Garden Plans for 2022

Chicago’s extended weather forecast is looking very promising and that means it is almost gardening season! I have been researching and planning for over a month now, but it finally feels like an acceptable time to share our garden plans for 2022. If you’re curious about our 2021 plans, you can check out this post. This year, I will be building on everything that I have done over the past two years and adding more flower beds. My mom has always told me that a garden comes together in the third year, so I am super excited about our 2022 garden! Below are some mock-up ideas, as well as my thoughts about the future of our yard.

North Side Border

This bed is staying mostly the same, with a few exceptions. The dogwoods in the back should be nice and full this year, but that means that the Karl Foerster grass needs to move. The grasses looked great when they were smaller, but now they look disproportionate with the rest of the bed. I will swap in the Hameln Grass, which will also leave more room for the lavender to spread out. Since this is mostly a Fall blooming bed, I will be moving fiery red dianthus here to give it some summer color. I love the red paired with purple lavender! Everything else remains the same. We are looking forward to having more privacy this year as the shrubs grow in.

New North Side Bed

This new bed will replace grass, so I don’t have a before picture to share. I want to add this bed because it will complete the entire edge of our yard. It currently looks a bit odd to have our yard bordered by a garden in every spot but one. I also want to distract from the neighbor’s fence. It’s a nice fence, but flowers are prettier 🙂 We need some height in our garden, so I would like to get a small ornamental tree for this area. If you have any suggestions, please send them over! I will also be moving one or two of the ninebarks from our west side border (more on that below) and a few black eyed susans. The red perennials are bee balm, but I may swap those for daisies depending on how many I can split. The light purple perennials are meadow sage. My mom has these and I can’t wait to add some to our yard!

East Side Bed

The top picture is from 2020 and unfortunately, many of the plants didn’t come back last year. I don’t know why, but they left a big gap in this bed. My overall goal for our garden plans for 2022 is to work on plant heights. I plan to put liatrus at the back and line the bed with shorter plants. I already have sedum, mountain bluets, and balloon flowers here, but I will shift them around a bit. I also want to add some blanket flowers for color. I loved the coreopsis that was here, but it didn’t return. Plus blanket flowers bloom all summer if you deadhead!

South Side Border

The south west side of our yard was filled with unruly barberry bushes until we had them removed last Spring. I attempted to fill the space with a hydrangea and a few perennials, but it felt rather empty last season. This year we are prioritizing a small tree in the corner. It will provide much needed height and shade to the area in a few years. We meant to get a tree last year, but the summer got away from us. I am currently deciding between a pear tree and a serviceberry tree. I’ll plant a couple hostas at the base of the tree to provide texture. Hey Mom, can I have some hostas please?! We would also like to put in a flagstone path here. It will be very helpful for mowing the lawn! Finally, I will be adding more perennials to the bare spots along this side. Hopefully it will be more full and colorful this year!

West Side Border

Please forgive the image. This was taken from google maps when the house still had all the huge barberry bushes. Although the west side border won’t look like this for a couple years, I am excited to have a colorful hedge full of different textures. We already planted the ginger wine ninebarks, flamingo dappled willow, and kings cypress, but I need to rearrange a few. Never underestimate how quickly plants will grow! I will also be adding Cheyenne Sky grasses to this hedge. I love how the colors in the grass compliment the shrubs. And once again, it will be nice to have a bit of privacy!

Are you excited for the gardening season too?! I have to keep reminding myself that the ground is still frozen. But with an extended forecast predicting many days in the 60s, garden time is right around the corner! Thank you for checking out our garden plans for 2022 and I wish you lots of luck planning your gardens. Check back soon for our brand new vegetable garden plans and stay up to date with us on Instagram.