My Garden

We jumped in with both feet in terms of landscaping, etc., at the new house. It actually boggles my mind that we've gotten as much done as we have in the short amount of time we've been here.

We've completely redone the front left bed, including ripping out an Aspen trunk, extending the bed, taking out one Japanese Burberry and moving another. We planted a tree, several grasses, some shrubs, and flowers. We took out 10,000 pounds (it felt like one million pounds) of red quartz rocks, and Doug has been working on levelling that area, and prepping it for a flagstone patio. 

I attacked one yucca plant, pruning it and giving it its life back, only to decide to rip them all out due to what the roots do to sprinkler systems. There are two (that have also been cleaned up), at the end of the driveway that will be spared, since there are no drip lines down that far, or on that side. The rest that scatter our property have been pruned down as far as I can get them in order for Frank to dig them out when he gets back from California.

Also in the front, we took out two big yarrow plants. We weren't exactly sure what they were, but they weren't making it. Most of the surface part of the plant was dead, with mini-shoots sticking out of it. What we thought was going to take a few minutes when we decided to dig them out, turned instead into a two-day project. Yarrow and Yuccas. Both my enemies. Why nurseries sell yarrow is beyond me. It is a Twilight-Zoney plant that spreads and takes over your entire garden. I hate it. That's probably clear.

We changed the size and shape of another red-quartz-rock filled bed, moving big rocks along with another million pounds of little rocks. Fortunately we decided to dig out the right side of the driveway, so it matched the left side of the driveway, which is also filled with red quartz rocks. By doing so, it gave us a place to put the rocks we took out. Good thinking whoever thought of that (me, it was me that thought of it). It also helps with drainage, which was an issue on that side of the driveway.

When we changed the shape of the bed, we took all the rocks out that surrounded a couple of pine trees. We'll be putting a flagstone walkway near that area, that now is planted with shade-loving plants. It looks really beautiful.

We also dug out the dead plants from a raised bed on the side of the house, which is where I planted vegetables and herbs. There isn't much planted, because there isn't much room, but it gives us a start. I planted tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, zucchini, onions, lettuce, radishes, oregano, chives, cilantro, parsley, thyme and dill. It will be a learning experience to find out what makes it and what doesn't. 

None of it seemed to be doing much, which was making me nervous. With the exception of the peas. However, in the last couple of days the zucchini has sprouted new leaves, lettuce and radishes are peeking through the earth, and I swear the tomatoes have grown (a little). I planted it all twelve days ago . . . so I'm not sure if I'm being impatient (again), or if my little plants are floundering. Time will tell.

My sweet peas have not broken through the earth yet, but I have seen a few leaves in the pot where I planted sunflowers. Keep in mind we couldn't plant anything until the end of May, between snow storms and late frosts. That's the other thing I need to remember when I'm feeling impatient. 

It'll be interesting to see what works and what doesn't with the other things we've planted around the house. I'm sure five years from now, the various beds and gardens will be looking more the way we'd like them to. And ten years from now it will all be amazingly beautiful. 

As with everything else, this blog serves as a reminder to me about how quickly things seem to pass in hindsight, regardless of whether we're waiting to close on a house, or harvest our first tomatoes.