats on both.
Ah, don’t sweat it. I hang up on her all the time.
Ha! Love this post and this site. No wonder you two crazy chicks get along so well.
Watch out. You’re going to get hooked and will keep asking Clay to dig up more areas so you can plant more,after some hang-up consults with Ms. Roach, of course. Next thing we know, you post about landscaping around (WELL outside)the pigpen.
I think your yard is just lovely.
I just read the chicken butchering entries, too. We raise our own chickens, and have since our kids were little, so they are quite comfortable with it and very helpful. Well, except for the 2 year old – she’s not helpful at all! My 7 year old, 2 summers ago, looked at the turkeys with their feathers not filled out because of the heat, and commented “Look, they’re showing their delicious meat!” Her and her brothers were also picking out which ones looked the “juiciest”. Your kids will get there, too!
you go girl. you can landscape even cheaper if your willing to let things grow from small sizes. It looks lovely. And yeah you are the Chicken girl. All that blood was a bit over the top. You made vegetarians out of some us. Not.
So funny. I love, love your home and pictures. I have what I term OCFD (Obsessive Compulsive Flower Disorder). I am retired Special Ed. and live on a working farm. I once gave advise to a Sub. that wanted her challenged brother to have a project of raising turkeys. She then renamed me “Turkey Lady”, not a name I would have chosen. I can hear the calls echoing from the halls now, ” Hey Turkey Lady!” Have a great green day.
It looks fantastic! I can already see you by the the brick patio, and you’re much younger, wearing a sassy hostess apron, serving trendy drinks from a off a retro plater. Send me an invite.
you better make sure your dog isn’t peeing on your dried out hydrangea.
I love the plantings, the hydrangeas are just perfect. It’s amazing how a few plants can make such a huge difference. How about some crocus(s)for spring color?
April, invite me to your 85th! I’ll be the ripe old age of, oh, 100…
I was at the gym today and picked up an old copy of Martha Stewart’s magazine. When I turned to the first couple of pages and saw the picture of Margaret Roach, I was almost compelled to shout out, “Hey, I know her!” Thankfully, I refrained. (I only “felt” like I knew her because of your witty writing about her.)
And by the way, I also adore Clay’s writing. The two of you need to do a co-authored book on some sort of subject about something. (I hope that was helpful)
I must say I agree with Margaret. As a vegetarian of many many years, I just cannot read any of your posts about killing and eating animals.
Unlike Margaret, I can kill a garden with one look.
And when I read that you had called Margaret Roach, I can visions of you saying, “Oh, you roach! Crawl under the stone you came from…!”
[...] of April, the happy chicken-butcherer of Coal Creek Farm has written not one but two posts on how she met Margaret Roach, learned a lot and improved her yard. It’s a must-see [...]
Is looking good April…I am glad about the way you are using the bags.! Now I want those plants!
Why Jenni in Kansas, what makes me “That OTHER Jenni” ?
Sigh…..always an outsider.
I’ve been catching up with your blog. Thanks for the info on Margaret Roach. Love her site. I hope you’ll give us an update on this area this year so we can see the progress of your plantings. Have a good day!!