Backyard Still In The Works

After the big sort out last summer and just getting the yard out of it's jungle state we decided we wanted to do a few more things.

First on the list was for me to get some garden planters. Marshall being the handy man that he is made me some. We started off with 3 and soon realized we'd need a lot more! I now have a total of 7 and am still wondering how I am going to plant everything I want to.

So far I have: Blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and I'm going to plant tomatoes, carrots, zucchini and lettuce.  This will be my first go at veggies (since I was little and did it with my mom) so I'm really excited about it!

You'll see from my last post about our backyard work that this area was totally covered in red cedar chips. It wasn't horrible- well I thought it was horrible- but they did a bad job at it and put black gardening mesh down that didn't let water through so this area was not only ugly but a giant puddle every time it rained. It was totally wasted space and you could tell they just didn't know what to do with it. I decided that this would be the best space for my garden so I started the huge task of taking all the chips, roots, rocks and junk out of the space.

I have no idea what they were thinking with what and where they planted but it made no sense. Marshall and I spent hours out there working on the space and now we're at the point of seeding which is so exciting!! 

I bought this Bleeding Heart plant because it's a perennial and I'm trying to stick to those and because it was my great grandma's favorite flower and although I've never met her I'd like to stay connected to my family and my roots. 

I have no idea what this is. As I was digging everything out I found it and thought I'd let it grow and see what it turns into.

Our new sour cherry tree! I can't wait until it starts to product those pretty flowers as it blossoms!

Why the news paper? Well you'll also see in my last backyard post that this house space was covered in ornamental grass. It all had to go but the roots were a pain in the butt out so the most natural way of getting what we couldn't get is to put down 10-15 layers of news paper, wetting it down and then putting soil over top. Pretty cool right? I asked my friend Sheri what to do and being a horticulture students and just plan and simple very smart she had a great and natural answer which I loved. 

Now as I was taking a break from all the hand tilling (I felt like a woman working the fields!) I wanted to get planting along the other side of the house. There is this spot, as you can see, that is ugly and just dirt and weeds. I had already over spent on the plant budget but I didn't want to leave this for next year. I thought about it for a minute and decide to go out and talk to my neighbor that has an amazing yard.

She's probably in her 80s but just loves her yard. I wish I could show you how amazing it is. She has a white picket fence, and flowers everywhere, but not in that overgrown wild flower sort of way.  It's all very well done up with paths and rocks and cedar chips, and it's totally taken care of, not a weed in sight!

So I walked over there and asked her about the ground covered that she had. I wasn't going to straight out ask her if I could have some but she had said that she would give me things as they worked on the yard the last time I had talked to her (but that was almost a year ago and I wouldn't think she would have remembered that). I just asked her a few questions about it and then she said "Oh, I'll give you some, it grows like a weed, it will fill out really fast for you!" Needless to say I was thrilled, no money spent but I got at least $30 worth of plants! And she said when they are splitting things up as they go along they'll come and leave me a note for me to come and pick some things up. I love that!

I already forget what this stuff is called but it's pretty great! I can't wait to show you some photos when it's call filled it! I didn't have enough to do along the gate side of the fence but I'm sure I will by the end of summer! 

Give me a week or so and I'll have more photos for you of how it's all coming along!