June 12, 2006
Landscaping Projects
Landscaping Projects
Previously, I mentioned that we would soon be putting in some paths to prevent further erosion and get rid of a few of the mud pits in the back yard. We, as usual this is the part of we that does all the digging when I am pregnant, have done a tremendous amount of work digging out a path between the side gate and our deck and laying out some proposed new flower beds to edge it.
Once the digging was done, we bought nice snapped sandstone stepping stones from a nearby stone yard. It pays to have nice neighbors with whom you are on good terms, because after hearing that we were going to pay $100 to the stones delivered, our next door neighbor, who owns a large pickup truck, offered to go with Justin to pick the stones up and helped unload them. I offered a lot of encouragement and iced tea during the process of digging and rock moving.
Things still aren't entirely finished. We may actually take out some of the pea gravel to use elsewhere and put in larger rocks around the stepping stones. This would, we hope, make it easier to move the wheelbarrow and lawnmower on the path and encourage Toddler Girl to stop filling her clothing with tiny little rocks. Not that she would stop removing the rocks from their intended location, but big pebbles are easier to find and put back than tiny ones.
After the path was put in, we laid out a curved design to add to our current flower bed that runs along one side of the property and attach it to the path. We have the bricks put in to edge flowerbeds (and I actually dig help set a few, though not most, of those) but we have not yet dug out the turf for the beds themselves.
In the meantime, we decided the garden needed something else. After searching around and learning that most garden bench swings and stands or arbors were of a higher price than the range we had set in our heads, we found a nice cedar swing at Lowes. Its rather Mission-y for our Victorian house, but we've been enjoying it a great deal already and that was really the point.
Last, what would a tour of landscaping projects be without a little view of my current favorite section of the garden and what I hope to carry through into the new section of flower bed when it is ready for planting?
Oh, that is so lovely. I can see why the area you show is your "current favorite." It's beautiful as it is; expanded, it will take your breath away :-)
It has come to seem to me kind of kitsch when everything in and around a house is too matchy-matchy. It's almost as if the residents have decided to value form too much over "enjoying [something] a great deal," which really is the point.
You are quite right in building your kids' memories of cozying up in the swing with Mom or Dad right now, instead of making all of you wait for the "right" swing.
Posted by: Patricia at June 12, 2006 05:30 PMThank you, Patricia. You make my day.
Posted by: Jordana at June 12, 2006 05:42 PMGreat job, guys! How pretty! And what is it with wee ones and little rocks? Oh, the fascination!
Your landscaping is beautiful! What I wouldn't give to have even just *one* pretty thing to look at outside now! I had some some flowers in my basket at Lowes the other day...then had to pick up some polyeurothane and was blown away at how much a gallon of it costs ($40 something dollars!) and ended up putting my pretty flowers back...Some day, some day!
Keep up the great work!
Posted by: Kim at June 12, 2006 10:26 PMwe just put in a patio made of pea stones and i fear most of them will be carried away ;-)
lovely yard.
Posted by: chris at June 13, 2006 06:55 AMEnvy, envy, envy.
Posted by: Janis at June 13, 2006 08:27 AMGorgeous!! As always, I love your gardens. Wanna come landscape for me? ;-)
Posted by: Jo-Lynne at June 13, 2006 09:22 AMInteresting view of Mr. Adams, showing how hard he's working (makes my back ache just looking at him). You have some nice soil in your yard. If I was to attempt to make a similar path I would have to dig through clay and rock.
Rather than replace the pea gravel with larger stones you could try some mulch material like pine bark, though that would mean more maintenance in the future.
Posted by: MarcV at June 13, 2006 10:14 AMThank you everyone.
Marc, unfortunately for Justin, most of that soil is clay. Perhaps not quite so solid a mass of clay as one would find in Alabama perhaps, but still awfully red and heavy.
Posted by: Jordana at June 13, 2006 12:00 PMLooks great! So fun to see cone flowers and black eyed susans blooming in mid-June. They bloom in July here in Ohio.
Have you tried hollyhocks along the fence? They are finicky, but well worth the trouble. Don't know how well they work down south. But they look great by a fence. Throw some in the way back of the bed for an extra tier of color, as they get tall. It will take a few years, but it is worth a shot.
So jealous of your wax leaf magnolia that I might have to try one. I'm in a micro climate along the Ohio River, and we are in this tiny little swath that works for southern plants. We even have our own lizards that live only on our little hillside, just like in Florida. There is a stunning Southern Magnolia on our street, and it amazes people that a southern magnolia works here in Ohio.
And yes, I will be adding you to my blog roll after the wedding (this saturday), as soon as I figure out how to do that. As you may recall, I am a technological idiot.
Posted by: David G. Kern at June 13, 2006 09:26 PMDavid, I love hollyhocks. If you closely, behind the coneflowers (along the fence where you suggested) there is a line of them. I also have some growing in my front yard.
Best wishes with the wedding!
Posted by: Jordana at June 14, 2006 07:10 AM
Jordana Adams, Chief Pontificator