Gardening bits & bobs

I thought I’d show you what I’ve been up to with my own home landscape lately. Also, gratuitous Minnie pics because why not? She’s freaking cute. Flowers coming into the house from the garden, a trip up to the land with friends and dogs…summer is in full swing. Today it cooled down and it’s raining. It feels great. I know the plants will grow like crazy from it. They respond to rain in a special way. Always.

My friend & I planted food into 3 big raised beds at a public spot. Free food for all!

Finally have a fenced situation for Minnie and this sweet gate thanks to my friends!

Headed up to the land with my buds last week

Up at the land, it felt good to be back

My first visit to our creek this year

Cozy times at the cabin

Minnie so happy about her backyard freedom

So much planted behind the boxwood hedge line that’s not really showing up in photos yet. Now that I have the structural plants in (trees & shrubs) I’m starting to add in my flowering perennials around them. I plant small and strong. Root development is usually better when you put smaller plants in the ground. My experience is that they catch up and often overtake the plants that started out larger. I typically add in a few bigger plants to appease the eye while things grow in.

In the front yard here I’ve got lots of natives planted. Chokeberries, Red Twig Dogwood, Baptista, echinacea, yarrow and more. Eventually it will be a wild bed of natives contained by the low hedge line. A haven for wildlife.

I planted the street boulevard strip with yarrow, native grasses, Nepita and Arctic Willow too.

In the bed to the right (so far) a small wave of boxwood left to grow into its natural shape, Arctic Willow, Creeping Juniper, Nepita, Fescue and Foxglove. Still adding lots of perennials to all the beds now that the structural plantings are in. In the background you can see my bistro table on the little patio I put in under the oak tree. It’s awaiting flagstone, but functional now with pebbles. With my own landscapes I exercise lots of patience and wait, whenever possible, to find the right pre-used resources. I really try to the best of my ability to keep the loop closed. Native ferns, wild phlox, fescues and Columbine are going in around the patio’s perimeter. Things that will thrive in shade under the oak’s majestic canopy.

This is where the front yard is headed. Everything you see here is planted (except for the window box) it’s just going to take some time! Time is such a crucial part of landscape design. You have to be able to look into the future of the plant growth.

My vision for the whole landscape, front and back, is woodsy meets cottage. My house is a Tudor/Spanish Revival that was somewhat common in this area in the 1920’s. I want to bow to the Tudor vibes, evergreen hedges and lots of flowers, while keeping things low maintenance. The entirety is sheet mulched of course, to keep weeds at bay and to nurture the soil (which is truly incredible btw!!!)

And here is where this bed under the window is headed, though I decided to add in some Foxglove. I’m a sucker for it. My friend Joel is behind the gate which he built :) It’s good friends that will come over and spend all day building you a fence. Mary & Joel are those friends. So thankful.

I’ll show you the backyard and the culinary garden’s progress next time.

Cheers friends!