I think I am done the bulk of the work now though. There will still be weeding and watering and so on, but the planting is done. And I am tired...
Warning - what follows is many pictures of gardens. If that's not your thing, or if you are on dial-up, I apologize right now.
When we first moved into this house, 6 years ago now, there wasn't a whole lot going on in the gardens. I never would have expected to be a gardener, but having grown up in the country, a few years of living in apartments left me longing to grow things. I quickly discovered that we did not have good soil - it's pretty much sand and clay. And even more difficult, the deer eat just about everything you plant.
Eventually we put up a fence. We knew we wanted some sort of enclosure for the cats, and if we were going to do that, then I wanted to enclose at least some of the gardens as well. Last year was the first full season of having enclosed gardens and it is absolutely amazing what a difference it made.
I also put in a lot of work last spring, fixing up the beds. So things have really been transformed. Maybe that's where my obsession with photographing the garden comes from. Last spring, I took photos along the way, documenting my progress. I also wanted to keep track of what I planted where, and what time of the year certain things would start to grow, bloom etc. I created an online album and pestered friends and family - Look at my garden...Look what I did today...Look how things have grown!
So things were in pretty good shape this year to start with. We have a landscaping company that takes care of our lawn (because I can only do so much and Husband has zero interest in any kind of manual labour). This year we asked them to do the mulch for us, because we are hoping they would have access to a heavier mulch that the cats would be less likely to track all over the house.
The mulch was done last week, and things are now looking very nice and so far it does seem like the cats are tracking in less than they did last year. Which is nice. Because they made an awful mess last year.
This is now things are looking now...
Rhododendrons in bloom...
Out by the road. I don't really do much with this, mainly because it's such a pain to work on the side of the hill.
This side of the house seems to be the most sheltered and sunniest spot. Things grow really well here.
This is the front of the house.
My little vegetable garden.
And I have lots more, which I was going to post, but it's getting late and I'm really tired. So, I'm thinking they will have to wait - I can spread them out over the next couple of days.
8 comments:
Wow - things look great!! And I'm thinking you work at yours a whole lot harder than the Bag Lady does!! Hers looks rather like a jungle - at least the youngest cat enjoys it! He hides in amongst the plants (tried to video him the other day, but couldn't see him!) and attacks bugs!
Looking forward to more photos!
Our cats have their favourite spots. George likes to crawl in under the bush that is next to the gate. It has grown in so much that this year it is hard to tell where he is. I had to go out and get him before we left for work this morning and I had to crawl right in to reach him. I think a while back I had posted a photo of him under that bush, but it's grown so much now that I don't think I could get a picture. That bush will be pruned this year though, it's getting too big.
Oh, and I must confess...I still had a few flowers left to plant and I put them in last night after I had already taken pictures. Went a little too crazy at the garden center this year, and I've had the last batch of flowers sitting on the deck for a couple of weeks now. I have been trying to put in a few perennials every year, so things are getting full. Pretty soon I am going to have to restrict my annuals to the garden by the driveway.
See? Here I am going on and on about it again. You all will be sick of hearing about it.
I'm soooo jealous. We just moved into our first house in January, so the last few months have sort of been a "wait and see what grows in" time. Well, I now see that the previous owners made an attempt, but didn't do a great job. I would love to just redo the whole yard, but can't afford it all at once....so this year's focus is for DBF to get the grass all pretty, green and weed-free....and I'm tidying up the gardens. I got the front garden done yesterday and I'm quite proud (pics on my blog if you are interested).
Looking pretty good! I thought I had a small veggie garden...
My flowers and stuff are more on the wild side... not so cleaned up like yours. I guess that's what happens when I don't get to it in time...
Love the pics!
How beautiful! So much nice, colorful space....
Wow, it looks great! All your hard work has definitely paid off because the results are beautiful.
It all looks so wonderful!! I love the veggie garden - that is the first thing I'm going to plant when/if I finally buy a house.
Thanks ladies!
Yes, it is a small little veggie patch, but I only have so much yard and so much time for gardening. I've packed in as much as I dare though, so hoping it will turn out ok.
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