Here it is the middle of July and I am swamped in the weeding and not feeling happy about my garden. The biggest disappointment is the veggie garden.. try as I might I can't get the weeds under control. Put in two raised beds and even they became inundated with weeds. Seeds I planted did not germinate in the soil.. too dry? And the bindweed came from both sides of the raised beds and snuck in under the boards. I need to take aggressive action on that weed. This year it's thicker than the year before. Interesting thing I laid a pile of lawn leaves in the long-veggie garden area and haven't seen a bindweed come through that area, yet!!! The asparagus area is full of bindweed...
Plan of action.. spray, yes spray the entire open area in the veggie garden (except for the raised bed areas) give it a couple of days to take hold of the plant and then lay black plastic over the entire garden.. smother that plant out... let the plastic lay for the rest of the year, thru the winter and into spring. Yes this means I'll lose the asparagus plants, but they seem to be mostly female plants anyway, producing way too many seeds and not enough stalk thickness.
I haven't really gotten anything done with the side garden.. want to amend the soil, loosen up some of the compacted, depleted soil areas and then plant more perennials. Hope to still get to this area, work the soil and then plant with the perennials that Tagawa has on sale this fall, always a nice selection of perennials this fall that will look great next yeat.
Well I best go, I have the garden hose running in the veggie garden and don't want to turn it into a bog garden!!!!
K
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
SummerTime... Loving It!!
Wow, already getting into the end of June!!! Trying to do my things in the yard.. doesn't seem like I have gotten far.. so little time.. too much time spent at work. However, truth be told, when I am not at work, I am wasting my precious time. Need to get on track with what I am wanting to get done. So just a quick note for now...
Trying to keep up with the veggie garden.. weeding and etc. Asparagus patch looks horrible.. thinking of tearing it up and redoing. This fall. Put in veggie plants, they seem to be doing okay.. but the seeds I planted have not yet come around? Confused. Garlic looks almost ready.
Trying to keep caught up with weeding the rest of the yard.. not doing so good with that in certain places in the yard. But getting to it now. Put in flowers around the pond.. looks great!! Put in some more plants in the raised flower bed. Have some hollyhocks coming up along the fence.. love that look!!!
Today I am going to rework the flagstone area.. reposition the last row of stone, sloping too much.. so I want to level the area and rework.. then finish up the rest of the patio area in the SE corner.. will update later today how that went... and when the light in the back gets better I am going to take pictures (too bright, right now).. and then I will post to the blog site.
Later, K
Trying to keep up with the veggie garden.. weeding and etc. Asparagus patch looks horrible.. thinking of tearing it up and redoing. This fall. Put in veggie plants, they seem to be doing okay.. but the seeds I planted have not yet come around? Confused. Garlic looks almost ready.
Trying to keep caught up with weeding the rest of the yard.. not doing so good with that in certain places in the yard. But getting to it now. Put in flowers around the pond.. looks great!! Put in some more plants in the raised flower bed. Have some hollyhocks coming up along the fence.. love that look!!!
Today I am going to rework the flagstone area.. reposition the last row of stone, sloping too much.. so I want to level the area and rework.. then finish up the rest of the patio area in the SE corner.. will update later today how that went... and when the light in the back gets better I am going to take pictures (too bright, right now).. and then I will post to the blog site.
Later, K
Friday, June 1, 2007
Fifth Year and Sixth Year
Life and finances got in the way of having a productive year. Spent time both summers trying to find the leak in my pond and revamping the waterfall. Was able to plant some perennials that I picked up at the garden center.
Is the yard TOO much for me to take care of? Are there too many things on my garden plot to take care of and bring it to the level of love that I want to bring it to? All the years I have spent looking through gardening magazines and photos and wishing that I could emulate those gardens in my own world... and guess what... I have it right here before me.. I own a yard that has all the foundations for a beautiful garden.. from roses to flowers to bulbs to fruit trees to veggies.... Every spring I start the year on optimism and hope for the best and plan for the best and then time constraints get in the way of watering efficiently and effectively... weeds take over and I don't get the tasks done that I want to accomplish to make my garden excel. However there are moments when the garden relaxes me and calms me and I am satisfied to just be in my garden.
I did get the garden shed torn down and therefore will have more room for additional raised gardens for veggies... I got a chipper so that I can chip the branches that I prune from the shrubs around the yard. This past fall I cut back the rose of sharon and the peach tree, which were both overpowering the yard. Also cut back the lilac bush in the corner... plan to prune and style a few more shrubs this season.
The fifth and sixth year are over and past... and a new year is upon me and the potential for a beautiful garden is just out the door and through the garden gate.
Loving life and getting dirty, Kristi
Is the yard TOO much for me to take care of? Are there too many things on my garden plot to take care of and bring it to the level of love that I want to bring it to? All the years I have spent looking through gardening magazines and photos and wishing that I could emulate those gardens in my own world... and guess what... I have it right here before me.. I own a yard that has all the foundations for a beautiful garden.. from roses to flowers to bulbs to fruit trees to veggies.... Every spring I start the year on optimism and hope for the best and plan for the best and then time constraints get in the way of watering efficiently and effectively... weeds take over and I don't get the tasks done that I want to accomplish to make my garden excel. However there are moments when the garden relaxes me and calms me and I am satisfied to just be in my garden.
I did get the garden shed torn down and therefore will have more room for additional raised gardens for veggies... I got a chipper so that I can chip the branches that I prune from the shrubs around the yard. This past fall I cut back the rose of sharon and the peach tree, which were both overpowering the yard. Also cut back the lilac bush in the corner... plan to prune and style a few more shrubs this season.
The fifth and sixth year are over and past... and a new year is upon me and the potential for a beautiful garden is just out the door and through the garden gate.
Loving life and getting dirty, Kristi
Friday, May 25, 2007
Fourth Year 2007
This will be my fourth year in my garden.
So far this spring I have put in a raised bed in the veggie garden.. last fall I planted garlic and they are up and growing. The rain has been consisitent and often... which is great!!! I pruned back the roses and they are showing buds. The peonies are full of blooms. The lilacs have already bloomed out, plan to prune this spring. The white lilac is finishing up. And the Hydrangea was FULL, too full, will want to prune a little so it's not so top heavy.
Heavy pruned the rose of sharon and the currant bushes in the back yard. The Iris are big and strong this year.. what with all the snow and moisture to get the blooms really heavy this year. I had a full garden of volunteer (reseeded) bachelors buttons, which was nice, but some reseeded to the point of messy.. cause they clustered around the iris. Unfortunately, with my busy schedule I haven't been able to get out and clean them out. It looks untidy and messy. Want to work on that this weekend.
Bindweed is still my nemisis.
The pond is doing great. I reworked the waterfall and have a slow leak, which I will need to look at.. but have left it alone for now.. need to spend my time on other things. Planted my pond and bog garden last weekend. Still need to plant the front of the pond.. and more in the perennial bed.
Planted my tomatoes with Wall o Waters. Put in peas and carrots and beets... just now starting to sprout. Still need to put in the other veggie plants and plant other veggie seeds. Putting in some flowers and arranging the plantings to take advantage of the "companion" planting theory. This is the year I want to work harder on the veggie garden. Put in one raised bed with plans to put in three more. Eventually I want to put in a raised bed for the asapargus bed and replace the rasied bed that was in place when I bought the house.. wood has rotted. I would also like to get rid of the big metal shed and put in one or two rasied beds in the corner with a small shed against the fence. I don't need that much space and it seems to be taking up a lot of garden room.. plus the shed is an ugly metal/ rusty structure. Would rather put in a small shed and get rid of the mower and snowblower, since I don't use either one. I use a push rotary mower so I don't need the big space.. plus there is room in the garage. It would look cleaner and I would have a nice view of the lilacs that are stuffed behind the garden shed right now.
PROJECT Plans for this summer:
I already covered this during late winter as I impatiently waited for spring to arrive.
Some new ideas.. and to risk repeat. The SE corner still needs to be finished up. Put in some trellis work and extend the hieght of the fence, planting some vines which will give it a nicer, enclosed affect. Cut a few of the lower branches on the pine tree and plant hostas.. plant a few more perennials.. for the moongarden.. last year I planted some plants that are not "moongarden" plants/ color, will move them later and replace with white or pastel plants. I was sitting in my backyard the other night and realized, yes, I do want to put in a moon garden so that is what I am focusing on for the raised bed area.
Plant around the front of the pond.. small clammering plants/ perennials for some/ annuals for fill. Move the blocks away from the back fence.. use for walkway in veggie garden.. and then plant sunflowers among the strawberries... and hang bird houses along the back fence and a few in the SE corner. Hang hummerbird feeders/ oriole feeders.
Of course finish up planting the veggies.. corn/melons/squash.
Clean up and plant the side flowerbed. Replace the dying rose in the front.
Plant some flowers along the bottom of the shrubs (rose of sharon and currant). Figure out what I want to do with the backyard.. grass? Groundcover? Path? not sure yet. Wooden walkway? with plants along side? May not get this done this year. At the end of the yard, in front of the veggie garden I want to put a statue of some sort.. with two plants on either side.. roses? fruit trees? ornamental grass? Something for just purely ornamental value at the end of the yard... a focal point from the pond.. from my bedroom window.
Finish off the patio area.. (found out Lowe's no longer carries my bricks.. ) I will need to find another source or a compatible brick that will work with what I already have!!!! Damn!!!! Also want to put in a wood deck off the kitchen patio. Put up a wall at the end of lower patio.. with a bench seat and overhang for plants and bird feeders to the sides. For privacy and the feel of an outdoor room.
At the end of the patio to the side I want to put in another small seating area.. where there are rocks at this time.. a concrete stamped area.. with a raised planter arched around the area... leading to the fruit trees (espaliers) of apple/ peach/ cherry/ etc. whatever will grow in Colorado. Which means I might have to move the compost area.. or find a nicer looking bin.. maybe set up two small ones in each side of the yard.
For the front yard, the only thing I want to change out is the rock garden.. add some larger rocks.. and silt. With a stronger variety of rockgarden plants.
Doubt if I will get all of these done before the end of the summer, but I love keeping the big picture in focus so that I know where to go with the little pictures.
Going to be busy, again, this summer.
So far this spring I have put in a raised bed in the veggie garden.. last fall I planted garlic and they are up and growing. The rain has been consisitent and often... which is great!!! I pruned back the roses and they are showing buds. The peonies are full of blooms. The lilacs have already bloomed out, plan to prune this spring. The white lilac is finishing up. And the Hydrangea was FULL, too full, will want to prune a little so it's not so top heavy.
Heavy pruned the rose of sharon and the currant bushes in the back yard. The Iris are big and strong this year.. what with all the snow and moisture to get the blooms really heavy this year. I had a full garden of volunteer (reseeded) bachelors buttons, which was nice, but some reseeded to the point of messy.. cause they clustered around the iris. Unfortunately, with my busy schedule I haven't been able to get out and clean them out. It looks untidy and messy. Want to work on that this weekend.
Bindweed is still my nemisis.
The pond is doing great. I reworked the waterfall and have a slow leak, which I will need to look at.. but have left it alone for now.. need to spend my time on other things. Planted my pond and bog garden last weekend. Still need to plant the front of the pond.. and more in the perennial bed.
Planted my tomatoes with Wall o Waters. Put in peas and carrots and beets... just now starting to sprout. Still need to put in the other veggie plants and plant other veggie seeds. Putting in some flowers and arranging the plantings to take advantage of the "companion" planting theory. This is the year I want to work harder on the veggie garden. Put in one raised bed with plans to put in three more. Eventually I want to put in a raised bed for the asapargus bed and replace the rasied bed that was in place when I bought the house.. wood has rotted. I would also like to get rid of the big metal shed and put in one or two rasied beds in the corner with a small shed against the fence. I don't need that much space and it seems to be taking up a lot of garden room.. plus the shed is an ugly metal/ rusty structure. Would rather put in a small shed and get rid of the mower and snowblower, since I don't use either one. I use a push rotary mower so I don't need the big space.. plus there is room in the garage. It would look cleaner and I would have a nice view of the lilacs that are stuffed behind the garden shed right now.
PROJECT Plans for this summer:
I already covered this during late winter as I impatiently waited for spring to arrive.
Some new ideas.. and to risk repeat. The SE corner still needs to be finished up. Put in some trellis work and extend the hieght of the fence, planting some vines which will give it a nicer, enclosed affect. Cut a few of the lower branches on the pine tree and plant hostas.. plant a few more perennials.. for the moongarden.. last year I planted some plants that are not "moongarden" plants/ color, will move them later and replace with white or pastel plants. I was sitting in my backyard the other night and realized, yes, I do want to put in a moon garden so that is what I am focusing on for the raised bed area.
Plant around the front of the pond.. small clammering plants/ perennials for some/ annuals for fill. Move the blocks away from the back fence.. use for walkway in veggie garden.. and then plant sunflowers among the strawberries... and hang bird houses along the back fence and a few in the SE corner. Hang hummerbird feeders/ oriole feeders.
Of course finish up planting the veggies.. corn/melons/squash.
Clean up and plant the side flowerbed. Replace the dying rose in the front.
Plant some flowers along the bottom of the shrubs (rose of sharon and currant). Figure out what I want to do with the backyard.. grass? Groundcover? Path? not sure yet. Wooden walkway? with plants along side? May not get this done this year. At the end of the yard, in front of the veggie garden I want to put a statue of some sort.. with two plants on either side.. roses? fruit trees? ornamental grass? Something for just purely ornamental value at the end of the yard... a focal point from the pond.. from my bedroom window.
Finish off the patio area.. (found out Lowe's no longer carries my bricks.. ) I will need to find another source or a compatible brick that will work with what I already have!!!! Damn!!!! Also want to put in a wood deck off the kitchen patio. Put up a wall at the end of lower patio.. with a bench seat and overhang for plants and bird feeders to the sides. For privacy and the feel of an outdoor room.
At the end of the patio to the side I want to put in another small seating area.. where there are rocks at this time.. a concrete stamped area.. with a raised planter arched around the area... leading to the fruit trees (espaliers) of apple/ peach/ cherry/ etc. whatever will grow in Colorado. Which means I might have to move the compost area.. or find a nicer looking bin.. maybe set up two small ones in each side of the yard.
For the front yard, the only thing I want to change out is the rock garden.. add some larger rocks.. and silt. With a stronger variety of rockgarden plants.
Doubt if I will get all of these done before the end of the summer, but I love keeping the big picture in focus so that I know where to go with the little pictures.
Going to be busy, again, this summer.
Third Year In My Garden
Coming into my third year.. I still don't feel that the yard is "mine". It still belongs to the previous owner, and perhaps, a part of it always well belong to her. Sometimes I wish I could meet her, or correspond with her, tell her how much I appreciate the work and time she put into the garden.
This spring I dug a pond.. with a little help from the kids.. oval shape and 2 1/2 ft deep. For the area I don't know if I could have made it any bigger or different.. size and location determined that for the most part. But what a wonderful addition to the yard. I can see it from my kitchen through the patio door.. and it is positioned right off of the back patio. I enjoy the water flow of the waterfall.. one thing I might want to rework at some point is the level of the pond... it is not level on all sides, so I cannot completely fill the pond on all sides to hide the liner.. but sometimes the pond consumes too much of my time and I don't get to the other areas of my yard.
I also put in a bog garden (with perforated liner) behind the pond so that I can put in marginal plants and bog plants. One concern is that a lot of high moisture loving plants also prefer shade.. which this area of the pond does not have.. so I have to watch what I plant in the area as they can become scorched. I planted my pond plants too early.. put them in and then got a cold night that set the plants back. My lily did not bloom, but I am hoping that this year it will (07). The other water plants came along nicely.. wind was an issue with the taller plants. About a month after I put in the pond I applied at Tagawa garden center, and got the job in ponds/ houseplants. YEAH!!! I have learned so much about ponding.
The rest of the summer I, again, put in a veggie garden, tried to plant later in the season so that I could harvest in the fall when the kids are home. Tried fall planting but didn't get it harvested. I have not had good success with my veggie garden. Disappointed. Watering consistently is a problem I have.. heat. As always I make a promise to do things differently "next year".
I laid flagstone in the corner of the yard with thyme between the stones. This is a nice seating area.. I want to put up a trellis for vines and plant more plants in the corner. (Next Year). In the heat of the day I was moving hot, heavy flagstone. It got to be a labor intensive job... still not quite finished.. need to fill in some areas between the flagstone and pick up a few small pieces to complete the area leading up to the pond. The thyme by the small stream grew in wonderfully. Planted some perennials in the raised bed. Still have things to work on this "next year". But I like how it is all coming together.
My roses had two wonderful bloom times this year. During the heat of the summer they slowed down on blooming. I finally feel like I am taking ownership of my yard. As I tend the yard and make it "mine". I love it more and more every year.
So many things I still want to do.. it will take time. But I love it.
This spring I dug a pond.. with a little help from the kids.. oval shape and 2 1/2 ft deep. For the area I don't know if I could have made it any bigger or different.. size and location determined that for the most part. But what a wonderful addition to the yard. I can see it from my kitchen through the patio door.. and it is positioned right off of the back patio. I enjoy the water flow of the waterfall.. one thing I might want to rework at some point is the level of the pond... it is not level on all sides, so I cannot completely fill the pond on all sides to hide the liner.. but sometimes the pond consumes too much of my time and I don't get to the other areas of my yard.
I also put in a bog garden (with perforated liner) behind the pond so that I can put in marginal plants and bog plants. One concern is that a lot of high moisture loving plants also prefer shade.. which this area of the pond does not have.. so I have to watch what I plant in the area as they can become scorched. I planted my pond plants too early.. put them in and then got a cold night that set the plants back. My lily did not bloom, but I am hoping that this year it will (07). The other water plants came along nicely.. wind was an issue with the taller plants. About a month after I put in the pond I applied at Tagawa garden center, and got the job in ponds/ houseplants. YEAH!!! I have learned so much about ponding.
The rest of the summer I, again, put in a veggie garden, tried to plant later in the season so that I could harvest in the fall when the kids are home. Tried fall planting but didn't get it harvested. I have not had good success with my veggie garden. Disappointed. Watering consistently is a problem I have.. heat. As always I make a promise to do things differently "next year".
I laid flagstone in the corner of the yard with thyme between the stones. This is a nice seating area.. I want to put up a trellis for vines and plant more plants in the corner. (Next Year). In the heat of the day I was moving hot, heavy flagstone. It got to be a labor intensive job... still not quite finished.. need to fill in some areas between the flagstone and pick up a few small pieces to complete the area leading up to the pond. The thyme by the small stream grew in wonderfully. Planted some perennials in the raised bed. Still have things to work on this "next year". But I like how it is all coming together.
My roses had two wonderful bloom times this year. During the heat of the summer they slowed down on blooming. I finally feel like I am taking ownership of my yard. As I tend the yard and make it "mine". I love it more and more every year.
So many things I still want to do.. it will take time. But I love it.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
My Third Year in MY Garden
Last summer, my third year, I finally feel that I was able to really get into the dirt of things. I drew up a rough draft of the yard, laying out the hardscapes of things, and slowly started to plot what plants are located where. As I was able to spend sometime with my garden I was able to find what all was out there. In the front yard I have lily of the valley, I have coneflowers and daisies. In the spring I have tulips and narcissus and hyacinth. Lilies and iris. Alpine strawberries and columbine. I am finding what is working and what needs more work. (Not that I have gotten anything done about the "more work" part, but I at least have made note of it).
Last spring I put a pond and bog garden in the back yard, next to the extended patio area. I put rock around the new raised flower bed in the back yard and laid a flagstone patio in the back corner. I attempted to plant plants, but found there was so much hardscaping to do that the planting was only a small part of the garden renovation. I removed the rotting wood around the rose gardens and replaced with rock.. it looks good.. not as rustic.
Last fall I planted garlic. Had planned to plant tulips, but the snow came before I was able to get them in the ground, so they are in the bottom of my fridge, hoping they make it through the summer in the fridge.
Last spring I put a pond and bog garden in the back yard, next to the extended patio area. I put rock around the new raised flower bed in the back yard and laid a flagstone patio in the back corner. I attempted to plant plants, but found there was so much hardscaping to do that the planting was only a small part of the garden renovation. I removed the rotting wood around the rose gardens and replaced with rock.. it looks good.. not as rustic.
Last fall I planted garlic. Had planned to plant tulips, but the snow came before I was able to get them in the ground, so they are in the bottom of my fridge, hoping they make it through the summer in the fridge.
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