Wednesday, May 30, 2012

landscaping berglandia

Well, we've been spending quite a bit of time out in the backyard recently. No, not because we're throwing big ol' parties late into the night. (That would be the woman in the house behind us.) We have been attempting to landscape and it's finally at a point where I feel like sharing pictures thanks to the truckload of bark dust and Phil's awesome weed wacking abilities. Disclosure: we are not professional landscapers. I really don't know what the heck I'm doing to be quite honest, but I come from a long line of farmers and gardeners, and I can usually make things blossom and grow with a healthy application of poop from a bag, some mushroom compost, and a little bit of Miracle Grow.

So here's the view from our deck last February, right before we put our offer in on the place. Pretty much a blank slate.

And here it is as of this morning. My raised bed-shade garden first. . . with hostas, ferns, a hydrangea, and some impatiens. I attempted a small curve, it'll be more noticeable when the grass grows back in that one spot.
They are small plants, and will take a few years to really fill in like I want it to, but baby steps, right? Grabbed some rocks from around the yard and the driftwood came from the beach a few months ago. Should've gotten more, but you live and you learn. The hydrangea was in a teeny tiny pot three years ago, an end of the year gift from one of my students. It is loving its new permanent home.
And now, round the corner there in the sun and you'll see some more. The tree in the corner was one of our clearance trees. We got it for $10. (Actually, we got two. One of them is going out front.) On Monday we were at a nursery looking around and saw one just like it for $59! The Asian lilies were another student gift that have just been in a pot all this time. They'll be blooming soon. The mums (in two places) were another transplant, a gift from our realtor, Diane. The peony bush and daisies are new.
So is this Norwegian weeping spruce. Another clearance deal for $15. We just need to get some sturdy stakes. The two rose bushes were dormant roses that we got for cheap. They are greening right up too.
A couple more plants, one that's already done blooming and something else that's supposed to get pink flowers on it. Then I have my hydrangea corner. . . for future plantings. Because you can never have too many hydrangeas. That tree is dying, so it'll probably have to come down sometime.
Other side of the backyard: the shed area before. . . (the only thing there was a blueberry bush)

and after. . . ala Wendy's herb garden. Some of it was replanted from pots, some of it is new. The blueberry bush has blossoms on it. Add a couple perennials and call it good. My oregano is going crazy and I've had to buy a second basil because the first one isn't looking all that great.

Next, the garden before. . .


and today. . . We think that purple plant in the front corner is sage. It needs to be split and replanted elsewhere. It got huge!
I thought I'd do the whole thing based on this square foot gardening thing I read about on pinterest. It sounded like a good idea, but you see we didn't get very far with it. I do like the neatness of it, but it was a lot of work. The red leaf lettuce is about ready to be cut. My plan was to try to grow everything that I need for my salsa recipe, and I think besides the cilantro (which I never can get to grow) and the garlic and red peppers, I think we did it.
The dog is new and so is the bush by the deck. Yep, a $5 clearance deal. The bush, not the dog.
And that concludes our tour. Come see me for real and I'll fix you a salad.

2 comments:

Natalie said...

Love your garden - Wilson is getting so big!!

Kellie said...

I LOVE the new yard look! You have done a wonderful job! :) I'd love to come see you so you could fix me a salad... but I think you already know that. :)