One day's work!
Thanks to the best little brother ever! We got so much more done today than I was expecting- I worked about 4-5 hours and he worked 2-3. This would have taken me at least 3 weekends to do by myself, and my back would have been in such pain! About 2.5 of the 4.5 cubic yards of dirt are in place, and we have enough to do a couple more sections tomorrow, if I can edge them and get them ready in time.. :)
I showed the Before pic yesterday, so here is the After in my lame attempt to piece together a wide-angle shot:
Also got the corner and side beds loaded up so I can put in my hinoki and grass clumps:
After this weekend I will need to order mulch (hopefully next weekend) and get that placed, then I can plant things!
Plans (2011-?)
I would like to plant a grass corner by our sidewalk and property line so I don't have to try to mow around the cable/phone box anymore:
In the front, I would like to put in a kidney-shaped bed with 2 more 10-15 foot blue spruces and another rheingold. The stone wall in front of the viridis will hopefully be this fall.
And a more long-range plan- I would like to build a raised planter in the space between sidewalk, front door, and garage. I want a red dragon, crimson queen, or orangeola japanese maple to go in this planter. I hope to lay slate/stone around the planter to make sort of a loosely-defined patio area with a 1.5-2 foot border next to the sidewalk. Want some sort of groundcover to grow between the stones, and the border space would probably have iris, coralbells, or some sort of bulb flowers and a decorative lantern. I want a bench for the corner, and a container garden of bamboo. In order to grow the Japanese maple, I will probably have to have some sort of pergola built over the 'courtyard', and I also want an overhang for our front step. So lots of professional intervention will probably be required.. :)
Plans (2010-2011)
It has been a while since I updated my 'plan' pictures out here, so here goes. These are the plans I hope to do in full or in part this year or next.
In the front, I hope to get the stacked stone walls in front of the viridis and the buckthorn by this fall:
In the back, I am planning on putting in a Japanese maple on the south side of the patio, but I already posted that plan, so nothing new there. I am putting a couple more plants in the corner by the dining room behind the Tamukeyama. I will have to extend the bed to do everything I want to do- that part will probably be either fall or next spring. A couple of the new plants in the existing bed will be this spring though.
On the south side of the patio, in the corner by the fence I want to put a bunch of 4-5 foot tall grasses of some sort with some smaller grass clumps in front of it:
And on the south side of the house on the other side of the fence, I will be putting in a hinoki cypress for sure in the corner. I hope to get a reblooming lilac shrub and maybe a blue star juniper by the fall or maybe next spring to extend this bed along the side:
Preparing for tomorrow..
So my favorite brother in the world is coming over tomorrow to do dirt-hauling for me. I got a lot of stuff prepped for the big work day. First of all, there is the dirt- 4.5 cubic yards of it:
The big bed in the back is edged and ready for newspaper to smother weeds, then good dirt to raise it to the right height. The hole in the middle will be holding a Seiryu Japanese maple once I can get out to the fancy nursery to pick it up (hopefully this weekend):
The two new plants I have bought so far- a scrawny little Wichita Blue juniper for the corner bed by the Rheingold and the Tamukeyama, and hinoki cypress for the side by our great-room window and the fence:
And finally, there was a cute maple shoot that was growing up right next to our drainpipe so I hadn't seen it before till I started turning over the bed for the hinoki. Since it was so close to the house I couldn't dig it out right, and I probably didn't get all its roots, so it probably won't survive. If it does, I will figure out where to plant it- maybe on the back fenceline someplace...
Spring pics of all existing plants
Dwarf Korean Lilac:
Wichita Blue junipers:
Dwarf Weigelas (My Monet and Midnight Wine)
Threadleaf false-cypresses:
Rheingold arborvitae:
Dwarf Alberta Spruce:
Japanese Maples (Tamukeyama and Viridis, both Home Depot specials):
Black lace elderberry:
Fernleaf buckthorn:
Baker blue dwarf spruce:
Digging..
Since it rained the last couple days, I decided to clean up the trenches around the old beds in the back and the new bed-that-is-to-be.. I tend to lose track of time when I work though- I ended up doing the whole trench and giving myself a blister on my palm (I had only planned on being out there 10 minutes so I didn't bother with my gloves). I also trenched the edges of the patio corner where I hope to plant grasses, and a small curved bed just the other side of the fence where I think I will try to put a reblooming lilac if I can find one in any of our nurseries. Now let's see if my ankle hurts tomorrow!.. :)
I am hoping to pick up a couple plants and get a load of dirt delivered end of April. With my brother's help, I will get all the dirt moved to the back and get things planted. Will see how that goes!
I am also thinking of planting a couple more things in the bed with the Tamukeyama by the dining room window. Won't really need dirt or mulch deliveries for that since the bed is already there, just a bag or two each. I haven't decided what to plant yet though. I have 3 spaces, around 4-foot diameter each, and I hope to put a little bench and some stepping stones in that space as well. Space gets between minimal early morning sun to a bit of sun most of the morning, afternoon shade throughout. Very protected location, gets very little wind since it is protected by house on two sides. I want whatever I put in to be a backdrop for the tamukeyama, so I would like somewhat compact shrubs, probably no taller than 4-5 feet at full maturity (don't want to block off the dining room windows). Would like these to be pretty and interested, look good with the J maple, and not be really touchy about growing conditions(I tend to kill azaleas and rhododendrons since I don't remember to give them the acid in the soil that they need). And I am not a huge fan of hydrangeas, but I may end up going down that path if I can't find anything I like better. Hmmm... time for trolling some nurseries for ideas methinks...
No pics yet, since there are just holes in the ground. Will post once I have anything new put in.
