Tag Archives: yard projects

Container Herbs

Posted on May 27, 2014 by | Comments Off on Container Herbs
container herbs just planted

I was going for super cheap this year, but wanted to put my herbs in containers, so I searched and searched for the most cost effective thing I could find -- and would you believe Kmart came to the rescue? Those flexible green tubs were only $4.99 each, so I grabbed three, drilled some holes in the bottoms, added a single layer of egg rock I had laying around for good measure, and plopped all my new little buddies in.

flexible tub planters

flexible tub planters

flexible tub planters

I had great internal anguish over whether to plant all three thymes together, or divide them among the three containers. I guess it's obvious which way I went, but it was not an easy decision, and there was much hand-wringing. ;)

Also used this season for the first time in years is the enamel basin I used to use as a planter at our old house.

enamel basin planter

Everything's filthy because it had been freshly planted, but I just love the way plants look in there.

A non-herb update is the addition of some cheater greens (ones I did not start from seed) to replace the failed mixed lettuce seeds. The seeds I used were great performers in the past, but the pack was very old, so I wasn't too surprised when they didn't come up.

"corn salad" and arugula

Yesterday I built the last two frames for the shelf and planted some broccoli (I do realize it's late, but we're just planting it for the greens back there) and some red lettuce.

Cross your fingers for the continued success of the shelf garden! It frees up a lot of space in the other beds and looks nice back there, so I'm really hoping it works out.

Working on uploading a glabillionty pictures from a nature walk I took with a friend the other evening and will share soon. I think you'll enjoy them.

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Yup, still high on spring, and some moving gardens.

Posted on May 11, 2013 by | Comments Off on Yup, still high on spring, and some moving gardens.
lilacs in the rain

Oh, spring rain! It had been mostly sunny for so long, the rain was quite welcome.

hello ant friend

columbine

peony party!

I just love rainy days so much.

mixed clematis

The plants liked it too of course. Check out that clematis only a few days later, now covered in blooms.

really blooming now!

But a big thing! The yard is changing yet again.

beds full now, and enjoying the rain

It started with finally deciding to plant the back fence and try to get the yard I actually want. You see, that one back section of fence opens, but we really don't need it to, and if the people who buy this place someday whenever we move away want it to open, they can cut down the plants back there, yeah? But I had been hesitating all this time because I felt I was being impractical? Something? I don't know. Basically I over-think everything ever and finally backed off of myself enough to just do what I want and enjoy our yard to the fullest.

So here's the gang:

grow, grow!

The blueberry bed used to be up at the other end of the yard, and the Knockout rose and Elderberry are also new, but the rest has been there for at least a season now.

But the real excitement comes in the form of two "brand new" vegetable beds. They don't look like much here, but they each measure about 72 x 36" and are about 11" high.


new beds!

Having them lower to the ground than the other bed means more critter potential, so I am working on some wire "fencing" to put in them, but my first attempt was a little... off...

well, the idea was there anyway

Haha, oh well. I'll fix it one of these days. :)

The lumber for the beds is all reclaimed from the original one I built up by the patio not long after we moved in.

raised bed planted and "fenced"

I liked it I guess, but the sun was all wrong there, so this year I finally got around to taking it apart. I cut up the wood for the new beds, and hauled all the dirt down the yard on tarps, with some help from the husband or course.

no more big raised bed up here

Impractical as it may seem, I liked having a division between the yard and the patio, and while I didn't feel the need for something as high as the original bed there, I didn't want to completely open it back up again.

Luckily for me, when I decided to extend the small deck in front of the shed so we could put the picnic table there, I found myself with a wheelbarrow full of lilies and irises in need of new homes. (And by the way, best place for the table yet. It used to be on the patio and then at the back of the yard where I just put those veggie beds but it works so much nicer here, and it sits in the shade of the tree!)

table under the tree now

So anyway, the now homeless plants joined some ranunculus and gladiolus bulbs, and some coleus seeds up here.

from left: lilies, gladiolus and ranunculus bulbs, irises, coleus seeds

Mulched and edged now, but still looking pretty bedraggled for the time being.

mulched and "edged" in the laziest way possible

Next up is a line of arborvitae along the fence behind the swingset, but who knows when we'll get them in. And then I suppose I ought to decide what to put in the new vegetable beds sometime before winter hits again. ;)

So that's that for now. Enjoy your weekend!

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Spring Fever Twenty-Twelve

Posted on February 23, 2012 by | Comments Off on Spring Fever Twenty-Twelve
In addition to our already unusually mild winter, the past few days have been gloriously sunny and spring-like, so I took full advantage and finally got started on some yard projects that have been eating at me for many months.

Okay so last year I built this, right?

firewood shelf almost done

It was supposed to be a neat and organized wood pile for our little fire pit's wood supply. I had plans to tack a tarp up around the back, top and sides to keep the rain out. Ahhh, plans. We all know how those go.

What happened to it instead, was that it became a grand play area for the groundhog/cats/squirrels/whatever and I was constantly picking up wood and putting it back on the shelf. I never bothered with the tarp because I figured enclosing would only make it like an all-weather animal fun factory and I did not want to encourage them.

Keep in mind that this structure is in the infuriating corner beside/behind the shed with the doomed compost house and the groundhog depot. The whole reason I was building things back there was because previous plants had failed there, and the space is too small to be useful in many other ways -- and would be a royal pain to seed and mow.

So over the course of the last three days, the wood shelf was disassembled and refashioned into a raised bed,

newly built scrap wood bed

filled with the cat-destroyed composted material (and you can see more of that in the alley behind it filling in the giant ruts the utility trucks left in the soft mud). The planter will hold a shrub. Haven't decided what yet, but I want something that will fill in that area and give some privacy from the alley.

full of composted stuff and ready for a new shrub

Compost house, pre-emptying:

this took longer than I thought to empty

See all those Sun Chips bags? None of them broke down in there. None of them. But there was some nice, dark soil all around them under that new layer of dry stuff on top!

Anyway, all the wood?

waiting for their new home

Now it lives in the emptied compost house turned woodshed. Lean-to. Whatever.

erstwhile compost house

I used the back wall of the compost house as a floor. Just a few quick trims on the sides and it fit right in there.

And THEN all of this?

sitting around for like a year now?

(Which has been waiting to be cut up into firewood for at least a year now? Yeah. Embarrassing.)

Check. It. Out.

WOOD!

That sucker is FULL! Needs to be rearranged at some point, so I can get to the small stuff in the back, but it looked like it was going to start raining as I was finishing up yesterday and I wanted to get it under the roof fast.

Hooray for no more giant random wood pile!

no more giant pile of wood!


Also in the last few days, blocks were purchased and laid beside the shed where I *may* attempt a skinny greenhouse out of old windows.

"floor" down

Still deciding that one. I have the windows, but it will be a buttload of work getting them all puttied up and secured so the old glass doesn't all come shattering out of them...

In the meantime, new composter has a good home back there on burrow-proof ground (ie: cinderblocks):

new composter lives back here

and EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

just started

Under the straw are myriad scrap delights! And coffee grounds! And eggshells! Huzzah!

All in all, it has been an extremely successful few days and SO GOOD to get outside and moving again. The immediate forecast doesn't look as promising, but I have tons of inside projects to do and errands to catch up on and all that good stuff.

But today is gorgeous, sunny and warm, and for now I can still say: Happy almost spring!

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Gardening, projects, and a dash of rambling

Posted on September 3, 2011 by | Comments Off on Gardening, projects, and a dash of rambling
in a clover patch

Well, let me start by saying how truly amazed I am at all the wonderful comments on my last post. Thank you. I still need to answer everybody individually, but for now: thank you all.

I have a few new things to share, plants and projects, including this neat plant my neighbor put in her yard along our fence.

thunbergia - faded to yellow

It is Thunbergia, commonly, "Black-Eyed Susan vine" or "Clock vine."

thunbergia - orangey

I am in love with it, and had thoughts of collecting some seeds to plant in other places next year. I came across this fascinating post and am now having second thoughts about trying to collect too many, but wow! Interesting!

My garden is still going, despite the tropical storm that whipped up through here last week. The greens bolted like crazy, so I'm looking forward to some lettuce seeds soon!

waiting for lettuce seeds

Now for a project.

A little while back, Sherrie and I arranged a swap. Among other things, one of the items she requested was a full apron, something I am always VERY happy to make!

drying :)

apron on the line

apron for Sherrie

back

I loved it so much, I made a "pattern" out of it and plan to make a similar one for myself soon. Probably more greens in mine, but who knows? I have a few more apron skirts to finish first though, and two other apron commissions, so it might be a while...

Now, some quick plant before-and-afters?

Remember the little coleus I found growing between the patio bricks last year?

rescued surprise coleus

I put it in an outside planter this year and look at it now!

coleus!

And the herb bed?

Here it is in early July:

new herbs planted

And now -- DESPERATELY in need of some cutting back!

H E R B S ! ! !

This summer turned out to be great here. It started raining again, and cooled down enough for everything to really get some more good growing in. So thankful!

Okay. Continuing to jump around now. I just had to share this trash-picked storage seat I grabbed on our last trash day. It needs some repairing, but overall is pretty sturdy. Score! More on that soon I hope.

trash-picked bench!!!

But now for a finished project that I am so happy with.

A few days ago, Linda gave me this clipping from one of our local papers about a gardener in our area. One of her little accent pieces was this hanging window frame "planter."

window project - inspiration

Linda knew it would be right up my alley and it was! I thought about it that night, and the next day, digging out some supplies I knew I already had -- an empty window frame from when my parents replaced their windows, some chain from a light fixture I hung in our living room but didn't need the chain for, and some wrapped picture hanging wire.

What I didn't have was any small pots.

As I was getting a jar out of the cupboard around dinner time the next day, I came across the small jars that came with the yogurt maker I was given to review. I didn't end up using the small ones again as it was just easier to make the yogurt in large jars, so an idea was born.

window project - day

Add some tiny (battery operated) votive candles,

window project - candle in jar

And voila! Safe and pretty at night, and something we can enjoy all year long.

window project - night

It hangs between our back stoops so we can both enjoy it. :)

And after all that rambling, I leave you with some morning glories that Teresa gave me the seeds for last year.

morning glories -mixed

morning glory - pale pink

morning glory - pale blue

morning glory - white

morning glory - deep pink

morning glory - bright blue

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