Perpetual Chore List: Spring is here!

UPDATED APRIL 30--GETTING CLOSER!

This is simply to get the list out of my head and somewhere where I can refer back to if need be! What's a garden blog for, after all?

1. Operation Berry Bliss, phase...4?
    A. Cut back all dead foliage on strawberry plants. DONE!
    B. Move blueberry bushes into pots. Yup, I've decided this is going to happen. The two that spent time on the back slope are still struggling, and the strawberries down on that end aren't thriving in the more acidic soil. So after the blueberry bushes are out, I need to re-amend the soil with regular garden soil and compost.
Or, I may do something drastic and just compost the 2 struggling blueberry bushes. It would be painful, though, so I haven't decided on that one yet. However, that would leave space for a new start.
   C. Prune the raspberries! DONE!
With as warm a winter as we've had, this could have been done a month ago, probably. It's definitely time now.

2. Perennial maintenance
    A. Finish dividing and moving daisies. DONE!
I got one patch done today that was all dead in the center, and even the side shoots transplanted already. Go me! There's another big patch in front that needs dividing as well, but the new leaves on it are still very tiny. I will probably wait on this one until this grow out a little more.  I'm not getting rid of my daises, per se, just trying to take white out of my front flowerbed. Some of them I'm giving away, some I'm putting up on the back slope (daisies are supposed to do well with clay soil), and some I would like to put in my new flowerbed (see below), which will have a color scheme of billowing whites and purples.
     B. Divide irises down front.
They must like it there; most have 2 if not three healthy rhizomes growing from the main center one I planted a few years ago.
     C. If my hydrangea down front has died, pull it out and figure out what to plant in its place. Or move something down to replace it. ** NOT DEAD! MOVED IT TO SHADIER SPOT.

3. New flower bed
   I've already talked about this in a previous post. I've narrowed in one what I want, now I just need to make it happen.
  The summarized version: 2 cherry trees, 3 lilac bushes (including one from the slope), and a flowerbed. Ready, set, go!
   PURCHASED 2 NEW SHRUBS FOR THIS BED, 2 MORE TO FIND.

4.  Roses!
    ENGLISH ROSES PLANTED.
   So I've got 4 English roses coming my way sometime this spring: 3 William Shakespeare, and 1 Abraham Darby. I'm really excited. The AB rose already has a place. I need to buy a trellis for it.
The 3 WS roses could go any number of places. As part of moving my daisies (above), I could either put a William Shakespeare rose each place I had a patch of daisies OR put them all together in the new flowerbed OR make another new flowerbed for them down by the driveway. Decision time is very near, as any new bed needs to be prepped now, so that it can be ready for when the roses come.
   Also, the Burgundy Iceberg rose in my front terrace needs to be moved to a location with more sun. [SWITCHED PLACES WITH THE HYDRANGEA THAT NEEDED MORE SHADE]

5. Top Terrace
  The master plan: Move daphne from the end, and replant with a boxwood to match the other one up there. I already pulled out the 'Watercolors' rose, and I plan to plant another elderberry there. I'm hoping more repetition will counteract the rather haphazard look I've got going on right now.
 Cut down the doggone pine tree up there! It's only been a year...and a few months since we sawed off the top for a Christmas tree. I mean, really? It's time. I'm sure the long-suffering neighbors would agree.

6. *sigh* the lawn [that isn't...yet]
  Fertilize the lawn so that at some future--perhaps mythical--date we can actually walk on it again.
My son did this and overseeded at the same time just last week (4/10-11). Maybe it will actually GROW!

7. Vegetable Garden
  Add compost and till in. Chit potatoes.
  Plant the spring veggies! (plus sweet peas)
I'm hoping to get these last two done this week!

And for all my spare time...

7. Prune the forsythia I just realized is growing at the tippy top of the slope. It's on our neighbor's side, but as we are great friends, I'm sure they won't mind. Yes, I'll ask first.

8. Purchase and plant a dwarf willow tree at the top of the slope to help cover the unsightly bare mud patch. It should love it up there due to the presence of an underground spring (we think)!

9. Plant all the bulbs we dug out in connection with the lawn project last fall and hope that they come back next year.

Plans Afoot: East Flowerbed

 

Over the past few weeks, my plans for filling in the east-side terrace have pretty much solidified.
 

view from the deck, looking toward the front

 

Here's the overall idea:

2 fruit trees, on semi-dwarf or dwarf rootstock, one on each end

** My top 2 choices are cherry or pear. I want cherry pretty bad, but looking at the list of diseases and pests is rather daunting. Pears would definitely be easier (probably).

What I like about either option is the versatility of the fruit.

We could eat them fresh, dried, or canned.

 

6-8 foot section of flowerbed

My vision for this is frothy, billowing type perennials, in all shades of purple with white accents. Perhaps some other pastels would also be allowed--pale pinks, etc.

Catmint, Queen Anne's lace, daisies, bellflowers, and so on.

 

view from the deck, looking toward the back

 

8-10 foot section for lilacs

I really want some height, and doggone it, I want some lilacs!

The poor long-suffering lilac on the slope will be moved down and given proper drainage. I'm not sure why I planted that on our clay slope in the first place. The only thing I can figure is that I must have thought adding compost to the planting hole would be sufficient to provide "well-drained" soil.

Obviously, that has not been the case. It has grown a few inches since I put it in 4 years ago. Maybe.

It has never flowered.

So, anyway, that will be moved down. I want to add 2 more, as well.

I plant to put them 3-4 feet apart. Not so close that they form a really dense hedge that I'll forever have to be pruning and clipping, but close enough to grow together around the edges.

 

I want to leave a generous area around the base of the trees, to provide room for picking as they grow, without tromping on flowers. Mulch under the trees will be bigger pieces of bark, the "medium" mulch I purchased accidentally last year.

 

the length of the bed, with garden in the background
 

So, jobs to do before this all happens:

1. Take out perennial weeds.

2. Rototill well. (Soil should be pretty good already. I will add grit or sand to the lilac planting area.) 

3. Purchase trees, and lilacs.

4. Decide what I've already got that could be used. Divide perennials, transplant lilac from slope.

4. Purchase flowers as needed to fill-in gaps.

5. Mulch all.

 

It has been so warm this winter!  If the weather holds out this week, I'm going to start on the weeding and rototilling.

Ready, set, go!



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I'm Learning From BBC TV

When Erin over at The Impatient Gardener made a YouTube channel with all kinds of gardening shows linked, I decided to just take a look.

I'm addicted already and it's only been a week!

What I like most about it is the practical tips. Like most gardeners, I'm learning by trial and error as I go, and I've read all kinds of books. Sometimes, though, just having a person show me how to do a task while explaining why sinks in and makes so much more sense.

 

So without further ado, what I've learned so far from Monty Don and others on the Gardener's World 2014 series:

 

1. Pruning Roses

 

Winter pruning stimulates growth, therefore prune back the weakest shoots the hardest.  My 'Yellow Topaz' rose in back (pictured) is very vigorous, but an odd shape. I'm looking forward to March for a good pruning!

My 'Watercolors' rose and my burgundy iceberg rose will also get pruned based on this advice.

 

Summer pruning inhibits growth. 

 

2. Growing potatoes

 

potatoes planted last year with the square foot gardening method

 

I've been doing the square foot gardening method where you dig a hole, then fill it in as the plant grows up.  Also, I have cut up the seed potatoes and put 4 or 5 pieces in each hole.

I'm going to try Monty's method this year: chit the potatoes first (put it in a sunny place for the eyes to grow), then plant whole potatoes, small end down, 6 inches deep. One potato per hill. Done.

The closer together, the smaller the potatoes you'll get. I didn't know that.

So I'll plant them 12-18 inches apart.

It sound so much easier than the method I've been doing.

Also, harvest them with a fork rather than a shovel!

So many of them last year were sliced in half with the shovel inadvertently.

 

3. For fruit trees, strength and vigor of the tree make it want to grow upwards, but more fruit forms on the horizontal branches. It makes a lot of sense.  Apparently roses are this way as well.

So, for anything you want fruit/lots of blooms from, or that you're training to a trellis, fan the branches out horizontally or at a 45 degree angle for maximum fruit or flowers.

I just bought a climbing rose for the back flowerbed, so I will definitely keep that in mind.

 

Apple tree behind the shed, the first summer after planting.

It has not blossomed since and now doesn't even get that much sun with the completion of the shed.

 

4. This is more of just a mindset, but if it's not working, take it out or move it.

This is inspiring me to move my lilac bush off the slope. It has maybe grown 6 inches in the last 4 years. Obviously, it is not getting what it needs on the slope. It has never flowered, either.

If the roots look fine, I'll transplant it over to our East side terrace.

Also, the apple tree behind the shed needs to move.

Looking at it with what I know now, almost every branch is vertical, no doubt reaching for the light.

It just gets too much shade back there. No wonder it hasn't blossomed since the first year.

So that will be moved as well, probably to the East side terraces, although I'm toying with the idea of trying espalier on the west side of the house.

 

I would love to add a Japanese maple back there, if there is one that would cope with the clay soil.

 

 

Similarly, the blueberry bushes that have struggled for so long need to go. I either need to move the strawberries away from them, refresh the bed's soil and plant new ones, or just take out the acidic soil, replace it with regular stuff, and make it part of the garden.

 

5. With trees, don't add compost to the hole. Make it wide and fairly shallow. The tree's roots need to spread out into the surrounding soil as quickly as possible, so if it's a lot different than what you've put in the hole, the roots won't want to leave and the tree will be weaker. 

 

6. Repetition is what turns a random collection of plants into a garden.

I've been thinking about my front, top terrace.

 

The top terrace.

Daphne at the bottom front of the picture, with hardy hydrangea, boxwood, snowball bush, and elderberry as you move around towards the top.

 

The other 2 terraces have all kinds of lovely repetition going on.

That one I just plunked down 5 different shrubs and it has always bothered me, but I couldn't put my finger on why. Now I know. So I'm going to move the tiny little daphne on the end and plant another boxwood there, to add a little more repetition and continuity.

I'm debating moving the snowball bush as well, but haven't decided on that yet.

 

7. Plants I want to add after watching:

buddleia (butterfly bush): my front flowerbeds are supposed to attract bees/butterflies and I have quite a few plants that do that, but I need a buddleia. I don't have room for one unless something comes out, or I can put some in on the east side terraces.

 

ornamental grasses: I had this thought as I was watching last night--if weedy grass does really well on my back slope, there must be some ornamental grasses that would do well, right? I'm going to do a little research and see what I can find out.

Also, research "clay slope wildflower mix" and see what I can come up with.

The mix I tried a few years ago did absolutely nothing, but then, it had all that weedy grass to compete with.

 

dahlias: I've always avoided these, beautiful as they are, because I didn't want the bother of digging them up every fall, storing them, and replanting in the spring. So the brilliant (ha! see, the lingo is sinking in as well) thing to do is to plant them in pots. Then the whole pot can be put in, or at the very least, they will be easy to dig back up and take care of, as you will be emptying the pot in the fall anyway.

 

 

I was going to start taking notes then I thought--oh yeah, that's why I have a blog. Cracking!

This year I'll be filling in the rest of the east-side terrace, so I'm busy thinking about what I want over there. I also just bought some roses to plant down in front on the west side of the driveway, to begin changing that blank landscape into something worth looking at.

I'm excited to get started on some of these changes!

Only 2 more months to go!

 



A Few Gardening Goals for 2014

Rather than add these to my (ahem) already lengthy list of personal resolutions, I decided to list them here, where maybe I will actually remember to do them.


1. Baby the blueberries.
    Has a nice ring to it, right? What I'm saying is--actually use the lovely soil ph tester kit I bought last summer and figure out how far I need to go. Add sulphur or ammonium sulfate, mulch with pine needles, think blue thoughts. Something. Going into year 3 with the blueberries, we have gotten a total of 6 berries. **BONUS! A whole blue spruce former Christmas tree just loaded with needles has now taken up residence along the side fence. Get 'em while the getting's good!
    
     1a. Move the strawberries away into their own side of the terrace, once the newly expanded top is complete. The ones that did the best were on the end without the special acidic soil anyway.

2.  Buy or make a birdbath.
     I look and I sigh and I shudder at the prices, but this is the year. Time to just do it. Something solid that the kiddos can't pull over onto themselves would be good.

3.  Add a few more kid-friendly garden features.
     I'm thinking a mud-pie kitchen would super fun, or a water-wall, or a sandbox, or some whirligigs, or even marbles set into the fence. (Except that it's technically the neighbor's fence...darn! Maybe they would give permission?) My Pinterest board "A Child's Garden" is chock full of good ideas. Now to get on it!

4. Assuming the garden extension project is completed--grow corn, squash, and maybe even pumpkins.  All those crops I haven't had room for. Oh yes, and at least a few complete sections of flowers--sunflowers, cosmos, or even sweet peas. Just because flowers make everything better--even the vegetable garden.

5. Pick flowers/plants to bring inside for an arrangement at least once a week.
    It's fun. It's addicting. Kids love it, too. Let's do it.

6.  Keep a hanging planter filled with flowers alive on the hook in front of the shed.
    The Topsy-Turvy tomato plant didn't fare so well in that location. Perhaps some pretty flowers will help me remember to actually water it.

7.  Make and can tomato sauce from my own tomatoes this fall.

I could keep going, but this will do for now.  You'll notice "weed regularly" or even "kill every thistle in the yard" didn't make the list. I'm shooting for achievable goals this year, people.

Back Flowerbed Musical Chairs

Back Flowerbed, 1 year ago:

 

Wow, the house looks really blue in this picture.

It's somewhere between this color and the washed out blue, below.

 

Back Flowerbed, 1 month ago:

 



So, with all the renovations and additions going on out front, it's only fair that the back got a little love, too. Plus, it was needed.

 

You'll have to excuse the dirt & weeds in place of a lawn.

Hoping to get that re-graded, re-seeded and actually green.

But it might not happen until next year, at this point.

 

Overall plan:

* replace the rose bush that got moved up front

* center flowering almond under the window

* clump together Asiatic lilies

*move smaller plants as needed to fill in

*dig up all raspberry starts and move to raspberry bed

 

What this flowerbed has needed all along is height.

Slowly but surely, we are getting there.

The flowering almond, mockorange, and yellow 'Topaz' rose all at least doubled in height this year.

My current color scheme back here is peachy oranges and pinks, with some yellow and deeper shades of orange and pink too.

To be frank, sometimes it all seems to wash out against the blue of the house.

I'm going to give it another year to see how it goes.

I may end up going more toward stronger colors back here, just for visibility, or who knows, we may paint the house. (Neither of us loves the blue!)

New rose bush: Weeks rose: 'What a Peach'

This is the rose bush that replaced my 'Watercolors' rose.

Small, abundant double blooms.

Here's hoping this one does better than the last!

 

I also put all the Asiatic lilies together, as you can see.

I had them spread out along the house, but I think they will make much more impact in one smaller section.

Not very visible here are the white peony transplants from VW Garden.

I'm hoping they'll grow up "big and strong" next year, and fill in this big empty space.

 

Somewhere in here are several tulips, as well.

I moved the potentilla up front and moved the flowering almond over by about 2 feet, to center it under the window. Should have done that to begin with--it's bugged me ever since I planted it!

 

 



 Last spring, I planted sedums and portulaca in the bone-dry strip right along the house.

So far both have been thriving.

More Asiatic lilies clumped up.

All the tall purple irises are gone now: some moved up front, and the rest given away.

These irises are miniature pink 'Bubbles' from VW Garden.

I'm excited to see them bloom next year.

In front is a Geum 'Totally Tangerine.'

This is a new spot for it, as well.

My daylilies (Hall's pink) and poppy (Papaver orientale 'Victoria Louise') in front stayed in the same spots.

 

This rose is holding on to some late blooms, even after 3-4 nights of frost.

I'm not complaining!

I moved the Asiatic lilies out from behind it, as well. Since the rose has tripled in size this year, you could no longer see them.

I also plan to move some of the mini daffodil bulbs from directly in front of it--same reason.

It's a sprawler, and it's taking up the space right where they'll be coming up.

I left the a 2nd geum between the mockorange and yellow rose, along with Veronica spicata, or Speedwell 'Inspire'.
 

Once I get my bulb order in, and a few more bulbs planted back here, it'll be time for mulch and the long winter's sleep. My guess is 4 weeks to snow (if it's the same as last year.)

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! 



Back Flowerbed Shrubs

Truly, starting over back here, and feeling pretty good about it, actually.

This was the first attempt to fill-in the right side of the flowerbed, after I pulled out all the irises.

These were the roses from the front, by the steps.

As you can see, they didn't survive the transplant.

Overview

Anchored by a rose bush on each end.

Yes, I still left in some of the irises.

I'm thinking overall color scheme back here is going to be pink/blush/apricot, with yellow and white complements. I also still have the irises to provide counterpoint and perhaps will add in some other pops of purple or darker pink as it evolves. 

Left side: shrub rose 'Watercolors'

Yellow & pink blooms

"changes colors daily" 

I've looked up pictures of these blooms online, and the pink is more fuschia than I thought they would be, which may be a bit strong for this bed, but we'll leave it for now and see what happens.

Right behind the irises, practically invisible at the moment, is Pontentilla primorosa, or "Primose Beauty Cinquefoil." It's buttercup-like flowers should be light yellow with darker yellow centers.

"Compact, mounded deciduous shrub with large, primrose colored almost 1" wide flowers. Flowers bloom into fall."

Average height x width: 3' tall, 4' wide

Hardy to -40 degrees F 

The bush with more yellow leaves in the middle is a flowering almond.

It is supposed to be covered with light pink blooms in the spring, before the leaves appear.

I don't know much about it, but after a little online research, I'm assuming it is the Prunus glandulosa variety, or dwarf size. It should grow 4-6 feet tall and wide, and is supposed to be a fast grower.

It is also supposed to be very hardy with little to no care.

Sounds good to me!

I'm a little worried that the pontentilla is too close to the flowering almond. I may end up moving the potentilla down more toward the rose bush. I didn't do it to begin with, because I'm pretty sure that's where a big bunch of pink tulips come up. So for now I'm going to leave them both and wait until spring to see how spacing is.

L side: mockorange, which has grown at least a foot this year!

Ride side, by A/C unit: Topaz Jewel rose (Rugosa)

"Butter cream yellow blooms. Hardy species rose, old fashioned flowers & salt tolerance. Moderate fruity fragrance."

This one has wicked looked thorns all up and down the stems. Surprisingly enough, I didn't even get scratched putting it in the ground. I thought I would have some battle scars to show, but it slid right into the prepared hole.

More plans for this bed:

I bought some Asiatic daylillies (3-4' tall) to put in along the back; 3 varieties, 5 of each variety, so 15 total. I'll put more abou them when I get them here and planted. Right now I'm thinking they will go in 5 clusters, spaced between the shrubs, along the house where it's always so dry and weedy.

I also plan to plant more tulips and daffodils, as well as some other perennials to add to the color scheme. It feels good to have my big bushes decided and in, finally! Now I can start working around them with the smaller stuff, and hopefully avoid the full-on weed patch that this has been the last several years. 



Decisions

3 decisions made today:

1. Back flowerbed: I need to more or less start over. It's such a weed patch that I just can't seem to stay on top of it. They oakleaf hydrangea is dead, the irises need dividing anyway. It doesn't have the variety or height or interest that I would like.  I'm a bit overwhelmed by it, honestly. But I plan to start with what I know I want to change: pull out hydrangea, and...see #2, below.

2. As part of decision #1, I'm going to move the scented geraniums. I finally found and positively identified them in my Annuals and Perennials book, and they are supposed to do well in dry, shady sites. Aha! I have one of those! So I plan to transplant all or most of those to the back slope, behind the shed. If anything, I may leave a small patch in the back flowerbed. Small as in a patch no larger than 18 inches in diameter.

3. Some of the plants on the slope that we just put in will need to be moved, since the shed is going to have a patio that we didn't plan on before, thus changing the location of the path.  So... 'Peppermint Stick' hydrangea will be moved to the front of the house flowerbed, replacing whatever sickly looking bush is currently in the middle spot there. Hopefully I can get it pulled out far enough to a) get some rain and b) not completely crowd up under the overhang as it grows.  The smaller stuff that needs moving will either be relocated on the slope, or possibly moved to the back flowerbed for now.

 That's all my brainstorming for now.

Garden Boxes and veggies waiting

 The beautiful sunny weather yesterday made for some good wall-building!

Jason was able to get the top two levels done, except for the capstones (which will make for easier walking).

Now all we need to do is get the dirt in them--maybe on Wednesday he'll get the big tractor back and we can transport our several yards of dirt from the front yard to the back.

Here's what's waiting to go in them:

Basil, grown from seed

It's looking pretty sickly, because I planted it in this tub before our trip--knowing that it had no holes in the bottom to let the water drain out--but figuring it would keep them from drying out while we were gone.

Yup, you guessed it. I think it rained the whole time we were gone.

They were in 3 inches of water when we got home. So we'll see if they survive that little experience or not.

This little tangle is beans, grown from seed, and purchased tomato plants.

Beans aren't going to make it (see earlier posts on that fiasco), but I'm really hoping the tomatoes will pull through. I've got a 4-pack of Gold Nugget, a 4-pack of Roma paste tomatoes, and 2 individual Cougar Reds. I will probably direct seed some more beans.

By the way, I found my seed box from Springfield! Hooray! So that gives me a few more options, as well.

These are the two pumpkin plants, grown from seed, that made it.

As you can see, I got them potted up to the bigger size before our trip (with drainage holes, thank you very much), and they look the healthiest of all so far.

After we get everything here planted, I'm planning to purchase or direct seed squash, cucumbers, peppers, beans, possibly some corn, and sunflowers.

Weather Talk

We're finding the weather here is quite different from Springfield. No real surprise there, right? But one thing in particular that we've noticed is the WIND.  Last night it was so windy we could hardly sleep.  It blew open our fence gates, tearing off the latch in the process.  At least one tree in town went down and through a roof. We had some shingles on our lawn this morning.

It seems to primarily come from the west, and blows straight across our hillside in back where we plan to put the garden.  Right now Jason is fixing the gates, and reinforcing them several different ways, as tonight apparently there are supposed to be gusts up to 50 mph. If it's like this in the summer at all, it will wreak havoc on any garden.  So I've started to think about interplanting shrubs on the slope, between the aspens, to act as a windbreak for my little veggies next year.

We're reconsidering the shed design as well. Perhaps we will go back to the plan where the roof line being just above the fence and sloping up.  We're wondering if that would handle the wind better than a typical A-line roof.
Also, when I went out just a minute ago, it was hailing. Pea size, and not enough to pile up anywhere.

It has been a very rainy fall.  In fact, today when I felt some warmth on my arm in the kitchen, I thought I had left a burner on.  Nope, it was just sunlight coming through the window.  Oh yeah, that's what that feels like!

According to the weather man, it should snow by the end of this week, if not next.

New Back Yard, Thoughts and Plans

We are starting over from scratch here, pretty much.

There is a nice bit of lawn between the house and this hill...and yay! no pool to worry about!  Jacob has actually been able to play outside by himself sometimes.  That part has been really good.

Otherwise, the amount of work to be done is a bit daunting, but I'm trying to remember that it doesn't need to be done all at once.

Old, falling-down garden box full of weeds.

Fairly steep slope behind, which we plan to terrace into more garden boxes.

Looking back at the middle of the slope.  A couple of young aspens, and a bunch more weeds in front.

I want to plant 2 apple trees this fall where those green weeds are, right at the bottom of the slope.  We would like to add a few more fruit trees next year, but haven't settled on which kind. 

Far side of the hill.  Big aspen, with a dead small tree and a bunch of dead grass and weeds.

I need to go up the hill and decide which aspen runners to let live and which to clip off.  We think having a small aspen grove on this side of the hill may be a good way to go.  Better than what we've got, for sure.

Steep slope down north side of yard. 

This may be part of a more extensive landscaping and wall-building project later on.  For now, it will probably just stay as is.

Raspberry bush! 

Thorny, with small but sweet berries. Not very abundant by the time we got here, but perhaps some judicious pruning and care would help that.

We're now looking at the flower bed up against the house, in case that wasn't obvious, (so hill with garden box is behind me.)

Lots of irises, which could probably use dividing.

I'm not sure what the plant is between the irises and the pointy evergreen.

The former owner thought they were scented geranium, but wasn't positive either.

The tree is going to have to come out--besides plans for deck expansion, I've seen several wasps crawl into it, and I think they are building a nest in there. Plus, it's just kind of ugly.

We have had to start watering the lawn, which has been strange!  Also, there is wind here almost all the time, so I want to interplant the trees on the slope with some shrubs in hopes of protecting my vegetable garden, at least a little bit.  Near as I can tell after a month, prevailing winds all blow straight across the hill from the south.  It may change at other seasons, don't know yet.

Garden Evaluation: bush beans, beets, carrots

Box 1, revisited: Fall crops
bush beans, beets, carrots, (+ annual sunflower and zinnias)
planted July 17

Bush Beans: 3 sq. x 9/sq
Variety: Blue Lake Bush
Yield: Plenty for eating fresh
Pests, problems, diseases: none, since they were planted after the Japanese beetles had mostly gone away.
Finished: beginning of September
Comments: Good flavor! I was impressed with the yield for the number of plants put in. Also, for planting them at the end of summer, they did great! We harvested several meals' worth before the end of the season. With the warm planting weather, they grew really fast. They did overrun the other fall crops, though. Would need to plan that differently next time.

Carrots: 2 sq x 16?/sq
Variety: Short 'n Sweet
Yield: nothing
Pests, problems, diseases: bush beans crowded them out
Finished: n/a
Comments: these came up ok, but I didn't thin them out. I don't think it would have made much difference, in the end, if I had. The bush beans were so vigorous that they completely took over the space. Will have to give these a try in a different setting next time.
Beets: 2 sq. x 16?/ sq
Variety: Detroit Dark Red
Yield: none

Pests, problems, diseases: bush bean takeover

Finished: n/a

Comments: as with the carrots, these put up little shoots, but then were completely overrun by bush beans. Maybe next time I'll put these and the carrots in their own box and see how they do.