This is the view of the grass and flower border from late last May.
It's a lot less green now but the flower bed is larger and curvier. When the grapes recover from the frost they screen most of our neighbor's house. This is the sunniest spot on our property so I can't add much along the fence or I won't be able to grow vegetables. I was thinking bamboo fencing would be nice to soften the block wall. I also thought it would be fun to grow some pole beans or morning glory up and over the sidewalk next to the fence to make a tunnel which would also make our view greener. I need to see how much shade that would cast first.
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| My husband reseeded the lawn and we can't wait to see green sprouts. I miss mowing with the rotary mower. It's so relaxing. |
This is the before of the little path that runs through the flower border to the veggie garden, also from May of 2010.
The new path is a little longer and wider. My nine year old put it together for me.
We used pebbles and brick which we already had to construct the path. I wasn't sure about the combo of colors and materials at first but I'm starting to like it more each day. I will encourage some alyssum to grow in between the rocks.
The dead tree corner from last year.
A larger bed without the dead tree. I planted flower seeds throughout this bed. I hope they sprout! I want to add a few more roses.
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| I will plant green beans(pole) behind the sidewalk which will soften our view. |
You can see how the area next to the chicken coop looked in July of 2009 when I started working on it. It was covered in red gravel with weed barrier below it.
And here it is now with a sandbox and extended flower bed. The dirt area to the left will be planted with corn, more about that in a minute. I plan to plant shrubs along the chicken fence. I'm trying to work a tree or two into this area. The main requirement is that they won't shade the veggie garden.
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| You'll have to excuse the hoses you will see in many of my photos. I don't like putting the hose away after I use it! |
Little guys have taken over the sink. It was damaged and lost the other seal when the tree fell on it. I'm not sure if I like it and might take it out.
This area will eventually be more grass but we are going to plant corn this year. In the fall the guys will put in a sprinkler system and plant grass if I don't try to talk them into making it part of the garden instead. I am trying out flood irrigation by running water from the hose in the furrows that I have dug with the hoe. I hope it works 'cause that was a lot of work to do if it doesn't! Each long island will have two rows of corn.
I divided a few perennials I already had and spread them out in the new flower beds. We have $0.00 in our garden budget right now so I have to work with what I already have. This poor plant is in shock and will take another week or two before it looks happy again.
This is our backyard. Well, it's the area directly behind our house but I consider the area I shared in the previous pictures to be our backyard even though it's really the side of our house. So anyway, back to the "backyard". This is before we started working on it this spring. That little building back there is the pump house for our well.
It's still messy! We removed the gravel and I planted tomatoes which have been mulched with hay. I have a thin flower bed in front of the tomatoes. I have to squeeze flowers in wherever I can!
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| Please excuse the burn pile and gravel mess. I will have some unwilling boys take care of it asap. |
And now you can see the back of our house. We don't use those sliding doors so I can plant all along the back of the house.
It looks a lot better now that we have cleaned up and mulched the ground. I planted more flower seeds next to the house. I transplanted three day lilies which have flopped over and may not make it. The glass door you see propped up against the well house is from the schoolroom. We are saving it to use on the greenhouse. My son was supposed to put it on the other side of the well house but didn't understand my directions.
And here is our morning and afternoon sitting area. I had the guys cut stumps from the dead tree which we are using as seating for the children. That's my frugal outdoor furniture tip.
The wood is pretty light so the stumps are easy to move around. They make good foot rests and tables too.
And here is the view from our sitting area. See why I want to plant a hedge in front of the chicken coop? I also want to plant a tree in the corner in front of the coop. It would shade the sandbox in the morning and wouldn't shade the veggie garden until late afternoon. I think a dwarf fruit tree would be perfect.
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| I need to figure out how to disguise the white pipe! |
I want to plant berries along the back fence. I'm trying to maximize our food production. The trees that are behind the fence are Russian Olive and something else. They don't produce anything and I think the area would be perfect for more fruit trees.
The tree you see to the left is a Crepe Myrtle. It started to leaf out but the frost got it and now it will have to start over again. It has bright pink flowers from late spring until first frost.
And here is a jasmine I bought two years ago. I have overwintered it in the house for the last two years. It hasn't grown much because it probably needs a larger pot.
Wow, that was a long tour. Next week I will write up a history of my gardening and how I caught the bug. I was hopeless at gardening for many years but never gave up. I still have many failures each year but I keep learning and experimenting and now the failures are less than the successes. There is hope for anyone who has the desire, to improve and even be great at gardening!
How does your garden grow?
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