Transplanting Monkey Grass and Potted Fern

Between taping episodes for my web show, deciding on paint colors for the nursery, and general tidying around the house, I’ve been pretty busy. And after painting a rug for my back deck, I was still able to knock off 2 other small items in an effort to improve the deck as a whole.

The bed of monkey grass to the left of my deck has been looking weak for a while now. I don’t know if it’s a lack of water or runoff from chemically stripping the deck stain last spring, but the grass is barely surviving.

But I know monkey grass can do well in my yard since just 5 feet over it’s thriving under my patio peach tree.

And it’s not too bad, if you ignore the weeds, on the other side of the deck where it gets full afternoon sun.

My overall plan is to completely remove the “healthy” monkey grass on the right side of the deck and make that area a vegetable garden. So I got a small head start on that by transplanting some to the weaker side of the deck. Brandon helped me out by digging up a small section with a shovel while I prepared the hole.

Since monkey grass spreads out like regular lawn grasses, the roots are all connected underneath even if it doesn’t look like it above ground. So I had trouble planting the transplanted grass too close to the older grass. I didn’t want to disturb the well-rooted plants.

So the “after” might not be much fuller than before, but it’s healthier and it was a great catalyst to pull the surrounding weeds and lay down fresh pine straw to prevent future weeds.

And with so many small plants, it’s hard to get the pine straw down in between each one, so it’s more of a blanket that will fall down after a few rain storms. Hopefully.

The pine straw will also help retain moisture in the soil around my new transplants. A double- duty mulch. Or triple-duty if you count how much better a bed of plants looks with mulch!

Along the same transplant lines, a sad-looking fern on the deck was in desperate need of a new home.

A while back I had dropped this pot and it cracked. But seeing the prices of buying a new pot, I had no interest in replacing it right away.

But after some annual flowers that had been planted in another pot had died away and the fern started growing through the crack, the timing was right to transfer the fern and give it a new home.

When I pulled the fern out, it didn’t take long to see that it was beyond time to transfer this plant and not just because its pot was cracked…it had totally encompassed the plastic pot liner with roots!

There was no room for it to thrive after its beginning of summer pruning. But I think it’s safe to say it looks better and has more room to grow in its new home.

Not only do I feel better having those 2 small transplant to-dos off my list, but I think the plants are feeling better these days too!

If you aren’t already, be sure to follow me on Pinterest to keep up with my latest project-Baby Girl Wolf’s nursery! We’ve settled on creamy white walls and a gold ceiling which I can’t wait to execute and share with y’all!

Until I have some nursery updates to share, make sure you’re up-to-date on my webisodes! This month’s episode is an easy how-to for anyone who has a lawn to mow!

Thanks for Checking In! ~ Chelsea