Planning Ahead

I have not posted in quite a while. I really cannot do anything that I had wanted until I can get the inside fence put up because the pups are just to menacing and will destroy whatever I put out. So I am at a stand still. I could attempt to do something with the front yard, but my heart is not in it, I don't spend much time in the front yard. I suppose I would spend more time in the front yard if I actually did something with it, you agree? vicious circle I suppose. Here are some photos that have inspired me and how I envision the back yard to one day look. What a slow agonizing painful waiting process...

So this is how I am imagining my Shasta Daisy Bed, packed full o'daisies. Hundreds just all overflowing and spilling out all over the place. I am thinking about maybe a small white picket fence.

On the Sunflower side of the shed I plan on planting lots of mammoth sunflowers, that area is in full sun almost all day long and I am hoping the Sunflowers will enjoy that. I plan on mammoths in the back, autumn sunflowers in front of them, and edging with adorable teddybear sunflowers.

These asters would go wonderfully with the blue of the house and the garden shed. I am drawn to colors that will compliment my blue house on Pine Avenue (hence my blog title) I do not want to many colors that will contrast too much, like yellows and oranges, the sunflowers will prolly be the only privileged sunny colors allowed...

Clearing The Daisy Bed

This is my rain barrel. Just one of those light weight "wooden" but really plastic planter barrels from Lowe's with a wooden plank screwed to the top. The plank has a hole drilled into it and the pump is bolted to it. Then a PVC pipe from the pump hanging straight down into the barrel. I have a mesh net over the top to keep debris and pups out of the water, but as you can see, the big pup Edison has pushed the net down in the back, rotten pup. You have to "prime" the pump first so I always leave a little water left in the watering can to use to prime with the next time I water. It has worked pretty well, but after doing some reading on GardenWeb, they have some great ideas on rain barrels, I think I will modify.
















I spent the afternoon a couple of days ago clearing out this section that will become the Daisy bed, I picture this full of hundreds of Shasta Daisies. First I had to clear out all of this darn black landscaping fabric. I had planted a few Iris bulbs, about 25 I think, last fall. I had to poke holes into the fabric and push the bulbs into the ground through the holes. Then of course the next day Edison had to dig in the bed and find out what cool things I was planting. So, only about 6 or 7 iris came up through the fabric. This guy in the pic had his poor roots all interwoven in the fabric, but he made it!

The landscape timbers are just there right now to define the space, so I could visualize how big I wanted it. I will lay down cardboard and cover with mulch to get rid of the grass over the winter. Winter sowing will be used to start the Shasta Diasies, and a little white picket fence is going to enclose them, so they can spill over the fence, and use the fence as support. I can hardly wait for spring. I may move the rain barrel to the front yard since it is kind of a cute feature, and use it to water the roses in the front. I am considering using a larger barrel and putting a spigot and running a irrigation hose into the daisy bed, and around the side of the garden shed where I will plant Sunflowers.

Diabolical Fiends!

Don't let the cuteness fool you, they are diabolical fiends! The cuteness is just a defense mechanisim. See the pitiful looking stubs of wood sticking up out of the ground? That was a young river birch, before these two got a hold of it. I have also tried planting a pin oak tree, some english ivy, iris, and hostas. The iris may come back in the spring I am hoping. In a week or two the dog fence will be installed and their days of botanical terror will come to an end.

Pergola

Cottage Living ran this photo with an article in April 2007. I love this pergola, it is very charming and I think it would be very cozy on the side of the garden shed. I am picturing it also covered in grape vines, my mom has some very nice grapes vines growing at her place, I think I will see about getting a start or seeds from that vine. At the front corner I would like to either put a Rose of Sharon that is in a pot in the shed right now, or maybe this would be a good spot for the pineapple sage I am planning on. I have been to Lowe's (sigh...love Lowe's!) and priced out what it would cost to build. I will need to check with the city and see what kind of permit I will need, if any?

There is a large cedar tree on the back corner of my lot so the side of the garden shed is the only area in the back yard that gets any shade in the summertime. So for entertaining and relaxing purposes this is the ideal spot for my pergola. The white shed in the picture belongs to a friend and I have been promised that it will be moved in a few weeks. To the front of where the white shed is sitting I would like to plant a small veggie garden in the spring time. Nothing to complicated, pole beans, tomatos, salad fixings would be nice.

Volunteer Flowers

These are Volunteer Flowers I have noticed that have chosen to grace the place with their presence. Are they weeds? I believe a weed is anything growing in the garden that you do not want in the garden....and I chose to want these "flowers" in my garden, these willing volunteers.

Reminder to self: Find out why pictures are so blurry....operator error?

A Blank Slate

In search of my mother's garden, I found my own. ~Alice Walker

Gardens... should be like lovely, well-shaped girls: all curves, secret corners, unexpected deviations, seductive surprises and then still more curves. ~H.E. Bates, A Love of Flowers

I have a blank slate to work with. I do not yet have a garden, I have a yard. It is a nice good sized yard. There is decent grass in this yard. There are two-four legged critters that run, chew, roll, and frolic in this yard. And I wish to make it more. I would like a place to enjoy a cup of coffee, a place to toil and nurture, a place to meditate and exercise calm and quiet.

The Plan

Plan #1 - Remember those four legged critters I mentioned? The ones that run and frolic? They have too much of the yard to enjoy and chew on. Their space is about to be dowsized a bit. So a secondary fence is being added within the already fenced yard with the purpose of keeping them out of MY half of the yard. Love my pups, but they get curious when they see I have dug a hole, and it is their mission to undig whatever it is I have buried.

Plan #2 - Start two flower beds. I have been saving cardboard for months now. This will help establish the base of the flower beds. The Sunflower Bed will be less defined, just Sunflowers scattered on the alley way side of the garden shed. I love my garden shed. In the front of the garden shed will be hundreds of Shasta Daisies enclosed with a white picket fence. I saw a picture like this in the Cottage Living magazine and fell in love. I like the idea of overplanting the sunflowers and Shasta Daisies and having hundreds of these flowers to gaze at and enjoy.

Plan #3 - Sit back, look at plans #1 and #2, and come up with the next plan.