My Momma and I have been working hard in the garden the last few days, weeding and mulching the flower beds, weeding the freshly grown lawn (by hand, to keep it organic), and of course digging lots of little holes to catch worms and bug friends. Well, to be more specific, I did most of the digging and catching of bugs. There is a hole under the tree that at some point must have been inhabited by a little mouse or something... now it is the perfect hiding spot for potato bugs (pill bugs, the kind that roll into a little ball when you touch them? also called Kellerasseln in German). I like to catch them and put them into my bucket to watch them crawl around.
Anyway, now that most of the plants are growing, my Momma asked me to share some pictures of our back yard. It is the perfect spot: shaded by the bigleaf maple, we have cool, speckled light even in the hottest time of the day. There is plenty of dirt to play in, and my Momma says that around my birthday the grass will be ready for me to play on it! Until then, if I want to be on the grass I have to play in the side yard.
Anyway, now that most of the plants are growing, my Momma asked me to share some pictures of our back yard. It is the perfect spot: shaded by the bigleaf maple, we have cool, speckled light even in the hottest time of the day. There is plenty of dirt to play in, and my Momma says that around my birthday the grass will be ready for me to play on it! Until then, if I want to be on the grass I have to play in the side yard.
If you aren't interested in gardening, feel free to just enjoy the pictures. My Momma is really happy with how the garden is turning out - we will enjoy our yard for many years to come!
This picture is actually not from our garden, but rather from the forest nearby. My Momma is using the forest as an inspiration for our back yard - a lot of the plants she has planted are native. We have all of the plants you see in this picture - shamrock, solomon's seal, false solomons seal, false lily of the valley, etc. - they aren't growing as profusely yet, but will hopefully spread all over the lower level of the garden to form a lush green foresty carpet in future years. The shamrock in the forest should be going to seed soon, so my Momma will try to collect some, and will spread them generously around the yard.
Enjoy the cool, dappled sunlight that filters through the trees - most of the yard gets 3 or so hours of sun in the morning or in the evening. The rest of the time it is shady, despite facing the South. We planted a lawn with seeds for "deep shade" a few weeks ago. The grass is growing well, and after several hours of hand-weeding, it is looking very lush and green. You might notice the absence of the rain barrels? It was just too much of a hassle. Spring storms made them overflow within about 10 minutes, and they drained so slowly you couldn't attach a sprinkler... between flooding the area around them and lugging the water to other parts of the garden in a watering can, my Momma decided it wasn't worth the bother. She is going to build a river-rock bed to guide the water to the lower garden level, where she will plant some specimen that "like" to have their feet wet in the Springtime. Someone else bought the rain barrels from us for the same price we paid, so nothing was lost.
This picture is actually not from our garden, but rather from the forest nearby. My Momma is using the forest as an inspiration for our back yard - a lot of the plants she has planted are native. We have all of the plants you see in this picture - shamrock, solomon's seal, false solomons seal, false lily of the valley, etc. - they aren't growing as profusely yet, but will hopefully spread all over the lower level of the garden to form a lush green foresty carpet in future years. The shamrock in the forest should be going to seed soon, so my Momma will try to collect some, and will spread them generously around the yard.
Enjoy the cool, dappled sunlight that filters through the trees - most of the yard gets 3 or so hours of sun in the morning or in the evening. The rest of the time it is shady, despite facing the South. We planted a lawn with seeds for "deep shade" a few weeks ago. The grass is growing well, and after several hours of hand-weeding, it is looking very lush and green. You might notice the absence of the rain barrels? It was just too much of a hassle. Spring storms made them overflow within about 10 minutes, and they drained so slowly you couldn't attach a sprinkler... between flooding the area around them and lugging the water to other parts of the garden in a watering can, my Momma decided it wasn't worth the bother. She is going to build a river-rock bed to guide the water to the lower garden level, where she will plant some specimen that "like" to have their feet wet in the Springtime. Someone else bought the rain barrels from us for the same price we paid, so nothing was lost.
My Momma planted ferns, hosta, heuchera, and some other plants along the top and the bottom of the boulders. The ferns will probably stay pretty small this first year, but they should be bigger and more profuse in years to come. She is going to leave the fallen leaves on the lower level of the yard in the fall - to create a natural mulchy forest path.
Not sure what this flower is called, but it definitely looks pretty. My Momma bought the two little tubers it grew out of at Winco for $1.99. Note the tiny shamrock blooming at it's foot. We have plenty of that growing in the back yard, and my Momma actually likes it as a forest-y groundcover.
A close-up of the boulders, ferns, grass etc. to enjoy...
Here is the view from the other side of the yard, looking down the length of the boulders.
More of the plants that are now growing in the "upper" flower bed. Most of the flowers are either done blooming (early Spring) or aren't blooming yet. My Momma needs to do some research and then plant some flowers that will bloom in May! Although "green" is certainly a beautiful look, too...
The view of the still pretty sparsely planted bed along the fenceline. There are seveal red osier dogwoods here, plus some "baby" salal (several of them produced flowers and are growing new twigs, a good sign that they will make it! About half of the salal plants brought from Carol's forest-garden made it... salal is tricky that way). About half of the huckleberry cutlings have rooted, and are growing. Not expecting any berries yet this or next year. A few ferns are growing here, and some other plants are spreading from the neighbor's garden, which is just fine with us. There are lots of bluebells and grape hyacinth in this bed, but they are done blooming for this year. In a few years, the beds along the fenceline will have filled in a lot more, and my Momma plans to transplant parts of the perennials from the upper beds into these as they grow.
The red currants are actually carrying berries, although the birds have already began to eat them, so it is unlikely we will have much of a harvest. In the small sunny area along the fence to Lincoln's dog run my Momma also planted a clematis, and a grapevine, along with some zucchinis, strawberries, and some tiny hazelnut shrubs.
Anyway. Come and visit us, so you can see our garden yourself!
