Let There Be Grass...sort of

 

It is time to record the saga of the grass.

 

This is a story that starts, really, 4 years ago, when we decided to add a few features to our backyard. Namely, a shed, and a garden.

Both of these projects required very large tractors to rumble around in the backyard, along with the truck bringing up loads of supplies periodically.

To call our space a "yard" was almost a mockery.

We figured there was no need to even try to plant grass until we were done with the tractors.

We had the vacant lot vibe going on--not just weeds, but DEAD weeds.

There were ankle-twisting ridges and furrows all over the place.

On the plus side, the kids could dig holes or do whatever they wanted, because nothing they did would make it much worse than it was already.

And meanwhile, the garden and my flowerbeds were thriving.

 

So, finally towards the end of the summer, my husband completed the 3rd and final garden expansion. Done with tractors in the back!

It was time to start talking about putting in a lawn.

 

First things first--there were several areas that need levelling.

So we hired a local landscaping company to come out.

 

Dirt work.

 

At this point, we realized that we needed a sprinkler system, as well.

The thing is, we realized that we are basically incapable of keeping grass watered.

I don't know what it is.

Wait. Actually, I do know what it is.

I just don't care about grass that much.

I'll make sure my garden and flowerbeds stay watered. You bet!

But grass? Not so much.

 

So, insert another month of work here, while they put in sprinkler lines.

Bonus: they added an extra water faucet right by the garden! Score!

Also, one over by the side walls, that we can hook up to water that whole area.

Finally, in mid-September, they hydroseeded.

 

They used the "Playground Turf Mix."

60% Triumph Perennial Ryegrass

15% Argyle Kentucky Bluegrass

15% Kenblue Kentucky Bluegrass

10% Creeping Red Fescue

 

Sept. 28: a few patches of green here and there.

 Oct. 20: filling in a little...

 

...if you look sideways, at an angle.

 

We've had a typical very wet fall and early winter, which means that the grass got watered extra well.

Unfortunately, it also means that we haven't really been able to step on the lawn since September, unless it is frozen solid. Otherwise, you leave footprints 2 inches deep that promptly fill up with water. We are REALLY hoping that by spring our yard will be ready to play on!

Or even just walk across. We would take that, too.

 

At times we wish that we had just paid the money for sod.

There are a few problem spots that may need sod anyway.

For now, we'll stick it out and see how it goes in the spring.

Fingers crossed!

 

Story of My Life

Still life with lupines and gravel bucket.

 

Yup, this about sums it up right now.

There's construction and there's patches of beauty.

I can appreciate both, for different reasons.

The Garden is Finished!

Last blocks laid and terraces filled with dirt and compost.

 

It has all been rototilled in and my seedlings planted out.

 

 

A lot of hard work, right there, but so great!

I get to plant squash and pumpkins this year because there will be room for it to roam!

Woohoo! 

 

Front Landscaping Renovations: Overview

We have really been working hard on our front flowerbeds the past few weeks.

 

Thanks so much to VaLynn from VW Garden! She's another East-side gardener like me, and offered to share some plants with me.

Well, I was like a kid in a candy shop!

It was such fun to talk plants and gardens with another like-minded person for most of an afternoon! And I could hardly believe the bounty she loaded me up with!

It was the most fun I've had in ages. :)

 

I can't believe I didn't get one single picture with her, or of the plants.

[sigh] And I call myself a garden blogger!

Next time. For sure.

 

My husband, meanwhile, got the low wall closest to the road finished, as well as filling it and the new top bed with dirt and rototilling everything.

I also bought several shrubs to fill in the space with, as well.

Cue the planting marathon!

 

Top Bed, Before:

 

 

Top Bed, After:

I'll do a separate post detailing the shrubs and what plants went where.

 

Lower Terrace, Driveway Side

Before:

 

 

Lower Terrace, After:

 



Again, the details of what I planted will be the next post!

 

Front Landscaping

Terraces Filled in!

 

Left-side corner

The plank terraces, trees, and corn you see in the background all belong to our awesome next-door neighbors.

Middle

Right-side

Thoughts and Plans:

 

My idea here overall was to have most of the color and blooming perennials in the middle terrace, with the top and bottom being more evergreen, non-competing, background-type plants.

 

The top is all shrubs: taller-growing varieties that will help bridge the gap between the flat ground and our very tall house, and also give us some privacy in the basement.

(The window in these pictures is our basement window. I should include a shot of the whole house sometime, so you can see what I mean by the height difference. It's significant.)

I may add a few crocuses to this bed, or I may just leave it as is.

 

The bottom is a mix of shrubs and perennials. I chose varieties that should get almost to the top of the wall behind them, but not cover it completely. I used a lot of repetition in this terrace, to avoid competing with the busyness up above, so I've got a couple of sections of shrubs, with similar plantings between them.

 

We keep waffling between putting in a sidewalk in the very front vs. planting grass.

My husband made sure the wall left room for either.

Now I just have to keep everything alive through this heat wave!

Nearly everything I planted should do fine without much water, once established.

Here's hoping our water bill isn't sky-high! 



Garden Expansion Project: More is Better

Before

 

The first spring we moved here, as my birthday present, my husband built this beautiful terraced garden for me on our back slope.

 

Then he decided to expand it on around by several feet.

I was not complaining!

I just planted all my spring veggies on the right side so they wouldn't get smashed in the process.

No problem!

 

We had the blocks delivered last fall.

 

With our clay soil, figuring out the best time to dig is a bit tricky.

If you dig too early in the spring, you get mud that sticks to your shovel, and your shoes, and your pants, and doesn't come off.

On the other hand, if you wait too long for it all to dry out, then it's baked hard and you either need a pickaxe (backbreaking slow way) or a tractor (fast but expensive way) to get it done.

So he started digging here after roughly equal amounts of rain and dry last month.

It was just about right. 

The ground was soft enough for a shovel, but as you can see, it filled in with water the deeper he dug.

Can you see why we like our raised beds?



forming the base of the wall

 

looking down from the middle terrace

Filling it up with gravel for the base takes care of the extra water.

 

April 28

Bottom terrace complete, except for a few cap blocks.

Working on middle and top terraces.

The green clump of oregano in the middle of the bottom terrace is where the garden used to end.

 

After

May 21

Expansion complete...for now.

We're getting dirt delivered to fill it up this weekend!

I've got tomatoes ready and waiting to go in.

 

This man of mine just can't get enough wall-building!

He had a tractor back there helping our neighbor build a retaining wall.

He decided that rest of the hillside was an eyesore anyway, so he went ahead and scooped out dirt for the garden beds to be expanded all the way to our fence line.

 

It is truly the never-ending wall project!

Phase 3 will probably not take place until fall, at the earliest, though.

 

I can think of all kinds of things to grow in it.

We may actually have room for pumpkins! Winter squash! Corn!

 

When it comes to garden space, more is better.

That's all.

 

Extending the retaining wall, phase 2

July 23

to the fence

 July 27

Tall and filled in with gravel, thanks to Dad H./cousins

July 27



Extending the retaining wall, phase 1

Scooping out the dirt.

The plan is to extend both wall all the way along the side to the back and put in a new fence along the top of the top wall. We'll need some kind of gate in it as well to provide access to the front from that side of the house.

 Jason had to fill in the hillside with a bunch of dirt in order to make a path over to where the wall will end. (To show about the level of the yard that we want to have.)

When this project is done, we should have a good 10 feet of extra backyard to use.

Sweetness! 

Top row dug out and gravel put down.

Tour of Front & Side Yards

While we have made some progress, we obviously still have a long way to go to make the front and sides of our house look good.  I hope our neighbors will continue to be patient!

First up: West Side Yard

So this view hasn't changed much since last fall, except the huge debris pile has been taken to the dump(all the cut-down trees, pulled out juniper/cottoneaster bushes, and wood pallets).

We really want to finish the siding, for one thing.

Also, I think we'll probably plant grass and have a long flowerbed close to the house, hopefully with some tall-growing shrubs/small trees to break that big blue expanse a little.

We still plan to level off the dirt pile with the neighbor's yard down below, then perhaps put in either retaining wall (or something) up higher where ours slopes up to meet the gate.

We've even considered putting 1-2 extra windows in the master bedroom and playroom to make it look better on this side of the house, but that would be awhile down the road.

These raspberry canes will all be moved to the backyard when we transplant the others.

I would occasionally remember to give them a little spray of water through the fence, but not very often. And the berries got pretty dusty right here. Plus, they just don't look very good right here all by themselves. And they would get in the way of the new bed/shrubs.

Front yard

 I realized I had never taken a picture of our new retaining wall, built last fall.

So here it is, from across the street.

This is where we've seen the most progress.

Also, between these two walls is the flower bed mentioned in my chore list, that needs to be filled-in with dirt, then planted. I want to put a couple of peonies in, some purple coneflowers, perhaps some daisies, and I haven't decided what else. Maybe the lavender from over by the front steps.

I also want to plant some that will trail over the sides of the bottom wall.

We are planning to put in a sidewalk in front of the walls, and widen the driveway.

Which means I'll need to move the bulbs I planted around the mailbox, unless we leave a little planter box square around it, or something.

The ground that is left after sidewalk/driveway go in will also be for shrubs/flowers.

I'm thinking of doing something very shallowly-rooted, like irises from my back flowerbed, since all the power/utility lines run underground right there.

I probably need to wait until the hardscaping is done, though, so my plants don't get trampled in the process.

 These rose bushes really need pruning back.

Maybe I'll get to them before baby?

Then I want to move them, as well. We will probably be changing this entryway at some point--tearing out the stairs and putting in rock steps up to a wider porch...or something. In any case, the rose bushes would have to be moved at that point, anyway. I've thought about putting them in front of our retaining walls, where they start to curve back toward the house.

Only problem is--the water meter is right there in the middle of everything.

These next pictures are from the flowerbed under the eaves in front.

I think all three of these scraggly little shrubs need to be torn out.

Looking back up top at the view from across the street, it looks really strange and unbalanced to have the big bushy evergreen next to the steps, then these three small shrubs, which barely come up to the window.

 I think for anything to really live and do well right here, the bed will need to be extended out by another 1-2 feet, so whatever I plant will not be hidden under the eaves.

Right now I'm thinking either evergreen shrub needs to come out, or I need to put one bigger shrub in on the other side of the window (or small tree, perhaps) that will balance it out. It would need to be roughly the same size and visual heft, which could be hard to do.

If we pulled out the evergreen shrub, or transplanted it elsewhere (maybe a good candidate for the west-side yard?I would still probably put one larger something to the left of the windows.

At the moment I'm thinking of maybe a Japanese maple, or smaller tree like that.

East yard

I didn't take a picture of the main part of this side. It's a bit depressing.

Our current thoughts are one retaining wall running back to the fence.

Grassy slope from house down to wall, with 2-3 half-circle planting beds filled with shrubs/small perennials. Grass or gravel for the flat part as alternative parking pad.

Until all or any of that gets going, here's what's growing right up next to the house:

About the same assortment as last year: irises, tulips, with some wild daisies thrown in.

These will all be transplanted--probably to one of the new planter beds, once those get put in.

With our garden beds done, we're hoping to make some good progress on the rest this year.

Some decent curb appeal would be nice, as would a finished look.

All by Myself

I am proud to say that I made this walkway ALL BY MYSELF!

I dug out the area first, then lined it with the weed cloth, then put down a layer of gravel and set the stones, and finally, filled in all the rest with mulch.

I'm very pleased with it. It has made getting the hose out much easier, and it looks so much better than the hole and weed pit that was there before.

Hooray!

Bottom terrace planted!

Left side of the bed

Along the back: Sunflowers, 'Waaoh': Masses of 4-inch, radiant, golden flowers with charcoal centers, on sturdy plants reaching only 2-3 feet tall.

Middle: 2 'Mohawk' Sweet Pepper plants: medium-sized, sweet flavored, golden-orange bell pepper. Cascading habit. Very early, with long shelf life. Matures in 60 days.

Front corner: Bush Pickle: Vines seldom over 24" long. Matures in 50-60 days.
 plus 'Greek' Oregano.
On the right: 2 'Italian Yellow Bell' Sweet Pepper plants: produces thick-walled, sweet-flavored, large, golden bell peppers. matures in 65 days.
Another shot of the left side of the bed.

Middle of the bed, by itself:

Cucumber Lemon: produces sweet-tasting cucumbers about the size and color of a large lemon.  Good for pickling. Matures in 65 days.

Right side of bed: (Jacob's side--he helped plant all the seeds)

Along the back: more sunflowers! This time 'Teddy Bear' variety: this unusual member of the sunflower family has fully doubled yellow flowers on sturdy, 2 1/2-3 foot, dwarf plants.

Front right corner: Chantenay carrot 'Short 'n Sweet': especially for heavy or shallow soils. 4" roots are bright orange. Harvest in about 68 days. Thin to stand 3" apart when seedlings are 1" high.

Middle front: 'Royal Burgundy' Beans: These are the ones that grow purple, then turn green when cooked.

The whole garden--done for now.

View of the garden from the house.

Jason plans to lengthen out the bottom bed towards the left, and finish that last row of blocks on top, as well.

But for now, it's done!!

Top Two Terraces Planted

 Woohoo! We got these filled and I was able to get them planted the same day.

Top Terrace: Pumpkins & Squash

L-R: mini pumpkin (grown from seed), zucchini hill, Butterstick straight neck yellow squash hill, another mini pumpkin (also grown from seed).

I'm planning on the pumpkins cascading down the wall if needed.

Since my nasturtium seed was about 3 years old, I went ahead and planted those all along the front as well. Not sure if they'll still germinate or not.

Middle terrace: tomatoes & basil

I had 12 tomato plants to put in. Left to right in this bed I planted:

2 Golden Nugget tomatoes, 4 Early Girl, 4 roma paste, 2 Cougar Red.

There are home-grown basil plants all along the front.

I also added nasturtiums (seeds) planted in each front corner, but Diamond dug a big hole on the one side--so those may not make it. 

Right side of the middle bed.