April 25, 2005 - Trimming, New Herb Garden, Vegetable garden - Garden Journal entry

April 25, 2005

Spring clean-up. Weather was unseasonably warm early this year and the yard is abloom before it's seasonal. So getting an earlier start this year, as everything in the yard thinks it's spring in March already.

Trimmed the Harry Lauder Walking Stick tree because it grew new limbs rapidly, and I didn't trim the shoots that sprouted last summer. Then I went after the wild fushia bush vigorously. I love it and it draws the hummingbirds, but it has grown so much as to consume a large amount of yard space. It is threatening the close-by lilac tree and spreading right into the garden area. Sadly, now, it is but a memory of what it was last year, but it is wild-growing and intended to take up a lot of space.

I'm Sure it will grow back fairly rapidly. I did leave some tall middle branches left over from last year to leave the hummingbirds something for this year. After this summer though, I will trim those back also as there should be enough new growth on the overall bush for next season.

The Lilac tree suffered this year and it has 4 seperate growing trunks. One trunk leaned so far this year, that it was in danger of lying on the ground. I had Sweetie pull it up and another trunk was weakened and came out with it. So there are now 2 trunks left and half the tree it used to be, sigh. But now that it is done, it actually looks better and even more healthy.

The rock garden is growing well and looking very good this year. I'm glad I did that planting last year as it is almost professional looking this year. I need to tend to the one end where the peculiar christmas tree was planted. Overall though, I am most satisfied with the rock garden. So much so, that I'd like to do another one sometime.

Now the hard part, yuck....edging out all the beds and hauling sod. I do this in spurts as it is back-breaking work for me. Ambitiously I have cut and hauled sod out of the entire sidewalk section with an eye towards having a herb garden there. I am so lazy that when I want fresh herbs, I want to walk out the kitchen door, down the steps and have the herb garden right there so I can snip and get back to the stove.

I like the herbs planted around the yard, but once I get outside, I tend to get lost in my wonderment and lose track of time. That doesn't work well when I'm in the middle of cooking, so a quick run out the door, snip, and back to the kitchen.

For the herb garden, I used some cast off wood strips from the neighbor's yard to inset areas for planting different varieties of herbs. I put a pathway down the middle, using the mulching set on top of plastic that I pinned down. So far the herb garden has:

parsley (I moved some of the parsley that was growing well where it was..hope it transplants!)

oregano (I had some growing in a container, so transplanted it into the ground)

chives (I transplanted the entire clump, hope it survives)

sage (again, transplanted froma container pot)

rosemary (transplanted from container pot)

lavendar, 2 small plants. It will take them years to get big enough to be a problem.

creeping thyme (a new tiny pot plant)

marigolds for color

eunyomis (gold and green varieties. These are creeping ground covers of evergreen genisis and might not have been wise to plant in herb garden. But I hope to contain them as sidewalk border edging..we'll see)

mint In container pots as I hear mint grows rapidly and takes over and is wise to keep it contained.

catnip, but I didn't plant it in the herb garden as I don't want our cat, Lance bothering the other herbs. I planted the catnip in a side bed along the brick wall. Lance, an older cat, enjoys the catnip and gets all goofy playing around with it. Treat for the cat!

last year's plantings of flowers, perennials, and not sure what will come back this year, so whatever does is a bonus to the herb garden.

I had dug out and hauled sod at that spot out of curiosity as last year when I was doing the flower bed, I kept hitting hard objects (bricks). I was curious to see if there was an entire brick patio underneath, so patiently over many days and weeks dug it all up. There were bricks alright, but not an entire patio's worth.

Since I now had a big mud patch, I decided to make a pathwalk from the sidewalk to the edge of the yard. I laid down plastic and edged both sides using the bricks and then poured the three bags of lava rock that my daughter had purchased for me last year.

It was intended to make a small walkway to the flower beds using lava rock, but I could never quite figure out the design without interfering with the overall look of the yard. So, this seemed a good use and an experiment worth trying. It looks very handsome so far, and I will need to finish it off now for continuity all the way to the edge of the yard. I will need more lava rock though, and that's a purchase that will have to wait a bit.

The front of the house, where the Oasis garden is located has a slab of concrete that may have once been a driveway or ??. It has grown over with grass and I was curious about it's original shape, so I began edging and digging and carting off sod. Sweetie saw me hard at work and came over to lend a hand. When finished, it wasn't a driveway but a rather incomplete patio.

Some section was finished and smoothed, but other sections were raw and unfinished. I'm not sure what the original intent was, but it is disappointing in that it looks exactly like a project started and left incomplete. Now I have some serious designing to do to disguise the rough outer edges. But otherwise, we have a nice, small patio area, perfect for a little bistro table and 2 chairs and many container pots of flowers.

Okay, now some serious work on the garden bed. It fared well enough over the winter and while there are some weeds, it's not too bad. So pull, turn, cart off more sod pieces and rake up the bed. The railroad ties that outline the garden bed work well enough, but the natural grass and weeds that insist on growing are encroaching from underneath the ties. So more back-breaking work to dig out all the growth and create beds around the outside of the ties to keep the grass (and weeds) at bay.

Once the garden bed was cleared and turned though, I was able to pour out the compost I've been mulching for 2 years and in the spirit of a garden, I decided to go ahead and plant some of the vegetable seeds in seedling containers, using the last of the topsoil bag I had left over from last year.

There was enough soil to plant these seeds:

corn

tomatoes (cherry)

peas

beets

carrots

There are seed packets still to plant, but as it is, I am taking a risk to be planting so early as it is only late April now. Yet it has been unseasonably warm, and to wait till May or June, the seeds may become confused than think it is early summer, so I'm taking a risk by going with nature's intuition this year. I'm taking my cues from the everything blooming and growing early this year and hoping there will be no surprise late spring frosts.

I've started edging out one side of the garden railroad ties, and Sweetie came out to help turn the garden bed, but he isn't much for the edging and pulling out sod work so I'll be picking away at that for weeks to come. He had in mind a serious pruning job on the front Oasis garden and he really got in there and took down a lot of the overgrowth. In one year that area can sprout some serious wild growth!

Between ivy and natural growing blackberry brambles, that is one area that could go wild easily. He trimmed the seriously mature rhodedendrom back into it's 'tree' shape only this year it looks like Edward Scissor Hands visited the front Oasis and did some trimming. It's cute...un-natural but cute. The top is too tall now for him to reach, so that will entail getting out a ladder to trim the top.

Well, we are off to a super-early (for us) great start on the yard and gardens this year. I did manage to get the 3 rose bushes planted late last summer, and they seem to be weathering well. One is showing a bud already. These are climbers, and yes, I want to get those old-fashioned trellis ladders for them to climb. I placed those at a rather unfinished part of the house, by the kitchen window.

At one time there had been one of those tall antennae for television and so it was a rather raw spot. Sweetie took the antennae down last year. He actually climbed out of the upstairs bedroom window and walked across the roof to unhook the top holder. He didn't tell me he was doing so as I would have freaked, but he managed to get it done without falling off the roof.

You have to understand that Sweetie can do a lot of things, but also things happen to him when he is doing so and I've learned to get nervous now about the projects he undertakes. He's not clumsy, really, but he does fall down a lot, or pull muscles a lot, or other odd things that happen to him when he is at work on a project.

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June 14, 2004 - Vegetable Garden - Grandchildren - Garden Journal entry

June 14, 2004

It has rained all week here and actually, I got a lot done in the yard (see previous posts). Saturday, and I tackled another section of the yard, edging and shovelling out another flower bed. My daughter came to my rescue and helped me with the heavy manual work of hauling off the sod.

I planted the rest of last year's iris bulbs and maybe they will take and maybe not as they sat in a black garbage bag through the winter. I saw green on the bulbs though, so planted those...we'll see what we get. I had made a row of iris last fall from donations and they bloomed nicely this spring. I did not have beds enough to plant all the donations, so hopefully, I "wintered" them to salvage...as I said we will see.

I'm excited about planting my new Calla Lilly (discounted plant in container that I planted in the ground) and hope it will grow well. The local hardware store had bulbs on sale 1/2 price, so I bought 2 more Calla Lillies, in pink and yellow. I was too fearful of planting them directly in the ground, so put them in pots to see if they will grow.

I also got 4 varieties of gladiola bulbs, which I did plant directly in the ground, and have my fingers crossed they will grow, looking forward to seeing gladiolas in the yard.

I put the cosmos flowers in a grouping and tossed out some baby's breath seeds. Forming a little beginning of a flower bed which I hope to expand. The foundation will be the gladiolas, then will gradually add differing heights of flowers. I realized though, I didn't know what was an annual, what was a perennial, so I went to google on internet and created a list of perennials. I want to scout for them at the nurseries around here (not too many, maybe 3 within 50 mile radius). I hope to plant perennials and create a kind of wildflower garden.

I'm staying small here and keeping with the green grassed yard, don't want to overwhelm my husband (or me for the that matter) but in years to come I'm looking forward to gradually claiming more to the beds I am creating and growing this project to have larger and larger beds of wildflowers and perennials.

The grandchildren (ages 3 and 4) helped me to plant all the vegetable seeds so we have little pots now all lined up with vegetables waiting to grow.

We have:

green peppers

tomatoes full size

cherry tomatoes

cauliflower

wax beans

watermelon

squash

lettuce

pumpkins

radishes

corn

cucumbers

oh, I've forgotten the rest.

My daughter gave me several packages of seeds this year and we made a grandmother, grandchildren project out of planting them all.

That about wraps up this week in the yard. Got so much done this year. I'm taking a break from the garden and yard for a bit. This week we will be doing some errands and driving around for my daughter's family trying to get to Germany to be with her husband. Now that is another very long story of a different topic altogether.

see more photos here



The Harvest - August 2004.



The harvest in August. Now it's September and the chill is in the morning air. Not sure how much more of my garden is going to grow to maturation...but, hey, the pumpkins are growing, and the cucumbers are producing, and some late squash are growing.






Ahhh, more produce from the garden. Look at that, I've got corn, eh! Not so easy to get a full season to grow corn where I live.

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June 10, 2004 -Rock Garden - The Beginning - Garden Journal entry

June 10, 2004

Yesterday I got the rock garden planted. There is a rock formation in the yard separating the upper from the lower section. I had thought it would make nice rock garden for succulents and some wildflowers. Well, it's of course, more adept at growing weeds, so I put the black plastic on it, held it down with bricks (laying around the yard from the gradually crumbling brick wall) and wouldn't you just know it, No Sun to bake the weeds. Two rainy weeks, not fair.

Impatient, I planted the succulents anyway. Tossed some potting soil on top of the plastic, dug out squares of the plastic and into the soil underneath and planted all the plants. Now grow dang it, after all, supposedly, you can't go wrong with succulents...we'll see.

Around the base of the rock garden I have planted some of my lavendar, one big one and a couple of little ones. There are few more lavendar plants yet to be planted. I will also plant the rosemary around the rock base. Over in the sun/shade corner the lillies from last year are sprouting beautiful red flowers (I think they are tiger lillies). I will try planting those 3 potted Easter lillies I was given at Easter and Mother's Day. There will be a lilly corner then at the base of the rock garden.

Oh, and I planted my Calla Lilly. My so far, one and only plant. I think these are so beautiful, and hope to acquire more plants. Then I planted some annuals in the flower beds. My daughter gave me a hand edging and weeding the vegetable garden outside the railroad ties. She wanted to get the weeds underneath (I told ya, my husband isn't big on yard work, he got the railroad ties moved and just set them down on top of existing sod), so she heaved those railroad ties around, and I know I'm getting old, cause I can't budge em.

Had to go into town today, which gave me the excuse to get some more potting soil, cause I used up the 6 bags yesterday. And of course, had to pick up a few more annuals, But, the store had bulbs on sale 1/2 price, so I bought 2 more Calla Lillies, and some Gladiolas. Oh, but I wanted one of everything there and watching my budget ..... well I didn't, I overspent a bit.

So, for now, I have new this year the start of a) vegetable garden b) rock garden c) flower beds d) hosta beds and e) bulb bed. I still have a rose bed I want to make to plant the 3 rose bushes I bought. I still want to make a herb garden (I love herbs!) and haven't figured out a home for where that will be yet. And I just Have to get some tulip and daffodil bulbs in the Fall. Anyway, I've made a lot of progress this year compared to last year's efforts. I'm becoming a "real" gardener bit by bit.

The Rock Garden, planted just this year is doing well. And there is our special dog, TurnerJake. He's our real wiggle-butt Australian Shepherd and a joy to us

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June 2004 - Vegetable garden Year 2 - Garden Journal entry

June 10, 2004

I'm a frugal gardener, by that I mean whatever I can do on the cheap, by innovation, as close to free as possible. We reduced last year by choice to one income living and of necessity now, I look for the most inexpensive ways to enhance my yard and garden.

Got late start this year. But that didn't stop me, no I bought some starter vegetables and reclaimed 1/3rd of my garden space from the grandkidlets who had homesteaded the space for a sandbox.

My husband, not much for the outdoor work, but very willing when I ask him had hand dug out the sod and lined out the space with railroad ties that he hauled from the neighbors yard across the street (it's okay, they gifted them to us). I was sooo pleased and proud of him so couldn't possibly let this garden space go to waste after his hard work.

I let my grandson have ownership of the tomato plants. I staked them using the aluminum prongs on an old antennae that came with the house when we bought it. My husband took that down last fall, and we figured if we saved it, the prongs might be useful as stakes in the garden. I used my mother's tip for tying the tomato plants using old discarded pantyhose. Well it's not very pretty, but hey, I'm practicing to be a "real" gardener so following wise gardening tips that I learn along the way.

To get the garden space ready, I put down newspapers, let the little ones hose them down (we have that breeze here ya know) so they wouldn't blow away until I could take the next step. I went and collected all my old container pots that didn't offer up any return plants after last year, dumped the used soil on the newspapers and that was the beginning.

I asked my husband, who I call Sweetie, to purchase some potting soil, (10 bags worth), then dumped that all into the space, bordered it off with concrete blocks and topped it with some top soil (only 3 bags, so thin layering). The concrete blocks are recycled from Sweetie's brick and board bookcases. We got him a new bookcase for Fathers Day and I had said at 57 he was a little too old for bricks and boards concept of bookcases, that was better left to college students and aging hippies (lol).

So the little garden space has begun. I hope to claim another 1/3rd of it from the grandkidlets and convert them to caring for the garden plants, but I'm not real sure they are ready for that, as the corn plant already got stepped on.

see photos here

The garden, begun in June when the plantings were just buds is growing and growing and growing. Lots of leafy plants, but few vegetables...yet! There will be vegetables, and I'm watching now daily for the plants that grew, produced flowering buds to now transform the buds to vegetables. Ah, the chance to examine how faith works, when not being scientific about the process of gardening, it boils down to trusting, following obediently the seasons' and natures' cues, and acting, in faith, that if you act (plant, nurture, water, protect, fertilize) the garden will grow.

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June 8, 2004 - Permanent vegetable garden space - Garden Journal entry

June 8, 2004

Well here goes my new journal for my gardening efforts. Like Pinocchio, I want to be a "real" gardener some day. I've had a hand at growing some vegetables in container pots. Last year I tried the split open top soil bags and planting the vegetables directly in the bags. Hey that worked! I had nice amount of summer squash, zucchini, pickling cucumbers, and even a hint of cherry tomatoes.

This year my husband cleared a garden space for me, I don't know the dimensions, will ask him and post it here later. The grandkidlets are staying temporarily with us and took over the newly turned garden space into their own personal sandbox.

We had a family medical situation so I got a late start on the gardening this year. I claimed back 1/3rd of the garden space, laid down newspaper then dumped all the old last year's potting soil from containers on top of the newspaper. Well, of course that was not near enough.

I asked my sweetie to buy some more potting soil, and he obliged me by purchasing 10 bags plus the 3 bags of topsoil I already had. Was enough to partially fill the newly claimed back garden space.
With such a late start, I didn't think seeds would work out, so bought some starter vegetables and planted those. Okay, so now I have a tiny little wee garden woo hoo... and I thought I'd keep a journal of things that go wrong, and things that go right and things I learn along the way.

What I learned from last year, planting seeds is that it's not wise to use cheap seeds, cause they are exactly that..cheap and don't grow too well. So I'll upgrade to better quality seeds. I did save the seeds from my mammoth russian sunflowers last year and planted them again this year. They seem to be sprouting again for 2nd year ..woo hoo for me.

See photos here


(Sidebar note from summer 2004 - my sis (sil), Cinda, came out to spend a summer week with us and brought me a sweet birthday gift - a retro, 1950s, pink mixmaster to go with some of the other retro, 1950s pink items in my kitchen. When we were renting, I had a great kitchen with flowered wallpaper with pink flowers, and I was capitalizing on the Craftsman house era of the house, so I started a kind of retro era kitchen. Bought a chrome and copper formica table with pink chairs; a pink breadkeeper; a pink square cake taker and a pink Bauer chafing bowl.

We bought this house and the layout and decor just doesn't fit well with my retro pink effort, but I haven't the heart yet to give it up. So sis brought me an addition for the 'pink'.



birthday gift - retro,1950s, pink mixmaster

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