I doubt that I am the only one you inspired. Thanks
my rock border
Using the scrap laminate for the bender board to make the curves REALLY gives you flexiability with the curves. HOWEVER, remember to not make the inside curves too extreme or you'll have trouble getting a lawn mower into the curve to mow. I set my rock back about 2 inches to provide room to overlap it with a mower and reduce trim work.
I did get a nice path made thru my garden in Boise that I lined with rock and filled with gravel. Finished it JUST before moving to Washington. I'm here trying to start ALL over again! I've been here in Othello for 10 months now.
Oh psy, you moved again! Well, you get a new canvas every couple of years!
Ya, I moved AGAIN!! At I least I liked the "beginning" of this place. The prior owner had a nice flower border surrounding the back yard. I didn't get much accomplished this year.
Hey Pat,
I appreciate the responses you have made on my thread about the old ladder trellis. It inspired me to see your gardens, since we have been talking about your Spring plans. That brought me here.
The idea of casting the seeds in those large beds you've tilled sounds great! I love a big ole' natural wildflower/flower/ meadow garden look!
Every year I am not so fast to weed everything out myself. I have found as you have,....that once the sun starts hitting the land and we start watering, the amazing things from last season (and recognize the baby seedlings we want from the baby weeds Ha!) the new season brings us....
Looking forward to seeing the pictures of your new wildflower/flower/ meadowland gardens!
David
...Forgot to say,... that allbeit an older picture, the rock bordered garden has a perfect Cottage Garden effect!
Thank you David, I would love another rock border but I don't think that' going to happen here. I wish I could find the pictures of the big flower island. You would have appreciated the youth bed metal headboard and footboard that became the hand railing for the path thru the island. I worked at lining it up for a perfect vista from kitchen window.
Looking forward to seeing this Spring and Summers creations Pat! Old metal Headboards and footboards are incredible in gardens...
David
Been a while since I have got to catch up on this thread...... I too am learning to not be quite so anxious about weeding things, but then last year I left a bunch of weeds that I was just sure was a treasured plant - only to learn later that I should have yanked it up when it was small!! :( Would have been SOOOO much easier........... thankfully, i am slowly learning to recognize a few things that reseed - weeds included... LOL
I have a BIG favor to ask of my DG friends... my daughter is in a contest on Tom's shoes trying to win a trip to help deliver shoes to kids in third world countries. We need to pull in a couple of hundred votes as we are nearing the deadline. If you could possibly take the time to click on this link and vote, I would greatly appreciate it. If you have any friends or family that might be willing to vote for her, please feel free to share the link. You do have to 'create' an account to vote - name, email and password. I would appreciate any help you can give.
http://www.toms.com/ticket-to-give/#flags/7184 Thank you!!
Done! I surely hope she gets to go; that is absolutely wonderful of her!
Thanks! We have a long way to go.... she is around 95 today. Not bad considering there are 4K entered, but still needs to get to 50 to make the trip.
Thanks for your help!
It has been cold and dreary here since last Saturday. I am ready for some nice weather so maybe I can get some weeding done and clear out a few of these winter weeds! Ready for spring!
Genna
I saw the thread come up and just wanted to say Hey Pat... Looking forward to seeing you new pic's when you start growing again someday soon!
I'll go back and VOTE again today and send a reminder to my freinds and family.
It won't let you vote but one time..... unless you have a different email account, but I appreciate the thought! I would appreciate you asking anyone you think might be willing to help her out. We have moved from #150 up to #100 in the past week or so..... but need to move 50 more spaces in 7 days! :( Going to be a little difficult to pull off - but we are trying! Thanks for your help!!
This weekend is supposed to be in the mid 70s with no rain (been raining the past week) and although come summer I will be thankful we finally got some rain, right now I am ready for the sunshine! ^_^ Looking forward to a weekend of working outside!
By the way, I have a rock border around 3 of my beds - but not concreted together, just rocks butted up next to each - which I have learned the hard way is TOTALLY ineffective at preventing the bermuda grass from spreading around and UNDER the rocks. Does anyone have any suggestions at preventing this? I really like the look of my rocks, but I can't keep fighting the grass every season!
The technique I used with the cement was effective as any other method of preventing bermuda grass, easily maintained and make mowing EASY. NOTHING prevents the grass other than chemicals. You could hand paint on the chemicals so you spare your desirable flowers and get ONLY the grass.
I did try using a sponge "paint brush" last year in some critical places.............. it did make it a LOT easier! Felt silly for not having thought of that before - a friend here on DG suggested or I would have NEVER thought of it.....
I once got lucky and used some killer to clear up a weed problem and within DAYS the latrias came up. If I can waited a few more days I could not have done it!!! I don't like using chemicals but there have a few times that it seemed to be my only viable choice.
Have you tried using vinegar this way?
No but I'd be willing to try it.
Vinegar works well on tiny weed seedlings...
Ok, I'm going to attach a few "before pictures" because that is all I have!! This is the beginning of the pictures at a "new house". All the empty area surrounding the flower beds is an area I had the sod removed in November of 2012 in preparation for 40# of bulbs, over 300. However, the guy didn't get the work done in time so I put the bulbs in the raised flower beds that would have been my vegetable garden this year. Oh well... it will make finding, digging and identifying the bulbs easier this way. Or that is the story I'm telling myself anyway.
First picture is distant shot of front of house where I planted all pink and white bulbs, over a 100. Second is close up of the beginning blooms. #3rd is of the flowering plum, the 4th, the picture showing WHY the tree is going to get taken out. over 1/2 is dead.
OK, back yard with empty area to be filled with flowers and flowering shrubs etc... then I'll put bark in. That is all new as explained above.
Desperately needs to be weeded in some areas (like #3!) however I decided I'd better get pictures and not wait for me to catch up!
#1, directly behind house, #2 further along same way, #3 further and turned to capture more of the footage. Then #4, is the far corner, and #5 further along the back.
the far back of the yard, continuing around, and then 2 of the raised beds I dropped in the bulbs for "safe keeping" until they could be placed in appropriate place "next year".
I love those narrow brick flat ranch style houses like yours Pat. They always seem so Frank Lloyd Wright'ish to me. I'll bet it has one of those cool big stone fireplaces too?
What a great space you have to work with in your gardens. Those are nice raised bed planters too!
Keep up the good works! {:-)
David
Yep, complete with converted GAS brick fireplace with blower etc. I do love our house. I'll miss it when the time comes to move.
Well today the flowering plum and the 1/2 dead lilac tree all got taken out and hauled away. Now I need to put a bird house on a post or maybe move my birdbath into that area. The area where the bulbs had been is now planted with pink and purple petunias & some snap dragons.
Are you still at the same home then Pat? I thought you were moving...I'm really glad to hear you decided to stay at the home you love if you did!
LOL, no David just trying to get it ready for sale. NO way am I going to commute an hour each way and with my car that would be over $400 a month in gas. I admit though, with the current job my work day would STILL be shorter than with my crisis job with the county!!! After more than 3 & 1/2 years I was sooo burned out at that.
I applied and interviewed for a different position and will know next week. I'm not very hopeful, more like wishful! I do have all the qualifications and the interview went "ok", just not stellar. 4 days @10 hours, the pay is better than at the county (when I left the county I took a cut in pay almost 25%). I would have some on-call but the situation is very different that the crisis on-call. We'll see.
I have a lot more work to do here, I am hopeful I can have it ready to list with a realtor by the end of this week. I'm going to ask for Friday off, taking a floating holiday.
My latest house's flower gardens... and I'm moving AGAIN. *sigh* http://www.movoto.com/wa/338-s-10th-ave-othello/501_516709.htm
My camera is not at my home in Othello but this will show you several of my garden pictures. My Stargazers are in full bloom. I just know I won't get a picture of them... maybe I'd better put the camera in my purse tonight before I commute home for Wednesday night! (go home after work on Friday and back to Tri-cities on Monday to work, then back to Othello for just Wednesday night. That way I water everything and see my husband as he is recuperating in a nursing facility after 2 hip surgeries and complications.
Well it's May of 2014 and we've been in this home about 7 months. It's a jungle but I'm working my way thru it. We did not sell the Othello home, we ended up renting it out.
A picture from the new house this spring when the dogwood was in bloom.
I just looked through your pics from your last house, psych. You did a beautiful job! How is your current home coming? I hope you took lots of "before" pics. =)
I'm not very good about taking pictures but I did get some "before" pictures. My lawn mower has been out of commission now for almost 4 weeks!!! It's awful. I got the part and then something else broke, it went to the welder and I'm waiting on that now. I'm thinking maybe I should cut my losses and buy a different machine.
The first picture, when we bought the place we didn't even know there was a bird house in there it was so overgrown. #2, "the jungle", previous owner dumped all kinds of cutting, old tomato cages, you name it in an old garden area. #3, to the side of the lawn shed. #4 & 5 behind corner of house. I'll have to find you some of the "getting there", I can hardly call it "after" because there is a LOT still to do.
Yeah, I feel the same way about mine. I call it "Before" and "During!" You can look at my Before/During pics on my other thread in Cottage Gardening if you'd like.
Although I'd be interested to hear if any of the gardeners on here consider their gardens done. I think it must be the nature of the beast. Is there such thing as an "After"? =)
This house is going to look so gorgeous after you are done with it, though. If the last one was any indication! You talked about moving again, so you must not have been there that long? How many years were you there?
The rock border house was 7 years, Boise for about 4 years where we lived in a Senior home manufactured park and I ripped every blade of grass out! Put in paths & nothing but flower beds.
Then Othello for 3and half years. We've been in this one under a year and in some ways I'm making faster progress on this one. The "landscape" of this one was so overgrowth, but we're making progress!
Before and During... I REALLY like that!!
I'm still chugging along. This coming weekend the whole front yard will be no more and it will have big semi circle gravel drive with an island for flower bed. I will try to get a bale of straw and make a scarecrow, that will be the extend of my "decorating" in there this fall. I do hope to get the pink tulips planted in that area. Ok... maybe a small section of picture fence! LOL
You snooze you lose. I had an opportunity to pick up a bunch of the rock for creating the rock border on the new flower island/ semi-circle drive and missed it by not responding to the ad quick enough. Oh well... there will be more. I was waiting for the weekend when I COULD go get it, apparently somebody else was too! The ad had been posted for several days.
How bout some updated pics here? Anything going on anywhere other than the picket fence? =)
Not here there isn't! LOL, this is pictures of my previous home!
but over here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1371502/.. in my current home, behind the picket fence... my tulips are in bloom, my camera is not cooperating and I'm afraid I won't get a picture!
I have tulips against the house AND behind the house... I'll be looking for a BIG bird house to make or buy to put on one fence post of the picket fence.
Wait, but I'm asking about the house pictured in your post on Sept 6, 2014. Aren't those three pics of your current place? You referred to the "big semi-circle gravel drive with an island for flower bed" - isn't that where you are now?