Help with Moms yard :o)

apparantly this apperatus is pretty heavy.... but sis and nephew did all the cutting :o)

I really wasnt 'just photographing'! lol! I potted up moms veggie garden ~in the wine barrell, and her strawberries~in the tippy pots! Now thats hard work!! lol!

mom claims she's "NOT OLD" ...so we put her to work too! tee hee!

and we didnt let her get off with just sweeping! lol!

nephew really had fun with that sod cutter! lol! I think he's eyeing the neighbors yard next! lol!

I frealy was helping! tee hee...everyone was scared to learn how to use my camera :o)

we had to load these pieces into wheel barrows, truck em across the yards and toss them over an embankment..... discovered it was much easier when they were smaller pieces! lol!

AnjL gardening bandit?

mom gets a nice afternoon breeze coming over the embankment, which meant that everytime I tossed a piece of sod over, I got a face and mouth full of dirt blown right back at me! ugh!!
Then I remembered my bandana :o) helped a little....but not much!

and the after effects :o)
this is what I get to work on today :o)

and another angle...
I'm headed back over now to unload rocks and create beds & pathways :o)

Wow!
Double wow!

I'm so impressed with all that you accomplished - what a terrific family . . . can't wait to see the final product. Sure sounds like a good trailer park, marvelous place to live!

Thats just wonderful - bet nephew could have gotten takers if he wanted to keep going up the street!

Amazing what you all got done in one day! I can't wait to see the pathways going in.

Good job anjl. That was a big accomplishment!

Im up here takin a break as the boys are picking out and stacking up bigger rocks to line moms beds :o) I love that they have this pride and ego thing going on.... 12 yr old (his birthday is today!!) is trying to prove that he can lift and do as much as 17 yr old nephew :o) and they have such young and able muscles :oD lol! just wish they wouldnt whine so much ! :o) lol!

off to get the beds completed! I'll post pictures tonight if my fingers are still workin :o)

I hurt just just by looking at the Pics, Oh my, wonderful team work by all.
A Good job, waiting for the next stage, if you can move Tee hee

I've just gotten a chance to look at your fabulous family teamwork. Way to gooooo!!!! You guys really know how to get the job done. I would still be digging by hand 2 months later, and here you are ready to form the beds and paths. Your mom is lucky to have such a great family (and also cute purple gloves). love the strawberry tippy pots too.

Forgot to say: I think blue star creeper is a good plant for between stepping stones. I have some of that, and it stays low growing and blooms over a long time, very pretty. I also have some steppable thymes in the same area and they kind of intertwine in places. I don't know if the thymes would work in shade though.

MHF,
I love the blue star creeper it looks so cool, I have not seen it before. Is that the name I would ask for at the nursery? I grow a lot of the thymes and love the wooly thyme, it smells so good when you brush it. I am sinking some stepping stones in the grass and was going to use the wooly thyme....but now I would love to find some of that and put it in also, just lovely!
Thanks for sharing,

wow! mauryhill I love the way that path looks! I have blue star creeper at home...but mine hasnt flowered out as much as yours! is yours in sun or shade?

I so wish I could just stay at moms and watch the garden as it all fills in, just so I can see whats working and what isnt so I can rush out and change it around lol!

I realized today, as she was helping me get rid of the last of the sod and she was building the iron bench that we bought her...she doesnt kneel down well...and weeding is going to be extremely hard on her. I'm thinking of underplanting all the beds with a low growing thyme...to help mulch and keep weeds down.

any recommendations on some quick growing thymes? I'm headed to dragonfly tomorrow... I'm sure Heidi will have ideas too...just wanted to hear about what works where :o)

We got all the beds outlined today. and its ready for mulch and topsoil after we go visit Heidi tomorrow.... then we get to start planting!

I only have tomorrow night and Thursday left to do this yard! ugh!

My Nephew is resurrecting an old picket fence and we are planning to put two sections of it in the front left corner of her yard. in kinda an 'L' shape to give a white accent to that area...so he's working on the fence tomorrow (donated by moms neighbor!),

All her neighbors keep walking by and checking out our progress! They also give us lots of handy advise :o) I want to gather all them together at the end and take a picture of our 'Advisory Committee" LOL! They are all elderly, except the young man who lives next door.

Time to go soak in a hot tub :o) then, if my fingers will still work (those rocks were heavy!) I'll post todays pictures :o)

Oh, BTW....my sis is signing up for DG ^_^ she'll be PeaFowlAnjl... if the names available when we sign her up tonight! lol!
AnjL

We'll look forward to meeting her!!!

I'm amazed. You guys are really going for it. That garden is going to be incredible.

Strangely, I've bought blue star creeper under more than one name. One tag in my box says "Laurentia (isotoma)" and the other tag says "Pratia pedunculata." I've seen two different colors of it, the dark blue and a pale blue, which I don't like as well. I bought some of it by accident when the plant wasn't in flower at the nursery. I have it in sun, but it does say "sun to part shade." It is flowering more thickly this Spring than ever before, maybe because of the prolonged rainy cloudyness, and not getting too hot yet. I also have a small patch of corsican mint ground-cover, which you can see in the picture just above the blue star. It likes moisture and a little shade too, doesn't flower that I have seen but sure smells good.

Wooly thyme grows the fastest for me, but I also like creeping thymes. I have both pink and a darker one, kind of reddish. I think variety is good because they bloom at slightly different times and keep the interest going.

Anjl....Great job! I am looking forward to more pictures, I am sure you Mom will love her new yard!
Wooley Thyme grows the fastest for me too and I love it the smell and texture it adds are fabulous...you could also add some sedums for ground cover, they are quick to grow too.

AnjL!!! Oh my goodness, the yard is looking so awesome ;o) Love the Atlas gloves everyone is wearing. You're right you're gonna need to do another co-op when you get back home. I can't wait to see more pictures. you're gonna have to come down this way and help out with my front yard if i keep seeing pictures like the ones today. You are one heck of a daughter!!

Just peeking in on you over here, we miss you. Bring back some of that nice cool weather to Cali....PLEASE!!

Ya, those gloves came in handy too! every time one of the kids said "cant work, cant find my gloves!" I handed them another pair! LOLOL! They dont know HOW it is that I have an endless supply of pink gloves! you should see my son scamper to find the lost blue gloves when I threaten him with pink! hee hee :o)

More pictures .....this is todays progress :o)

DS working on his BIRTHDAY!!! what a trooper! he's taking a load of sod off to be tossed over the embankment :o)

DN also worked really hard today too!

beginning to outline the beds .....

more pathways :o)

Another angle....
white picket fence will go in this corner (nearest the camera)

oops, that wasnt a great shot of the corner after all! lol

fence will go in far corner.... (away from the camera!)

This is the worlds greatest son, grandson, who worked all day on his birthday to help with grandmas garden. He was soo tired when he got home, he fell asleep before his birthday cake! I had to bribe him with presents to get him to wake up :o)

He has worked really really hard all week...poor baby! and now we're makin him go to a nursery with us tomorrow... lol!

and the candle on his cake? well, you cant put candles on a strawberry shortcake, so DN lit a big "candle" in the sky! tee hee!

sis is now a member....!!!!

wanna help me welcome her??

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/868253/

Oneanjl - this is so impressive, and absolutely touching! You are the greatest, and it looks great, just great - can hardly wait for it to get planted, I ready to ow and awwwww, just like watching fireworks! I had a thought when I saw the picture of the fire works - how about one of those big Alium Christophii - the one that looks like a fireworks - as a remembrance of DS's birthday effort.

does Mom have trouble with knees or back in the bending down for weeding? If it is knees may I suggest getting some of the crocks kneepads - I used them for working on the patio doing the pebbles this winter, and my word they were wonderful. without them my knees and back ached, with them I could go for hours - they were so good the two big landscaper guy were borrowing mine and wearing pink and lime green pads with pride! I'll find the link.

Link for a uk site, but I am sure you can get them in the US

http://www.jellyegg.com/Crocs/Crocs-Accessories/sc1278/p9.aspx?source=adwords

This message was edited Jun 25, 2008 11:03 AM

Outstanding!!!!! It reminds me of a barn raising, everybody working together like that. Your son is a great guy and all around good person to do so much for his grandma. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

thanks all!
its not moms knees or her back...its the 'getting' up and down that will be a problem for her. :o(
so we've decided that sis will be the one to take care of moms yard for her...but should be easier than mowing all that lawn.

and now mom will have a garden to enjoy too :o)

off to Heidi's ...can you tell I'm excited?! lol!

Great family and great teamwork. Hope you have a great time at Heidi's.

we went to dragon fly today and oh my!!! Heidi's gardens are awesome! I am still in awe :o)
Someday soon, when I move up this way, I'll have enough garden space to create something similar :o)

Our Dragon fly purchases :
Elfin Thyme
Whooly Thyme
silver Thyme
rosy thyme (?)
4 hebe's
abthyllis
salvia
yarrow
wall flower
penstemmon
lily
bayberry

Then a trip to HD to get top soil netted her more blue star creeper and another creeper cant remember which one! lol! and a few more 'pretties' that will remain nameless until I jog my memory again...when I see them all again in the morning :o)

will be doing lots of planting tomorrow! :o)

Anjil - Watching your progress is fun! What did you do to get your plans? I have tried two computer programs, but was unhappy with both, so I resorted to hand drawn designs. I started implimenting my designs this spring and am just starting to see how things will come together.

Sonoita, do you have a thread showing your design, progress, etc. - we'd love to see it!

Anjl, please move up here soon - we love you!