08/26/2026
🌱 FROM HARD CLAY TO A THRIVING POLLINATOR GARDEN 🐝🦋
This entire transformation happened in one growing season—and without fertilizer.
In early March, this area was heavily compacted clay filled with rock and very little organic material. Before planting anything, we worked and amended the soil with fresh topsoil, compost, manure and leveling sand, plus pea gravel around the lavender for additional drainage.
On April 19, we planted a mixture of colorful, drought-tolerant perennials selected to attract bees and butterflies, return every year and naturally fill the bed as they matured.
By May 5, it looked pretty—but sparse. 😂 That was intentional. Instead of overcrowding the bed for an immediately “finished” appearance, every plant was given the room it would eventually need.
By May 24, the blooms were beginning—and by July 20, just three months after planting, the entire garden had come alive.
Coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, yarrow and other flowering perennials had filled the bed with different colors, textures and heights. Bees moved from flower to flower, butterflies stopped in and every plant was blooming.
That’s the difference between simply filling a garden bed and actually planning one.
If you have an empty, struggling or overgrown garden bed, JB Home & Lawn Care can create something designed around your goals—whether that means pollinators, seasonal color, drought tolerance, perennials or low maintenance.
📸 Follow the photos from early March through July 20. The transformation speaks for itself.
Jordan Baynes
JB Home & Lawn Care
314-546-3523
jbhomeandlawncare.com
