On Our Own

The landscape people are gone and Dwight and I are on our own now. The work that Inside-Out Design did for us exceeded all our expectations. But now it is our turn. We have worked like dogs every night after working all day. Planting, hauling rocks, mulching and my least favorite thing, watering. Dwight and Bruce built the pea gravel patio/sitting area and my vegetable bed is all finished and planted. Bruce has been a great manual laborer and he has a few more hours to do to finish paying off his fraternity dues.

The rain garden is finished and we are filling in around the edges with hostas we salvaged from before we started as well as some given to us by our neighbor. Most of the plants that we hilled in did amazingly well and my Oak Leaf Hydrangea looks awesome! Pictures to follow.


One thing I especially love are the instructions for the fountain care: Use a toothbrush to clean out the stains and algae. I told Dwight to be sure to have fun with that. Surely there is some algae-B-gone we can buy rather than having to use a toothbrush. All in all it is beautiful and we love it so far. Sitting on the patio with a nice glass of wine listening to the fountain and looking at the beautiful landscape has made the stiff back and sore legs, dirty fingernails and blisters all worth it!

Rain Rain Go Away

I guess it is a good thing that it has rained non-stop back home since I am having to spend the week in Des Moines for work. I haven't lost any planting time and the plants that did go in the ground before I left are getting a nice constant soaking. It has thrown us way behind schedule but being out of town would have done that anyway. This way I am not tempted to go to the garden center and buy more plants until I am actually ready to plant some things. I did get my containers for the front porch which I had seen at Sam's a while back. There were two left when I went there on Monday so I think I hit the jackpot. Now I just need to get them filled with beautiful sun-loving flowers and greenery.
I think I still need some color in the back yard but it is the shady part and much more challenging to bring color into the equation. I did plant my zinnia seeds that I had harvested last fall. This year I decided to plant the zinnias in the back against the brick wall so they can grow up tall and fill in the area with a colorful display. I sure hope most of them germinate. I planted them Sunday afternoon and then it promptly started pouring and hasn't stopped raining for 3 days so I am not sure where the seeds have ended up. I will give them a few weeks to start germinating and hope for the best!

Dreaming of Green

I am writing this while sitting in a hotel room in Columbus Ohio where we are staying for my daughter's State Cup soccer tournament but I am dreaming of green. I am amazed that I am actually thinking about getting home and doing some planting. My boys worked hard yesterday planting all of the hostas that we had salvaged and "hilled in". Our neighbor offered that we can have pieces of her 50 different varieties of hostas also so I think that will be what we do next weekend when I get back from Des Moines Iowa where I head to Monday. (By next weekend I will have been in 6 different cities in 6 states in 4 weeks and my get up and go has definitely gotten up and gone.) But I am happy thinking about having two weeks to get some flowers growing and some color in the yard and on the patio. I am especially happy thinking about getting to enjoy the beautiful new patio and the shade garden that we are in the process of planting. Now I just need to think of some ways to add some color to the shade garden. Ideas are welcomed.
I really was proud of Dwight and Bruce who worked really hard in the back yard right up until the moment that Dwight cut not one but two cable lines which knocked out our cable, internet and phone as well as our neighbor's. That kind of put a damper on the gardening roll we were on.






So it's Columbus Ohio tonight and Des Moines Iowa on Monday then home sweet home on Friday. I have dropped a couple of hints that what I would love as a late Mother's Day gift is to come home to a raised bed vegetable garden. Before we did our latest construction project I had a little kitchen garden in which I had grown tomatoes, peppers and herbs. There is nothing like the satisfaction one gets from growing something fresh and delicious and creating a delicious meal from it. We'll see if the hints paid off....

Now Comes the Real Fun

Boy the hardscape came out beautifully and I can't wait for the chance to have people enjoy our new low maintenance back yard. Even the Brown Bullet likes it! The fountain which was Dwight's "must have" idea is very pretty. I am not a big fountain person but it gives the big blank wall a little character. Inside-Out Design did a great job on the hardscape. It looks fantastic.

The plan is to put a trellis where the sidewalk meets the larger circle but I haven't found one that we can afford. The fun part will be arranging our furniture and pots with flowers in them as well as getting to the actual gardening part (in theory). My dear friend Beth, I will have plenty of gardening to do as soon as the "landscapers" leave and move on to their next gig (which happens to be my brother Richard's house). We will have a gigantic mud pit to fill in with plants. I have been trying to hold back when I go to Lowes and see the half price plants because I don't want to over buy right now and then not get them planted in a timely manner. That has happened to us a time or two. My friend Chuck described how plants cower in fear whenever he and Ron approach them in the garden center as if the plants know what fate awaits them if they are unlucky enough to be purchased to be placed around Chuck's pool. Chuck I feel your pain. It is kind of a ritual at our house to buy plants that are a great deal and then systematically fail to plant or maintain them. As a matter of fact I think there are two Leyland Cypress trees in pots that I bought in the fall because they were a great price and then we just never got around to planting them before the winter. I also came across a few bags of bulbs in the garage which are probably all dried out. I guess it wouldn't hurt to stick them in the ground and see what happens since they are summer bulbs like Caladium and Gladiolus. The bunnies and squirrels will be happy at least.

That is the part that the Hesitant Gardener fears most about gardening - failure. Part of the failure is lack of knowledge, part is poor planning, and most is poor execution. Lack of knowledge means that I can't tell whether the little green things sprouting up are from the seeds I planted or if they are weeds. I don't know whether the plants I have purchased are going to survive in our shady, clay soil. Poor planning encompasses all of the above as well as the purchase of plants at inopportune times when they can't be planted in time. And failure to execute speaks for itself. Well, with the anniversary party coming up we are going to have no choice but to Get Er Done! And in 25 days no less!!!

The Hardscape Is Finished

Yes the hardscape in the back is finished and I love it. It is so beautiful. Dwight is happy that there is not a blade of grass nor an ivy leaf in sight. Tomorrow the plants go in and I will be happy to see things that are green. Pictures tomorrow.

Family Affair - Mother's Day Tradition

Luckily my brother, Robert has a true passion for gardening of which we have been the beneficiaries. He has worked countless hours in our yard augmenting soil (if you can call clumps of clay and rock that) with his mushroom and black cow mix. He has given me flowers which he started from seeds and even encouraged me to harvest my own seeds from the spent blooms of flowers from last year. Wow that sure appeals to my frugal nature – who doesn’t love free flowers? He reads about different seed varieties and buys plants wherever he goes when he finds something different from those at his local garden center (in our general geographic area). Be careful if you ask him a gardening question because you are certain to get a 20 minute explanation with references to things you vaguely remember from that college horticulture class you incorrectly thought would be an easy A. Robert gave me 6 different varieties of garlic and shallots to plant last fall and bought me a beautiful rosemary plant when we were vacationing in Michigan last summer. It is like having an open adoption because he likes to check up on his plants and receive pictures periodically as well as progress reports. I wonder if he will notice that I accidentally let the rosemary die over the winter so I will be replacing it with an imposter?

My sister Ann and my brother Robert who both live in Louisville have started a Mother’s Day tradition in our family of a plant exchange. They both start seeds under grow lights in their basements and then when we get together for Mother’s Day (which is prime planting time in Kentucky) we exchange plants. I generally try to remove the Burpee plant label from my “starters” but not sure I am really fooling anyone. Last year I did try one year to do my part and start my share of the seedlings. Robert was contributing tomatoes, broccoli and flowers, Ann had started cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers, and I said I would do herbs – basil, oregano and lavender. OK are you familiar with how teeny tiny those seeds are? There was no way I was going to be able to separate and nurture 20 pots each with a seed in it the size of a speck of dust. It just didn’t work out. Why didn’t I say I would do beans? This year I decided just to be a charity case and just be the unashamed beneficiary of the fruits (and vegetables) of their labors so I loaded up my car with tomato and pepper plants, sweet william flowers, basil, zinnias, marigolds and cosmos. I will certainly give them all my best efforts knowing they were raised with love and care by my siblings. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.....

Countdown T-30 days till Anniversary Party

T -30 days till the 55th anniversary party for my inlaws at our house. OMG have to get this place ready and the Hesitant Gardener just can't seem to get focused. Got to plant some annuals for color and get pots planted both front and back. Need to decide about outdoor decorations and party decor. Need windows washed, some trees trimmed, finish up punch list items from garage addition, carpet installed up the stairs of our new bonus room over the garage, plant more annuals and perennials, some shrubs and finish up the big mud pit in our backyard. I need to plan on accomplishing something every day between now and June 6th.

Alert the Media

While working in the front yard weeding the walkway and beds Hesitant Gardener's hubby stated that he really doesn't like doing yard work. Well alert the media! Who knew? While the Hesitant Gardener realizes the value of spending quality time with her spouse obviously he prefers 18 holes of golf to the joy of spending an evening pulling weeds in the front yard with or without me. Even the guy working on our back patio mentioned that he didn't look too happy out front mulching tonight. I myself like the camaraderie as well as the feeling of a job well done up to a point. But I must say that our efforts have paid off and the front looks amazingly better.

BEFORE

AFTER

Photos show the Salvia I planted last year as well as the lillies and some tall plant that starts with an "L" that my brother Robert planted for me. The skinny spears sticking up are garlic and shallots that Robert gave me also. Now I just need suggestions on what to do with the bushes that the Brown Bullet has pretty much destroyed and when do I take out the spent tulip foliage.

Relief

Happy to report that the landscape designer and her husband with whom she owns the company came today and looked at the sloping patio. Tomorrow they are going to take up the pavers and put more rock under and level it some. The problem is that we are trying to run the slope away from the house to avoid any pooling or leaking into the basement. The good news is that they are very responsive and willing to make it right even if it means taking a little extra time. I laughed when Chris (Andrea's husband) said that he could see Dwight sitting on the patio with a beer and noticing that it was slightly sloped.

My friend Beth made a comment about my last posting as follows: I am not sure if it counts as you being the gardener when you have a Landscape Architect on the job. I'm sure it will turn out nicely though in the end..

Well I have to say that I have no doubt that Andrea and her husband could do a wonderful job on our entire yard. But we have only hired them for the hardscaping and some landscaping across the back of our lot as part of our recent renovation project. Boy we have a whole lot more area to cover than just that and we are going to have to resort to old fashioned hard work and ingenuity if we are going to get this place looking decent.

Need to landscape the large woody area that we cleaned out across the back of our property. It's shady, shady, shady. Need to find a nice sunny place for a kitchen garden. Desperately need to come up with some landscaping for the front and side of the house along side the garage and driveway. Need to fill in around the new hardscaped patio. Need to finish up the landscaping next to the driveway around the new garage. Need to get the front looking up to par. Small tasks that all add up to a very large one! The Hesitant Gardener is really hesitant thinking about all the work we have to do!

Where's the garden? Hardscape Article

Looking at the photos from our patio project might prompt one to ask "Where's the garden?" Check out this article from our landscape designer Andrea about how hardscape and landscape go hand in hand. I am excited about our project and hope the rain doesn't slow us down too much.




Inside Out Design, LLC Check out our article in the Chevy Chaser (Lexington) this month on Hardscaping: The Bond Between Home and Garden...
http://www.chevychaser.com/Articles-c-2010-03-31-92014.113117_Hardscaping_The_Bond_Between_Home_and_Garden.html