Mauryhill tour #2

Since it is a rainy evening, I'm not able to garden by flashlight tonight, and I'm in want of a little distraction, I thought I'd get started sharing some of the progress I've made in my yard this year.

First though, I will set the stage a little as others have done on their virtual tours. I live on an island in the Puget Sound, which is reachable by ferry from 3 directions and not as isolated as it might sound since it is really just a short 15 minute ride away from 2 cities (Tacoma and Seattle). My mother's friends in the midwest consider this quite exotic (thinking I must be inundated by ocean waves and gale force winds) and I have a hard time convincing them that I can actually ride the public bus to get to the airport and I shop at an ordinary grocery store.

The ferry ride is lovely in the Summer time.

You can see Mount Rainier off to the southeast on a clear day. I t often appears to be floating on clouds, kind of an ethereal vision.

And on a really clear day, there is Mount Baker to the north.

My home is on Maury Island, which is connected to Vashon Island by a land bridge. We are almost at the top of the hill (hence Mauryhill) when you drive up from Quartermaster Harbor where Pixy and her hubby moored when they came over by sailboat. One of the roads connecting us to the main island is considered one of the most unstable in King County I recently read, and that is the one I have been taking to work for 11 years. Apparently the seawall holding back the Sound is old and decrepit, and the hillside by the road is prone to mudslides, especially when soaked with rain. I am going the OTHER WAY starting tomorrow.

This photo is taken from a local beach looking toward my part of the island. My house is up at the top there somewhere. Down at the end of the point is the Pt. Robinson Lighthouse, though you can't see it from this view.

I think I can find a photo of the lighthouse somewhere...that is an old pic when my dad was still around.

There is great driftwood on that beach.

Took me a while to find the old thread, back quite a way in forum pages, but if anyone is interested and missed it a year ago, here ya go. Hope that works.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/924488/

Anyway, onward to new projects:

Harley built a pergola this Summer as an entry way to the veggie garden, and we plan to put in some more grape vines to grow over it. Here is the structure going up.

When Harley builds something, it is sturdy. The concrete base pillars are enough to hold an elephant. My son and I decorated them with beads that came from my dad's handcraft store.

The trellises built into the sides are made of copper plumbing pipe to match the arbor by the house.

Almost finished.

When both the seats are on, you can talk to you neighbors when they come over and give them veggies to take home.

Holly, your pergola is really cool. Joey said to tell Harley "Well done". I think he is afraid I want him to build me one, also. (I did buy 4 grape plants today at Lowe's). What grapes are you growing?

Holly, that is a beautiful design and awesome workmanship. It really does add a special touch to the garden.

Thanks for the compliments. We are really happy with it.

Lynn, I have 2 kind of grapes in other locations, a green grape (HImrod) and a red grape (Venus). I haven't yet planted grapes on the pergola and haven't made any choices on variety. I need to do some research to figure out what I want. What kinds did you get?

This message was edited Oct 17, 2009 10:03 AM

Really nice pergola. Love the copper.

Buffalo Blue and Pinot Grigio. These were the only 2 kinds that Lowe's here in Bonney Lake had. If you want me to pick something up for you, just let me know.

That pergola is wonderful. Wish I had room for something like that!

I forgot to say that most of the lumber was locally harvested and milled on Vashon by the "Forest Stewards" It is a little rougher than stuff you would buy at a building supply place but cheaper. It is already nice to sit on to take a brief gardening break, but will be even better when it provides shade from the hot sun.

Lynn, thanks for your offer, but I'm going to have to wait until Spring to plant my grapes since I have so many other projects halfway completed and I need to do a little more site prep (a border to keep back the invading grass) before I put them in. I'm considering bamboo barrier but the rolls are awfully expensive. They are nice and deep though. which I need because these grass roots are aggressive. I don't want to be constantly disturbing the grape when digging grass out from around it,

Another project I've been working on this Summer is a paver pathway to the front door. It started with digging out the area. This was done by a friend with his excavator. This is my compensation for allowing him to keep a fairly large amount of "stuff" including old trucks, big machinery and misc junk under tarps, on a section of our property.

This message was edited Oct 17, 2009 9:56 PM

Next we dug a drainage trench since the path is in a wet area in the Winter (read: we have been splashing through puddles to get to the porch) which is why I wanted to do something with this area.

Drainage pipe and rocks went into the trench.

Then weed barrier and a load of sand as a base for the pavers.

When looking for pavers, I discovered that they are much more expensive than I had envisioned when inspired to start this project. Seems like it would have been prudent to do this research before hand, but...oh well. I looked on Craig's List for several weeks and almost bought some bluestone someone had left over from a job, but it turned out to be the wrong stuff (too thin) to put on sand. I didn't want to lay it in a concrete base because I want this area to drain. We finally settled on these red and gray dyed concrete pavers, I think called 'cottage stone"

Nicely done. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product. And won't it be nice not to have to worry about the puddle?

Holly, that is going to be so nice. You are really taking the time to do it right! Post pictures of the finished project!

That will be a super pathway. Looks good.

You've worked really hard! It looks like it will be beautiful.

Holly, you will love your path. I had the same motivation (mud) to put in the paths in my backyard and am so happy with the result. Your projects look great!

Holly, Just gorgeous! Tell Harley he gets an A+ from Don and I for the lovely Pergola! You will be so thrilled with the paver pathway. The area behind my house was a constant puddle until I did my walkway, and the change was one of the best things that I have done in my yard. Still gets water to the edge of the walk, but I can feed the kitties without splashing around all year!

Your world is beautiful, and you should feel very proud!

Yeah! No more mud, at least not in that particular place. I knew folks in this climate would understand. I started with a nice curvy design for the walkway and then wound up using rectangular pavers which makes for a challenging edge. I still have to sink the bricks for the edging to ground level and we are trying to cut some of the pavers to fit in the odd triangular spots. at the sides. The path continues...

And on into the night.....see if you can spot the doggy (dark brown fur) inspecting my work. That is my friend's dog who was staying with me for a few weeks. She wouldn't let me take her picture at all during the day, but there she is, sneaking into the photo at night. Path still not done, but I am through the gate.

This message was edited Oct 18, 2009 10:28 PM

Here is a picture of the Japanese Pepper tree with fall color apparent and the little pink fruits too. I gave several of these seedlings away at the swap, so some of you might like to know what it will look like when bigger.

And here is the Ginkgo tree that my dad and I planted and around which some of his ashes are scattered. This tree, if people recall the picture I posted of it at planting time, has been kissed by my dad too.

Nice pictures, Holly.
I am one of the lucky recipients of your Pepper tree. It is so pretty. Thank you again.
I brought my pink Calla Lily, that you gave me, into the GH. Or does it need to go dormant and get chilled?

My callas stay out year round

That is good to hear, Willow. This is the first year I have grown them, so I don't know just how hardy they are. I got 2 kinds, the white ones, which I know people here overwinter in the ground outside, and various bulbs of different colors. These are supposed to be a bit more tender, but maybe they are hardy enough to make it through Winter. I am doing an experiment. I put 3 out in a perennial bed, and 3 others in pots which I am going to pull inside a somewhat sheltered tool shed when the temperatures drop much below freezing. I did re-pot them from the gallon pots I initially planted them in. I'm in an odd little micro climate, not more than 2 miles from the water in any direction, so I usually get a later first frost than some places even on Vashon. Sometimes I get deeper snow however, so go figure?

So, Lynn, that is my long winded answer saying essentially, I don't know for sure. Maybe put it outside long enough to get the chill hours, but put it in the greenhouse when the temperature goes really low. It may need a bigger pot than the one I gave you, even though I think that blue glaze looks really pretty with the pink flower.

Here are some of my other trees and shrubs. I am trying to get an eventual tree and shrub border along the outer perimeter of the yard. I put in 2 Thuja Yellow ribbon this year. The other trees are a Western Red Cedar and a Laurel Oak.

Mentioning other colors of Calla-I did have a yellow one that I never saw again. I do have the white ones. Wouldn't hurt to be a bit careful.

All of my Callas stay in-ground, and I'm a bit colder here in the winter. Soil is well-drained, so they don't rot.

My soil is not well drained by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have them in slightly raised beds. I hope that is enough to make a difference. And I hope the voles won't eat them.