New Garden Projects This Year #3

when do you get the uber title?

Good question. When I kill 500 plants?

Karen, Thanks. I thought that all of them were the giant size. And I'm afraid to mix creeping jenny in my beds!!!!! LOL

Actually the fear comes from the year it took me to clear the thicket that was here when I moved in 4 years ago. The vines were 80' tall in the trees. Just this week, I've gotten brave enough to order a Clematis!!!

Hope yours does well and fills in nicely. Your path looks great.

Wow! 80' vines? What were they? Grapes? Bittersweet? Green briars? Sounds scary! I do happen to have some Creeping Jenny, too, and in the same area as the Petasites. They like it wet, too.

Karen

Karen, I don't know what they were. I have had some grapes and roses come in since then, but I get them quickly. This year hops vine is showing up everywhere.

Oh, you're up late, too. I got up to catch a friend's radio show. You could hear him, too, if you want, on 959watd.com and click on listen live. His name is David Wolfson. He is special needs and went for his dream of becoming a radio DJ and achieved that dream. One of these days I plan to do an article on him.

Karen

I had hops vines for years .
Once they get going they grow to 60' plus. Great cover for an arbou or pergola roof.
I had to keep an eye on them spreading.Eventually these vines went up the roof.
This pic was taken in 2005
It just got out of controle.Clematis is easier.lol

Wow! Sounds almost as bad as kudzu.

Karen

Oh No!!! They seem to be around a lot of the new plants from last summer. I think the seeds must have been from something in my planting dirt. Horse Manure????

Maybe. You never know what you'll get with horse manure.

Karen

I must confess that I think I am in trouble with the hops. First of all the only thing I have currently to grow it on is a 5' trellis lol! I wanted it not only because it is pretty but also because it is a butterfly host plant. I really love Victor's picture of the hops on the arch over a bench.It is exactly what I want for my new garden. A nice spot to sit, when I need to sit down in between garden tasks. :)

I had to rip mine out, Meredith. Just took over.

Maybe I don't want it. Sounds bad.

Karen

It does become a nuisence in a few short years.The vines and leaves have edges like raspberries (prickly),the vines snake over everything and shade out other plants.
It needs a really large space, and watching all season to make sure the vines dont escape. I used to twine them up into the verticals.

I'm growing hops in full shade and that's put a kink in it's rambunctiousness.

I just love this thread! It is inspiring to see how each of you has applied your creative genius to come up with such beautiful results.

Karen - your walkway and your gardens are great! You have done SO much there. I just hate I can't come see it for myself at your RU!

JoAnn - love your bears and their garden settings!!

Christina - Wow.......one more stunning result for you as well. Absolutely beautiful!

Patti - your stream looks fantastic with those spring bulbs, etc.. I would really love to do that here at some point. Right now we have our hands full just with the necessary maintenance, so this may be wishful thinking! I am thinking we may do a small-scale pump-type feature on our back dining porch so we can hear the water from our bedroom. I want to use our antique kitchen pump like my sister did. I posted that on one of the threads earlier.

Bill - I'm just amazed at the progress you've made on all of your stone work. It is lookin' great!!!

EEEEK! This is actually prepping for next year's riiiiiiiiip out the driveway project. The L in the old cottonyaster hedge had to go. Isn't this attractive? ROFLOL.

Thanks, Louise! I wish you could see it, too. Maybe someday.

Karen

THanks for the warning! I've been MIA revamping my butterfly garden. I am almost done ... finally. After a full day tomorrow.. hopefully. : ) I am getting excited about how it should look. It was a bit of amish mash because I adding to the bed and planting a little each year. Just planting plants as I brought home newpurchases and had seedlings getting potbound. Now almost everything has a thought out spot.

Enjoyed looking at everyone's projects! I've had several going so I've been busy. We put up the swingset/etc. for Colin last year. Because of the autism and sensory issues he crashes around all of the time and we added mulch and made a play yard for him. His providers also like to do his therapy in the play yard. Eleanor

We've been clearing out the area down by the canal. It was covered with thick brush, bittersweet, grape vine, sumac trees and poison ivy. DH has been digging out some of the smaller stumps. Part of it has a lot of shale, so we will just make a gravel patio in that area. I made a raised bed out of retaining wall blocks and filled it with garden soil. I moved my fairy garden into the raised bed. I know it is not perfect and level, but i did it myself!!! Eleanor

This is the "completed" fairy garden. it will probably never be done, but I have lots of room to play with in this area. I like it in the raised bed as it is much easier to enjoy. It is at an easy level for Colin to see and move things around, although he is not allowed down there without an adult. Actually Colin is not allowed outside without close supervision. There is still a lot that has to be done with landscaping that area. I will get some more pics and keep you posted when i get a chance. Eleanor

This is what the area looked like before we started. the pic was taken in the spring before the brush started growing. Eleanor

This pic was taken last fall after we had just started the project. We even worked down there this winter cutting some of the grape vine. Eleanor

Oh my goodness Eleanor! What a wonderful change!! You have every right to be proud of it, it so cute!! You and I have alot of the same fairies^_^

This message was edited May 17, 2009 8:15 AM

Nice nice nice. Celeste - Fleanor ? ROTFLOL

OK, I fixed it. lol Thanks for pointing that out. Not enough coffee this morning.

Wow Eleanor that is quite a difference! Looks like it was a lot of work!! Great job. : )

Eleanor..I LOVE IT!!!!!! and what a great play area for Colin.

Wow, Eleanor, that's fantastic! Doesn't matter if it's not perfect. Not much in life is, to be totally frank. Could you post some close-ups of different thinks in your fairy garden? It's so cute! I love fairies, and I have a sister-in-law who adores them even more, and I think she would really be inspired by your fairy garden. Her 7-year-old daughter would love it, too.

Karen

What a beautiful, charming, and restful place for contemplation, Eleanor. You should be very proud of yourself! I am too! (Patting you on the back and rubbing your shoulders)

Wow - wonderful transformation, Eleanor! Looks great. Keep us up to date with it.

Great play space!! Glad Colin enjoys it.

You have been one busy bee. Whew!!! Looks wonderful!

yes that is very impressive - big change and looks great!

Eleanor, Such beautiful work!! I really like the stairway treatment leading down to the fairy garden.

Great job Eleanor!

Thanks guys! I almost didn't get a chance to get back to DG and read your comments. I just got back inside from covering up my containers of annuals :-(. Tonight is just scattered frost and a practice run for tomorrow night when they're forecasting wide spread frost. :-( I appreciate the encouragement. Throwing those stones around is a great way to relieve STRESS and forget about life's little problems! I will post more pics of the fairy garden eventually. Eleanor

oh Eleanor... I love it... you did a great job!!!... I think I spotted a couple of fairies I have too!!

grammyphoeb, What a wonderful transformation. And what an amazing job you have done. I hope you have been able to avoid the poison ivy. I can see how all your work will be a joy for Colin.

But please know that no garden is ever done, nor level, nor perfect, but any good one will make you perfectly happy, as well as help level the bad spots in your life plus give you a a pleasant interaction with mother nature while working on it no matter what gets done. Enjoy your wonderful new garden and keep sharing the pictures. Fairy alerts are needed, always. Patti

Eleanor - WOW! That is some beautiful transformation. I think your wall looks just perfect! I wouldn't change a thing! And I love how you've done Colin's little play area. You are very talented - what a great job!!! And yes, I'd like close-ups of the fairy houses too. I'm sure Colin finds that area just magical! I'm also so happy to have read on the other thread how well Colin is doing. I was going to find the thread again to answer you there, but I had so many threads to read, I lost it.......so this one is just as good! LOL