Gee Bermuda, that's a good idea for my beds here in Michigan. I have not been able to keep up with them this year, and the weeds seem to have invited all of their relatives from all over the country to visit and none of them are going home yet!

Jmirz,
I am amazed at the variety of weeds. And you would think that after gardening all these years I would be able to recognize poison ivy when I see it.
What type of flowers do you grow in your gardens?

Before....

After...
Yes, I did leave some plants though the picture is fuzzy, but a bit of miracle-gro over the next couple of weeks and they won't look so naked...
I scared the poop out of Mr. Toad with my weeding so I put him back into the bed under a vinca so he could continue his bug hunt...meanwhile, Mr. gecko stayed put vertically on the backyard wall and glared at me..
..ahhhh nature, toads pooping and geckos glaring...
.

Isn't it amazing how weeds thrive and plants die in any sort of weather (at least that's what mine do).

B, what a transformation. Great job! I had to look twice to make sure I was looking at the same area. It looks great. Feel like paying me a visit? I don't have the little one for the next two days and wanted to work in the yard but the temps are nearing 100 and that's just too hot. I'm spoiled because it had been so cool for the last couple weeks.

Bermuda, I do grow a variety - mostly perennials, coneflowers, lavender, miniature lilac, daylilies, stella do' daylilies, sweetpeas, daisies, asters, guaras (sp?), coral bells, clematis, more that I can't remember off hand and lots of hosta varieties under some pine trees and shaded areas. Most of my annuals are in pots for the patio areas. I use to be able to do the entire yard in one day, every two weeks. I cannot keep up with it any more - it is a quarter acre and lots of beds. We don't have poison ivy, but lately have been getting those rotten prickly weeds - they can grow so tall and send out tons of roving roots to make more. I am convinced they are transplanted by animals from their fur - squirrels, rabbits neighbor's cats they allow to roam. I do have a lot of spring bulbs as well - tulips, daffs, grape hyacinths along with regular hyacinths and some others that I have since forgotten the names. Someday, if I ever get the gardens (one has a water fountain feature) up to snuff I'll post a picture, but I would much rather be stitching than weeding!

BTW - your bed transformation looks great and if any critters get in the way just warn them that you might just start a road kill restaurant!

Great job!
I will admit that I am not a gardener. Flowering shrubbery with annuals in pots for splashes of color on the deck. Although this year, my annuals have been done for almost a month now. :(

Beautiful yard Bermuda and so tidy after your hard work. I love the tree as a focal point in the back corner. My garden beds are big and dense with many flowers and weeds this year. Most of my flowers are perennials and my plant choices sound just like jmirz's garden. I try to plant to help butterflies and birds, so many of my plants are seed producing perennials. I was afraid to navigate the beds this year because we get large snakes. Since we had so much rain, the plants got larger than usual and the weeds filled in any extra remaining space. As a result, you could not walk through the beds and see around the plants and weeds, and like jmirz, I had massive amounts of the thorny weeds, I hate those. I feel better now that others have agreed that the weeds were a terrible struggle this year and it is not just that I'm getting too old to maintain a manicured yard. I have done nothing these last 3 weeks but dig out about 20 perennials to lower my future gardening demands, so I can do more cross stitch instead.

Yikes SNAKES! Ok, I will put up with my weeds over snakes.