Before and After ~ The Bird Bath Area

Challenge ~ Make the concrete bird bath that we have owned for many, many years look more in proportion and integrated into the garden landscape without looking too formal. Before the birdbath was set in the middle of a bed of hostas and liriope with impatiens planted around it due to the heavy shade. One of the problems was that the impatiens were overshadowed by the larger liriope and hostas.




Andrea's Solution ~ Make the birdbath the focal point as you enter the garden from the driveway. In a smaller area the birdbath takes on a better size proportion in relationship to the bed surrounding it.














The Process ~ Andrea surrounded the bird bath with Fox Red Sedge Ornamental grasses which give an interesting color contrast. The Fox Red Sedge was also used along the path leading from the driveway so it ties it all together.




I added some scented Coral Geraniums to coordinate with the Red of the Ornamental grasses.





The Result ~ Now the birdbath is a lovely focal point as you enter the yard.

Before and After ~ Back of the Yard Behind the House

BEFORE CHALLENGE ~ New construction of a garage and parking area dictated that we redirect foot traffic from the driveway around the back of the garage along the back of our property. The main problems were making it look inviting for guests and most importantly giving us privacy and blocking the neighbor's yard.
The back of the property was all mud and weeds due to the recent construction. Once some old overgrown shrubs were cleared out you could see right into the neighbor's yard at the back of their house. The goal was for the neighbor's yard and back door to be shielded as much as possible.


















Andrea's Solution ~
SkyRocket Junipers were planted in an arc across the back to mimic the circles ahead of them. They give wonderful privacy and are a beautiful backdrop especially when lighted up at night.


The rest of the walkway/driveway is bordered with a succession of Red Twig Dogwood Shrubs, Magnolia Trees and Arborvitae. Right now the shrubs and magnolias don't really block the neighbor's house but they say that they will grow quickly so hopefully we will get more privacy each year.














Challenge ~ Not only provide privacy from the neighbors but we want it to look beautiful and inviting as people drive up to our house.



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My sister-in-law Karen let me show off her beautiful double planters with Martha Washington geraniums in them during the anniversary party which inspired me to try to add some color to the area in front of the arborvitae. This year it will probably be planters of my own and maybe in the fall we can add some day lillies or other colorful flowers to match the bed on the side of the driveway planted and maintained by my garden afficiando neighbor Helen. I am sure Helen will even share the monkey grass and day lillies (well I can hope..._

Below are Helen's beds which we get to enjoy on our side of the yard! Good thing she likes to share!

After Photos - Welcome to our Garden Oasis

After literally months of planning, waiting and watching while the hardcape was installed and then working every night and weekend clearing, planting, transplanting, cleaning, digging, hauling, raking, sweeping, mulching, potting, hanging, building, moving, spending and dreaming we now have a beautiful garden oasis that we are so thoroughly proud of and utterly in love with. The next posts will be the before and after photos of each of the areas each of which exceeded all our expectations. More than anything this blog is my reminder of how much we worked for this beautiful garden oasis and a way to watch it change and grow. Welcome to our garden...

Never finished

Wow that's the fun thing about gardening ~ even when you are finished you really are never finished. The hardscaping is finished, the rain garden is finished, the pea gravel patio is finished, the vegetable garden is finished - or is it??? Dwight came home with three lettuce plants and a couple of peppers. Yeah that's the fun thing about gardening ~ there's always room for one more.

And I am thinking of moving some things around. Clearly my clematis and coreopsis aren't blooming becauses they don't get enough sun. I thought they were getting several hours of afternoon sun but there are absolutely no blooms on them so moving seems to be the only option. Anyone have a better idea??

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....