I was originally going to title this Backyard Redesign but honestly I’ve had too much going on and that would be too long of an article so we’ll start with the courtyard. When I bought this house almost four years ago, I said that someday I wanted to add garden beds to the courtyard. That day has finally come!

This winter my dad and I moved many of my roses to the front yard, where they have much better drainage. I only kept Scentimental and Lion’s Fairytale on the sunnier wall in the courtyard. They’re both doing quite well, I’m happy to report!

My dad then roped off where I wanted the beds and used a pickaxe to loosen the soil and remove the grass. He dug a trench and lined the beds with beautiful white stone. I filled the beds in with garden soil and voila! Ready for spring planting. The stone for both beds cost less than $150  so not bad at all for such a transformation.

In early March, I planted ten lavender plants in the beds. I cannot even properly describe how good it smells in my courtyard now! The softest breeze perfumes the whole courtyard with the scent of lavender. I feel like I’m in the French countryside!

I planted two small sky pencils (a variety of holly) in one bed and one large sky pencil in the other. They’re perfect because I didn’t want anything that would be too bushy but I wanted height, particularly to block the unseemly box and wiring that’s plagued my courtyard vibe since I moved in. Someday the sky pencil will block it in entirely, though that will take a while. They’re slow growing.

This might surprise you but I filled the rest of the beds in with annuals for now, because I thought it would be so fun to change the colors out! Plus annuals are super cheap. Don’t be afraid to mix perennials and annuals together. It’s nice to have established plants but also fun to choose some each spring.

I also scored a new umbrella from Pier 1 heavily discounted that makes me feel like I’m at a chic resort in Nice. It’s a giant, 9′ navy umbrella with white fringe. It’s so pretty and absolutely the right size for my courtyard – it almost shades the entire patio!

My courtyard patio is my favorite place to have breakfast and I love looking over and seeing the beds full of flowers. I think the biggest thing that people forget is that you can absolutely update your garden section by section. You don’t have to go in with some massive budget in one big swoop. My yard literally had two trees in it and this one patio when I moved in and has slowly become my own personal Wonderland plant by plant, patio by patio. I’ll tell you about my new charcoal BBQ patio next time!

Happy gardening,

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