My Indiana Home/ Breaking Ground with Vinca and Forsythia

We sure can't afford professional landscapers, but fortunately some of our friends are master gardeners and willing to share not only their cuttings but their expertise. At the suggestion of a friend, Benny fired up the tractor and pulled a bush that was at the back corner of the house by the summer kitchen and we added a yellow forsythia bush in its place. We've also planted some grasses and vinca, donated from the same friend's garden, all around the summer kitchen which faces south and west. There seems to be lots of afternoon shade from trees in that part of the yard - which may explain some of the bare spots. The summer kitchen corner also gives me a nice spot to "store" my winter amaryllis bulbs for the growing season. I can dig them up in the fall and prepare them for winter blooming. Our friend suggested we set garden stones around the swinging bench and also around our out door water faucets which are not attached to the house but stand up in the yard by the pole barns.

We hope the vinca will really take off as ground cover, but for now I am also lovingly preserving all the wild violets that seem to be prolifically growing all around the house and yard as you can see from other pictures I've taken. Those make great shade plants! If the vinca overruns them, I'll move the violets around our shade trees as suggested by our friend.