For anyone who has been following me for a while, you may remember a while back I wrote a post about creating a secret garden. I completed phase one back then, and created a Pinterest page to keep track of my vision. If you’d like to follow me on Pinterest, here’s the link. Anyhooooo….fast forward three years, and I still have that vision, it just hasn’t gone any farther. Life gets in the way, and there’s always another project to be done. But this year I really, really want to attempt to dig out the three useless rosebushes in the perennial bed….if my back and shovel will hold out. And while I’m at it, maybe it’s time to give some more thought to my ‘secret garden.’ I’ve been trying to really formulate the vision in my head, and I feel as if I need to determine the nature of the path first in order to establish the ‘lines’ of the garden. So, guess what I’ve been doing? Researching cheap and easy ways to make a garden path. Because, you know….that whole budget thing. Yup, it’s always there, lurking around every corner. Via I don’t want anything fancy, just a simple country path. I have some leftover paving stones from a couple of other garden projects, so I may just use those to line the path, like in this photo. Via The only problem is, I’m not sure how many paving stones I have left…I may not have enough for this. We’ll see….fingers crossed. Via Alternately, I have about a billion big stones that have been dug out of the ground that need to find a home….I could always use them as edging. Thank God for Bee, that’s all I can say about that. Via My basic plan is to figure out the shape of the path, lay cardboard down along it to kill the grass/weeds, cover it with landscape fabric, run a border along either side and fill it in with either gravel or mulch. Easy peasy, right? Well, it will be labor intensive, but at least I’m not digging. Via I want the path to lead from the driveway up near the garage to a small sitting area under the big maple tree. On either side of the path will be plantings, similar to the above photo, and hopefully I can completely eliminate what (barely) passes for a lawn in this area. This is the area I’m looking to revamp, as viewed from my deck. These photos are from my Secret Garden Post….unfortunately right now there’s still snow on the ground and not a bit of green to be seen in the garden. Here’s a basic idea of what I want to do….but I do not want a straight path, I want curves and movement. I want this to be a place I love spending time….not just a place I hate mowing. Via There will be an arbor at some stage of the path, which I will make out of saplings I cut from the woods. I did the very same thing in a previous garden, and I loved it. There’s a great guide on how to do it in this post. Since my house is surrounded by forest, there’s no shortage of saplings nearby for me to use for that project. Source Unknown It’s going to be a big project, and no doubt I will need to work in phases to get it completed. I don’t even know if I’ll complete it in one season…chances are I will not. But I think I’m ready to at least get started. Do you have any big projects in the works this spring? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sharing at: Chasing Quaintness Celebrate Your Story A Stroll Through Life Inspire Me Tuesday My Wee Abode Homestyle Gathering

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