And speaking of flowers...

An update on the frontyard landscape project.  For years, we've puzzled over the treatment of this huge lot--with the goal always moving toward using less water, less fertilizer, less weed killer, and acheiving low maintenance.   To reach that end, we reduced the size of the lawn last year, basically cutting it back by two-thirds, which was a bit too much we now realize, as weeds are filling in the bark-covered areas at an even more unmanagable rate.  So we're rethinking that, figuring things out as we go along.  The grassy slope is gone now though, and the new retaining wall and walkway are awesome.  I love it!  Especially the little round "courtyard".   Still need to do something about the BIG dirt piles.  They were left behind because we thought we could use the extra dirt somewhere else, in the new garden plan perhaps.  However, this type of soil expands when you dig it up.  It's crazy how much dirt was excavated from this relatively small area.  

So.  After the weekend, we've gotten this far planting the new garden area.  Dwarf boxwood along the path, (a pair of Japanese Snowbells planted last spring--on both sides), and um, a few rose bushes.  I know!  I'm such a glutten for punishment.  They've been thoroughly sprayed; like three times in about 48 hours now.  Heavily doused.  Heavily.  At this rate, I'll probably kill them myself without any help from the deer! 

OK...meet the new kids on the (chomping) block while they last.  This is sweet 'Kimberlina'.  A mildly scented flower with a hardy reputation.   She'll need it.

 

Sunny 'St. Patrick', a hybrid tea bush, slight fragrance, matches color of my house.   

 

And this one, appropriately named, 'Double Knockout', from same wholesale grower, that knocks out both your eyes when you stare at it too long--this pix was not photo-shopped--the color is blinding! 

None of these have a particularly strong scent, which is what I was looking for, ya know, so as not to invite trouble.    Keeping my fingers double-crossed now. 

Comments

[Alicia]

How beautiful! I had to laugh about the dirt though b/c my husband just left to go buy dirt & rocks for our flower garden. I found myself looking at your dirt piles in envy.

[mickie]

Your roses are gorgeous! Landscaping is always a challenge but gardens change as we do :) Enjoy your time in the garden!

[Susan]

It looks beautiful. Have you considered covering the dirt with bark? I've got shredded western cedar in my flower beds and it really finishes it off; it's so much nicer than just looking at dirt and it keeps the moisture in, which is good for the hot summer weather especially.

[Joni]

I'll use your dirt! We have some potatoes in the garden we have to mound dirt over...and we haven't got extra! Everything looks wonderful, I think your roses are delightful! Thanks for letting us have a peek!
XOXO
Joni

[Dawn]

Beautiful choices!!!

[Sue]

The roses are so beautiful, I love them but am not very good at keeping them alive.
We have deer AND woodchucks eating up our garden, so my husband had to put in an electric fence about two inches off the ground, it looks pretty silly! Now we need to work on something for the deer....

[pam]

Oh its all so lovely. I have been wondering about less lawn as well, but the weeds, oh the weeds will kill me.

[Judy]

Love your picks.

[jam]

Thank you for sharing your beautiful gardens. Always love the Roses. I put in Rosa Rugosia; they are an old rose with a lovely fragrance, & a nice bushy habit, but they only bloom in the springtime.Wish I had more sun and I'd have roses in all my gardens.I make do with lots of ground cover; you name it and I've got it.
Luckly we don't have wildlife in our suburban setting.

[Jean C.]

What you have done is lovely! And the roses are beautiful. Might I suggest that you get some of the land scape black paper! I know that this will be a lot more work for you... but in the long run you will be so much more satisfied with the overall look! Scrape back your bark and put down the paper, you will have to be a bit clever since you already have plants/tree's in... because you will need to cut holes or area's to fit around the plants/tree's. Then put your bark back. The weight of the bark and any rocks you might want to use to landscape (I'm thinking smaller ones... that you can lift) hold down the paper fine. Water your plants like normal. The water can get through, but because the black paper keeps seeds from germinating you won't have as many weeds! We get a few that start to grow in just the bark! But they are sooo easy to just grab and pull... they don't have dirt to hold onto!
Good luck! Your yard looks really nice!

[Nada]

i have a suggestion for your excess expanding dirt: a cob bench to sit on in the garden!

my husband and i homestead in TN, and do a lot of activism, particularly around natural building techniques such as cob. Cob is a mixture of sand, straw, and clay (often mixed by doing a jig in it barefoot on top of a tarp) that you can build with-- anything from a bench to an oven to a house! building a bench is a pretty common beginner class project for it, and can be accomplished in a weekend easily. it's really messy, fun, and empowering. you can make it as pretty as you want (either with raised relief work, paint, and or embedding glass or ceramic) kids of all ages love working with it, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cob_(material)

best book around is both available on amazon or completely digital and free here:
http://weblife.org/cob/

and here's an image of the booth we built at this years Bonnaroo-- we built the walls of straw bale (faster than solid cob in this case) and then cobbed over the exterior: http://craftmonkey.typepad.com/alternatetheory/2009/06/the-facade.html

[vicki haninger]

Thanks so much for the info about the cob bench and other projects, I'm just wondering how that holds up in a rainy climate.

[vicki haninger]

You can't tell by looking at the picture, but the entire yard is already covered with hemlock bark; we do plan to cover this new planted area in time.