Creating a New Flower Cutting Garden, Part I

April 9, 2024

Creating a New Flower Cutting Garden, Part I

Dozens of beautiful stone pavers that once covered my former East Hampton terrace have new purpose here at my Bedford, New York farm.

Now that I have a new and giant half-acre vegetable garden closer to my home, I needed to figure out what to do with the smaller garden down by the chicken coops. Last year, we used it to grow all our pumpkins. Once they were all harvested, I decided I wanted this space to be a more formal flower cutting garden, where varieties would be organized in sections and size, color, and bloom time would be planned appropriately to maintain a continuous supply of flowers throughout the season. So far, we've tilled the soil, planted a selection of herbaceous peonies, and yesterday, completed the new bluestone footpath down the center of the garden.

Here are some photos, enjoy.

: This was my vegetable garden in 2016 – in a fenced in space down by my chicken yard.

: The garden produced bounties of delicious vegetables for many years, until I decided to create a larger raised bed vegetable area closer to my Winter House.

: Last summer, this garden was used as our pumpkin patch. It produced a wonderful harvest of cucurbits – pumpkins, squash, and gourds.

: Earlier this year, once the ground was warm enough, we went to work to transform the space once again. The entire enclosure was cleared, cleaned and then Pete rototilled the soil twice.

: And then amended the soil with compost.

: Along the fence, we planted sweet peas.

: On both sides of the center footpath, we planted herbaceous peonies. None of the work interfered with the plants.

: I wanted to create a stone footpath. Doing this would look neat and tidy, but also provide good, sturdy, and hopefully dry footing for anyone entering the enclosure. Pete secures landscaping twine from one end to the other on both sides to ensure the finished path is completely straight and matches the measurement of the bluestone pavers.

: Using a hoe, Pete removes any leftover weeds, or small rocks from the area.

: Pete drops stone dust in the path. Stone dust is a non-porous material, which is good to use under stone. It will stop heavy rain water from seeping below and reduces the risk of shifting or damaging the pavers.

: Next, Pete uses the back of a landscape rake to spread the stone dust. It is the perfect width of the path.

: … and then he turns it over to level the area. The razor-back aluminum landscape rake has a wide head to level the dust quickly and smoothly.

: Before carrying any stone over to the path, Pete measures again – every piece must be 19-inches across.

: Once it is brought to the location, Pete carefully lines up the stone paver over the space…

: … and then gently drops it in place.

: Each piece must be positioned so it is straight with the twine and spaced evenly with the preceding piece of stone.

: Pete uses a fork to make minor adjustments to the stone. These pavers are very heavy, so using the right tool is key to avoiding injury.

: Bluestone is a natural stone typically found with a blueish color and veins of grey and brown. The colors vary depending on where it is mined. Its durable composition makes it popular for use as stone steps, pool surrounds, terraces, paths, etc.

: Here, Pete uses his hand to move extra stone dust underneath, so it is completely secure.

: After the stone is in place, Pete steps on it and tests its sturdiness – no teetering allowed.

: Here, Pete drops the last paver at the east end of the garden. It fits just right.

: I am so pleased with how it looks. This is the full length of the new footpath. The twine farthest left and right marks where the peonies are planted. There are also three hose bibs in this garden for watering.