landscape my yard

Mom & I got some of those hanging tomato planters and are hanging some tomatoes. The Boy, who got to help us fill them with soil thinks this is, “one of the most asinine things you have done in a long time.” I got treated to a lecture about root systems and sun.

I sure hope these things work, because I want him to eat his words in tomatoes :D I also put in some herbs.

The pond & fountain are ready for the year. Next I start on planters… I am also looking at putting in a bird feeder or two. The garden with the lilac bush border and the water elements is really starting to attract birds. A sign if a good garden in my opinion. Today I saw a chipmunk and rabbits, in addition to cardinals, robins, wrens, a crow, and possibly a finch. Quite an assortment for a ranch house subdivision!

I am getting more done at Mom’s house then mine. I spend more time there, but I need to do some things at my house soon. Manana…

It is time to get back to work on this goal. In addition, I am doing some work at my Mom’s. I am not going to put in a vegetable garden in my yard this year. I am at Mom’s often enough that I am going to put it in her yard, we are doing container gardening for now.

It looks like I will need some plumbing work at my house which may involve ripping up two beds and part of the yard. I am waiting on those two beds until I know exactly what is being done. Perhaps I will wind up starting from scratch versus renewing.

The grocery store had some huge, healthy plants on sale. I bought 5 new sedums for the front flower beds. I spent some time weeding & am starting to watch the back yard for the best spot to put in my raised garden bed. I want to do that in the next few weeks & get it ready for next year.

Today I attacked all of the volunteers that have grown up in my Mom’s yard. There were a lot of them! Hopefully tomorrow I will get the Boy to help me dig and weed a bit.

Mom & I bought some end of the season Prairie plants for some bare spots in the garden. Black eyed Susans, and a few others. Her phlox is about to bloom & it should look amazing. there is a mass of it!

All the annuals were on clearance so I spent most of the day potting those I bought yesterday and early this morning. I find regular pots a tad bit boring, so I do my own thing.

I have three kitchen colanders hanging along the front of the house filled with pink & purple petunias, asparagus fern, a bright pink zonal geranium, and a spike. Then the front steps are lined with a colander filled with petunias and geraniums. Along with an old coffee pot & a huge old canner.

The side yard is filled with old oil cans with spouts filled with bright pink, purple and white impatiens. I also have a plastic witches cauldron from Halloween that is filled with them. The whole yard looks brighter with all the annuals added in!

I also added a few yellow daylilies and tickseed to the front sunny bed. A few impatiens and coleus brightened up the shade bed. The perennials mat be the bones of the beds, but I really feel you need some annuals for flash.

Tomorrow I plan on adding some red nicotiana to the sun bed. I love the way they smell at night! I just had to quit planting to wash up to make dinner. My hands and arms were basically black.

I also did a few pots for my Mom before I started planting my flowers. I plan on adding a few more pots for her out of my leftover impatiens and petunias. She just doesn’t feel like doing much as we approach the anniversary of Daddy’s death. She doesn’t mind watering, but just doesn’t seem to want to get dirty.

My front yard is now a gravel pile. As I live at the bottom of a hill, apparently my yard is convenient. I am holding off on the landscaping of parts of the front yard now. I also find working in the yard with huge trucks & men in neon yellow both distracting & stressful. It knocks out a large portion of the day and evening if I avoid my yard with them present. :(

I have added my Mom’s yard in to my plans. I landscaped her yard awhile ago & it needs some work again, she is unable to do. Family members helped me this weekend and I got her three fountains working, her pond resettled in the ground & filled with water and goldfish. This week I plan on doing some weeding & perhaps shrub – tree trimming to reclaim the basic bones of the garden.

I had a few lovely flower beds that have been neglected the lasy few years. I am reclaiming, redoing & putting in some new beds. I want to create a place of peace.