Two year project

Added later - we planted grass in this area, 2020.

This is where we started -

Tree circled in red is the tree at the corner of the lower raised bed. 

Now -

Isn’t it interesting, which things are difficult to find?

I had to drive quite a ways to get this.

We have had a traditional/one wheeled barrow for many years. Like maybe 30 years.

It caused me to fall twice last year. I thought it was me, but it nearly took middle down too. And my husband struggled with it. I sold it.

We got the above as a much needed replacement. Two front wheels keep it sure footed.. Super sturdy.  And the tires are hard/no air needed. It is a really great wheelbarrow.

It was expensive, but worth every penny.  I use it constantly. And at the rate I was going, one day a fall was going to cause an injury.

I had a heck of a time finding one in stock. We had to drive over a hour to get it. But it felt good to get out and Lowe’s has curbeside available.

Peanut bird feeder

Wild birds Unlimited is my go to company for bird supplies. (Great gift ideas.)

Higher prices, much better quality, I have a feeder from them that is over 20 years old.

We added four new (speciality) feeders and a third birdbath to our bird area in the back this year.

A hummingbird, oriole, core/solid and the peanut feeder (above).

The peanut feeder empties shockingly quickly. We thought it was squirrels, but it is the birds. I need to find bigger peanuts that are harder to remove. They are natural/in shell with no salt.

Another planter

Last year we turned an old bench into a planter. The bench was falling apart. It needed a redo or it was headed for the garbage.

This year we turned an old flower box into a planter.

The house has to be resided in that area. The flower box was no longer visit or from the street, a hedge grew.

And I wanted a “flower box” look on the other side of the house.

Very pleased.

Can be used as a seat in either position and also as a kneeler

This would make a great gift.

We now have two because my husband and middle both use it too. Woodworking, projects on the ground, gardening.

Makes a huge difference in our backs.

I use Lowe’s curbside service a lot.

Confidence

I did major plant work last year. I added a couple perennial/bulb beds. I reworked other beds. I added borders. We pulled a hedge. We pulled a tree. We pulled assorted bushes.

Middle just made me a large paper plot of our property with the beds detailed. I am going to write in the names of plants as they come up this year. Some I remember, some I do not. For the ones I do not, the app  (below) will help.

I have beds with almost no weeds. I have other areas with weeds.

This app also gives me the confidence to weed. I no longer have the “better let it grown so I can see what it is” approach.

It is very easy to use with my iPhone. I simply take a picture of the plant and it tells me what it is.

Oldest has sent me pictures of plants and I have pulled them up in the app and told him what they are.

I paid for this app. It was not very much. I have it set so it does not automatically renew this fall. But I will probably do it again next spring, if I have weeds.

Forcing bulbs

I hunted very hard for a Valentines decoration for my kitchen island (this year and last year).

No luck.

By pure chance I was in a different grocery store and saw containers of forced bulbs a few weeks ago.

I got tulips to try. When they bloomed and were very fun, I also got a started container of crocuses, and I got an identical empty container and started my own paper white narcissus bulbs.

There is a plastic device in the bottom of each base to keep the started bulbs up out of the water. The two started containers came with the plastic piece. The extra vase was missing the plastic piece. My husband cut 5 quarter/coin size holes in a plastic oatmeal lid and it works perfectly.

So I have three sets of bulbs going, all at different stages.

We all think this is very fun. Even my husband thinks it is a creative and interesting winter thing to do.

I will order bulbs next fall, put them in the refrigerator, and then start them at a staggered pace after the first of the year. I will reuse these 3 vases.

So far, not bothering my respiratory system.

This would make a great gift.

Plants

This heavy (copper-like) container was in the attic.

It is about 20” long, so substantial.

I think it came on the truck in 2010. (There are a couple more pieces of it. There is a great bucket full of dog toys behind the backdoor.)

I had potted plants in this oval one for a while. Then somehow plants were gone and it went empty to storage. I found it when I cleaned out the attic a couple weeks ago.

***Use it or lose it.***

We got the 3 smallest Golden Pothos we could find. We got the 3 largest pots that would fit. Luckily there were still 3 drainage liners in it.

When youngest’s plants go back to school with her, it is going on my window ledge.

Very pleased. I could have gotten starts from someone, to eliminate that cost. But I wanted a little more established looking.

The benefits of dead heading and trimming

I picked up three yellow blanket flower plants on the clearance table this fall. They looked nearly dead, probably $1 or less each.

I stuck them in next to another grouping of blanket flowers, which I had moved from a front bed (and protected with the shade of a kiddie pool over a chair much of the very hot summer.)

While they are spindle-y, the yellow blanket flowers had a resurgence, and grew green leaves and bloomed. In fact they are still blooming, here at the end of October. So hopefully they have been just as busy below ground, growing major roots.

Not everything makes it of course, but I have had very good luck with clearance tables over the years.. In fact if I ask at the checkout, they often discount them even more. I regularly get plants for $1.50-$1 each.  Bringing them home, putting pot in pan of water for several days and then planting in very good dirt, does wonders. Regular watering and making shade if needed, does a lot too.

And this is actually a lesson in dead heading and trimming. Because these plants came back as if they had been cut.

I have never been good at either (dead heading or cutting things back during growing season). But I have a neighbor who is very good. And next year I am going to ask her to text me as she cuts back plants during the growing season so they can have a Resurgence. And I am going to make notes, all summer, so I learn.

The daisy border

After we got the daisies and the narcissus bulb borders in, my mom and I went on (a couple weeks ago) to add a border of grape hyacinth bulbs (gifted from a neighbor) and an Aster border. I think the asters are blue/purple in 3-4 varieties. I paid $1.50 for most of them on clearance. The daisies and grape hyacinth bulbs were gifted from a neighbor. I bought the narcissus bulbs.

I ordered the zinnias seeds, two varieties for this border, and they will go in behind the asters.

Also in this massive bed: ivy, lily of the valley and hundreds of jonquil bulbs.

I like the shape of this border very much. I love the composition. I am buying a soaker hose and getting it in place next spring. This is a very long border on a wide curve. It is hard to water. The soaker hose will be good solution. This bed will need watered regularly.

The two pools with the tarp over them, are still there. Nasty dirt which I am slowing dwindling thru the garbage each pick up. It will take many weeks, a few bags at a time. Needs to be done before the snow hits.

On the far left of the picture, in front of the tree, see yellow line, we planted a mass of grape hyacinth bulbs. They are my favorite. I now have hundreds (maybe a thousand) planted all over many beds.

Here is a tiny border that squeaked in just under the weather

A couple weeks ago, I dug up the vinca bed.

Vinca is also known as periwinkle. (1st picture below which I used in my ad, in that concentrated picture, it looks nice, as a whole bed, not so much).

I dug 1/3 of the vinca bed last spring, cleaned out some invading grass, and then replanted the vinca. I still just did not like it.

While I have other ground cover beds that I love (pachysandra, lily of the valley, ivy), the vinca bed just always looked messy. Even weed free, it was not very clean looking. And it seemed like a waste of a bed.

A neighbor, who has lovely gardens, was over and concurred. In fact at her old house she had done the same thing and eliminated a bed of vinca.

So two Thursday’s ago I posted a “free vinca” ad on Facebook Marketplace. And by Friday, when I had two people willing to pick up that afternoon, I started digging.

My mother came and helped me.

So much vinca! (In the 2nd  picture below with the pool and the cardboard and the wheelbarrow, one person had already picked up two huge boxes full.)

Both people came to pick up the plants. In fact one of them made a second trip for the rest.

It was a very big job, but by the end of the day, it was tidy again (3rd picture).

In fact middle and I rented an edger and cleaned up the lines all along the sidewalk and driveway that same night (4th picture). So it was really tidy.

This past Friday, my mother helped me plant a border in the old vinca bed (5th picture). It has 11 liropa as the outer border. 40 Grape hyacinth bulbs were planted as a second (inner) border (so as the grape hyacinth is dying back, the liropa will come up and cover it).

Rather than digging holes, I dug two wide trenches. I removed all the dirt. My mother planted (the liropa are 12” apart) and then I filled both trenches with good dirt. Tidy again.

I am planting Impatients (annuals which flower all summer) next spring to fill in the back of that bed.  Probably solid white impatients. Maybe light yellow.

Assuming nobunny eats any of it, it should be lovely. And being so defined, and full, it should be easy to maintain.

Friday my mom and I went on to get the last things in the ground before the weather turns.

Two day-lilies on the east side of the house (starts from a neighbor). That first neighbor also gave me the grape hyacinth bulbs. She also had given me all the daisies that went in another border several weeks ago. She has massive beds.

And we planted a Hosta (I had admired) start from another neighbor. That second neighbor was gifted the rest of my liropa.

It pays to have gardening friends. Everyone likes to rehome plant starts as they garden.

Garbage can very motivating

I am careful about what I pitch.

When I am cleaning out, I rehome as much as I can. I list things for sale or free on Facebook Marketplace mostly. I think this puts things in the hands of someone who can use it.

I recycle (glass, paper, plastic) aggressively.

So really the only thing that goes in our garbage can (from the house)  each week is one tall kitchen garbage bag.

Yard waste is another matter.

We have generated a lot of trimmings this year. We save a lot of branches as kindling, for ourselves and neighbors, but the rest goes in the can. I have had a lot of weeds. And a lot of other yard waste.

Many weeks this summer, we not only filled the can, but also filled tall paper yard waste bags.




Each week, I make sure we utilize the space available in the can 100%.

If I get to the weekend and the can is emptish, I am actively looking around the yard at what needs to go.

That “filling the can” mentality has both paced me and pushed me.

Things have gotten done simply because I did not want to waste pick up service. Things have gotten scheduled for specific weekends based on can space.

It has made a big difference.



I started the spring with very messy flower beds.

I am ending the fall with major work down.

I walked all thru my yard with someone this week, looking at beds and paths. I pulled one weed as we walked, mint hiding in with the bittersweet. I did not see any other weeds. And I saw a lot of tidiness.

I started early in the spring because the rains softened up the ground enough so that I could do a lot myself. The warm fall allowed me to keep going longer than is usually possible. I still have things in bloom as we near the end of October.

I never would have guessed I could get so much done in one spring/summer/fall year. But I really did.  I am so looking forward to next spring. Trimming starts in April.

Breaking out the mock turtle necks

I ordered multiple long sleeved rash guard shirts from Landsend a couple years ago. Multiple colors and prints.

I wore one every day all this past summer. A uniform of sorts.

I wore them with knit black or gray solid shorts or capris (Walmart).

Yes, it was a hot summer. No, the long sleeves did not bother me.

The shirts allowed me to be outside and only use sunscreen on my face. They protected my arms, shoulders, chest.

I have a solid navy one I wear as a swim suit with navy swim shorts. I wear a sports bra under it. The shorts have two layers, longer with a brief bottom built under it. Also LandsEnd.

I buy rash guards and swim shorts on clearance from Landsend. I buy enough for free shipping. I think I have 9-10. I wash them in warm water on gentle, only with each other. I line dry.

The temperature dropped here on Friday night. And very interestingly the Rash guard shirts do not keep me warm, at all. (So there must be something about them that kept me cool all summer.)

So I am now in my fall/winter uniform.

A cotton mock turtleneck (LandsEnd) in gray or black over black knit pants (Walmart). The neck keeps me warm. I can layer many things over them.

I also bought these on clearance, last spring. I see they are on sale. I am ordering more, now that I know they really work.

October and I still have blooms here and there all over the yard

While we still could

All week, I was focused on getting the second border (behind the daisies) ready for spring, while we still could.

As in the weather was still cooperating and all of our body parts work, sort of. 

So late on Friday afternoon, I put the sprinkler on this area (with a double tarp over the pools of drying dirt), for two hours. 

I learned last spring with all the rain, I can dig, if the soil has had a major soak. 

Then at 10am Saturday we started. I dug, my husband separated any plants/roots from the dirt. The dirt went back on the ground, the rest went in the garbage. And we cleared a nice swatch behind the daisy border.

This bed is huge, so it is hard to get perspective in pictures (below). But believe me it was a lot. 

Then at 1pm, I went for dirt, 14 (40 lb) bags. My mom helped me. I hauled/dumped, she raked it flat. And the second border is ready for ***annuals next spring. (I felt a bit like the Amish, they prep their fields for spring planting, each fall).

Then I dug and my mom planted, narcissus in between daisies, but every other daisy so the bulbs have room to spread.

They are the miniature bouquet variety, many blooms from each bulb, in a cluster. They will be up first and then the daisies will cover the wilting greens. (I do not cut, I let the green soak back into the bulb).

So 15 bulbs went in that border, and 5 extra were planted in front of the millstone in another bed. 

***Next spring I am planting two varieties of Zinnias (below) in that second border. I have already ordered the seeds. 

I think the colors and textures are beautiful. And I think the variety will look great behind the massive border of white daisies. 

The rest of the front has mostly yellow/gold flowers. There are a couple masses of pink and purple too. And I have two places that bloom orange. So I think these colors will blend. And they will look like a print, amidst a field of solids. 

Daisies

A neighbor gifted me Shasta Daisies. They were excess from her garden.

On my Garden To Do list was a border on one of the front flower beds. But, I was not sure I would get to it this fall.

Masses of daisies in pans of water, needing to get in the ground ASAP, sped up my process.

On Wednesday night I dug an 18” (wide) border across one end of the bed. My husband pitched the icky dirt and roots into the kiddie pools as I dug. This allowed me to clean up a lot of junky ground. We will let the dirt dry. Then my husband will separate the dirt from the roots. The roots will go in the garbage and we will use the cleaned dirt to fill other places. (His knees prevent him from digging. My hands prevent me from ripping apart dried dirt clods.)

On Thursday morning, I fixed a few areas of the border and filled the 18” strip with new dirt. I buy good dirt from Lowe’s. (You can see how much more I dug, from the volume added to the pools.)

And then my mom divided the daisies and started planting. She used a ruler and did two tidy, alternating rows.

64 daisies later, a nice border.

I am appreciative of the gift. I also am glad she did not pitch all those daisies. A lot of gardeners with really big beds, end up pitching all kinds of plants.

I am super appreciative that she got me moving on this border. Because (knock on wood) next year I should have masses of daisies growing in this border.

If I find a before picture I will add it. This 18" swatch cleaned up a lot of nonsense on the edge of this bed.

And I plan to dig another 18" swatch behind this first one and add dirt, either yet this spring or first thing in the fall. Because I trimmed a lot of tree branches and I think the edge of this bed now gets enough sun that I can plant a massive border of Zinnias right behind the daisies. And that will be super pleasing.

My style of planting has evolved. I like masses of the same plant in an area. It has a lot to do with the fact that I have very large flower beds. Large amounts of the same plant in an area give the eye somewhere to settle. It is just more pleasing to my eye and feels calmer and tidier.

(But I do have one bed in the back where I have many different perennials all planted together. But they are all in pinks, purples, blues and dark reds. Blending colors helps in this garden that has more of an English look to it.)