This past summer, we had an absolutely amazing deck built in our back yard. We have spent so much time out there, and it's sort of become my happy place. I love this deck. Behold the splendor (this was taken in June, the day it was finished):
And no, we didn't build it ourselves. The hubby and I are both handy, but this would have taken us forever. We let the professionals handle this one. However, when they were done, we were left with this beautiful deck that needed some landscaping around it. We put that off, because the summer was busy with vacations and lots of fun family activities. At one point, we came close to spending a good chunk of money on some plants at the store, but we never actually did it. And I'm glad, because it turned out that we were sitting on a veritable gold mine of plants. Enter: the hosta!
These plants grow all over the place, and we have tons of them in our yard already. Tons!! They all have pretty purple flowers like this one. And, since they grow from rhizomes, you can split mature plants apart into a bunch of smaller ones, turning a few old plants into lots and lots of new ones!
Right after we had our deck built, we also had some fencing put in. As a result of the fence placement, we had three hosta plants that were no longer located where we could really see them. So they were the perfect candidates for our deck landscaping project. I dug them up (very easy-- their root system is pretty shallow), divided them into equal-sized clumps using an old bread knife (probably not the best or most appropriate tool for the job, but it worked just fine!), and plunked them into the new holes that my husband dug around the deck.
I actually followed the great guide shared
here. But it was shockingly easy. And my littlest kiddo was able to get in on the fun, tamping down the soil around the new baby plants and then giving them each a nice long drink of water!
Even the chickens got in on the fun. They were very interested in the new plants, haha!
Anyway, the entire thing took less than half an hour from start to finish. Three old plants quickly became 22 new ones! Free plants, minimal effort, minimal tools... Perfect! And this is the best time of year to divide most plants, since their foliage is beginning to die back for the winter and the plant can spend its energy on root development instead of its leaves. I can't wait to see my "new" hostas pop out of the ground again next spring!
And, while we're on the subject of fall planting projects-- now is the time to buy bulbs! I have a mountain of daffodil, tulip, and crocus bulbs in the garage, just waiting for my mom's visit in a few weeks (she likes to garden and is officially in charge of all bulbs). Such an inexpensive way to add a TON of spring color to your yard!
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