The first things that I think will make a noticeable difference in my landscape is redoing the flower bed on the outside wall of the garage. Currently, there are a lot of bulbs in this bed, mostly Crocosmia that are so overcrowded that they don’t bloom anymore or have very few blooms. I would love to dig this bed up, replant some of the Crocosmia bulbs and then fill in with some other plants that will flower at different times of the year.

In digging this bed up, I’ll need to be very careful. The power meter and the cable meter are both on this side of the house. I’m not as worried about the power line, as it should be buried way deeper than I plan to dig; however, the cable line may not be so deep, so I’ll need to be very careful not to cut that as I dig.

To be safe, I’ll call 811 to have them come out and locate the lines in that area.  Calling 811 will allow me to make sure there aren’t any other utilities in that area before I begin to dig. An added benefit is that I’ll know where to be especially careful so I don’t lose my internet while I’m fixing the flowerbed.

Now is the perfect time to plant winter flowering bulbs like anemone, cyclamen, snowdrop, daffodils, and scilla along with spring flowering bulbs including ornamental onions, crocus, Spanish bluebells, hyacinth, and spring iris. I probably can’t get all of those into this one garden, but I can pick a few to plant there for a long and colorful winter and spring.