We had a space on the west side of the house that, when we moved in was a large blueberry garden. Neither of us like blueberries, even though it’s a staple in this part of Oregon. It remained relatively untended for the first few years we lived here.

The beautiful wisteria just to the north of the patch and the anti-deer fence gave Bridge the idea to convert the space into an informal herb/cottage garden. She has a keen interest in dahlias, hibiscus, and hollyhocks and it seemed like a perfect space.

We ripped out the blueberries (we did attempt to relocate them but they didn’t survive our version of ripping and relocating). No worries for us though… We then put down a weed barrier and a heavy layer of walk-on bark to keep the weeds down. Adding some sort of tree was important – that side of the house bakes in the sun mid-summer – we picked an evergreen Brackens Brown Beauty Magnolia and then let the summer move on.

To make the area even more useful, we added a sliding door to the bedroom into the garden and a small elevated deck. We used a local contractor to complete that work and it went in quickly.

The next spring, we added several raised beds and the planting started! That first year a majority of the garden was Dahlias, Zinnias, Sweet Peas, and a few Hollyhocks. The herbal part of the garden was very small with just some tarragon and mint (yep – the kind that goes everywhere!).

In 2022 – we added a fountain and again planted the garden to the brim. Over the summer it was a wonderful spot to spend evenings sipping a brew or wine and watching the hummingbirds at the feeder.

As a bonus, we had a never dwindling supply of cut flowers to use around the house!

It’s still a work in progress, I do want to add a low screening fence to keep the turkeys and dog out more than privacy. Looking out to the west is very much enjoyable.

Side Note: Bridge uses Swan Island Dahlias – they are located about 2 hours north of us in Canby Oregon. For more information click here: Swan Island Dahlias