Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Gardening and Yard Beautification

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We have been in our house now for going on 8 months and have been working on the yard quite a bit. Well, there was a couple of chilly months in there when nothing happened and weeds took the place over, but we have been back on it for the past couple of months. Spring is on the horizon and everything is coming together quite nicely. We want it to look and feel lovely, but first and foremost it must be functional. By functional, I mean it needs to be largely a food source. One of my goals is to produce 90% of our food. This yard is directly in line with number 11, 12 and 13 on my 40before 40 list.

So, here is what's been going on.

This is the orange tree that we planted in the front yard back in Aug/Sep. It has 3 developing oranges on it and some blossoms as well.



Also in the front is a lime tree. We planted this one about the same time as the orange. We had a couple little limes a few months back and it has started blossoming again.


We have 2 rose bushes that were there when we moved in. We just added the pebbles around them. I'm sure they will be beautiful in the middle of spring.



In the back, we have 2 groups of bamboo starting. These are the running type and we planted them mainly for privacy. There's one group in each corner of the yard and we will be filling in between in stages. We like our neighbors, but want a bit more seclusion in our backyard. Bamboo grows incredibly fast and these have really taken off. What an amazing plant!



Here's the other bamboo and the little sitting area we made out of bricks with sand poured in between. A little bistro table will go here.



These green leaf lettuces have also really taken off. I basically sprinkled them in, threw some compost and soil on top and watched them grow!



Unfortunately, I'm running into some issues with these tomatoes. The stem near the roots seems to be rotting. I'm not sure if the soil was up too high and/or we watered too much or if theres a fungus or something. We have stopped watering and uncovered it a bit to dry out to see if that helps. There's about 5 little tomatoes there and I hope that they can be saved.
On the back side is some basil and it seems to be doing well.



I'm so excited about these guys!
A green and red grape variety. That's the remainder of my wine rack that DH used to make our Bed Bar.





I have a variety of herbs growing inside and we just planted an avocado tree today that I didn't get pictures of.
Next up is to put together some containers for kale, carrots, more greens and other good stuff.

Here's a few "befores" and another "in progress".







In Progress
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7 comments:

  1. I am loving your garden! I can't wait to have space to start my own. I want to be able to at least go pick a nice salad from the backyard.

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  2. Oh WOW, looks amazing! You guys have done a great job.... it's so exciting having your own garden to grow FOOD :)

    Love the wine rack for the grapes, great idea.

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  3. Thanks Lovely Traveler! Picking and eating from your own backyard is such a treat.

    Thanks Lou! One day, I want babygirl to be able to pick a snack of her own while playing in the yard.
    That's the last of the wine rack. It was pretty as a wine rack, but it's even cooler as s trellis and a bar :)

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  4. Lookin' good! We moved into our new house in October and have been started to plant bushes and ferns in our front yard. I just started weeding the back so I can plant peonies and kale! I am excited to see someone else working hard on the yard!

    What type of bamboo did you get? I love the look of bamboo, but I am scared it's going to take over everything if I plant it.

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  5. Looks like some work, but it'll be so well worth it! That's so awesome that you're doing this. :)

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  6. Thanks Courtney! Congrat's on the move. Isn't it awesome being able to grow things in your own space? I need to plant some kale soon. We go through so much of it, so it would be nice to have it readily available.

    I forget the exact name, but it's the running kind, so it will "run" wild if you let it. We layed some barrier down in the holes first and then added the bamboo and soil. So far, it's been keeping it blocked into the area we want it to grow in.

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  7. Hi Molly! yes, it's been some hard work, but it's the fun kind :)

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