When we moved into the house we are in now the yard was completely flowerless. There was a lawn in front & back, not very green, but a lawn. Tarps covered with cinder rock had been put down in the areas in most areas by the house to prevent anything from growing to keep the yard "low maintenance," I of course had a whole different plan in mind; and shortly after moving in I got to work.
Below I have posted before & after pictures of my yard~basically the yard consists of 3 major sections that I have been focusing on over the last year & a half: the Front section, the back, and then a narrow section along the side of house, which was just cinder rock with no plants when moved in.
I have recently started some newer projects as well, along the side of the path to & along the shop in the back, and a vegetable garden (in the back yard) as well.
A tough task to remove all the cinder rock and tarp that was underneath, but with my shovels-one flat and one regular, a wheel barrow & many trips to what is now a large cinder rock pile...I removed all the rock & tarp, brought in some good composted soil and got to planting what is now one of my favorite little strips of a garden along the side of the house.
My son, catching bugs...he is very careful not to harm the critters and always sure to let the "good" bugs go right away. We like our worms, lady bugs & garden spiders.
If you do not already have a vegetable garden in your yard I would highly recommend one. Creating a vegetable garden can be very simple and it does not need to be in a huge area, a place for growing your own veggies can be made it a smaller space than the one I have shown in this picture. This is the area I choose to put my vegetable garden in because it seems to get the most sun throughout the day; which is an important factor in growing produce.
Not only is it so much fun to watch it quickly grow, but you can eat from your garden all summer long!
This is the newest addition to the veggie garden this year-a green house! Exciting-hoping to get a head start on herbs and vegetables.
March-2010
You can see how "unlandscaped" the yard was at our move in, I was thrilled to start fresh and make it all mine. (This photo was taken shortly after move in on 7-2008)
There was a problem with drainage as the water flowed out of the gutters and flooded my plants, washing away the dirt; so I decided to put in a rock bed to direct the water else where & prevent it from damaging my plants and washing out the area.
The front yard was as plain as it could be when we moved in~honestly for me this was a huge plus & highlight of the home; a chance to build my own yard from scratch, my favorite way=)
Not a good picture at all,but it gives you an idea what i had to work with from the start.
I thought to myself-PERFECT!
I started out with 3 small rhododendrons, a house warming gift from my in laws, I later added 4 "mums" in between each of the rhododendrons, they bloomed well the first year & have come back twice as big this year. Mums tend to be very hardy and bloom well even after the harsh and snowy winters we tend to get here.
I do believe this was a particularly chilly afternoon, about 5 degrees...
I can be a bit rough on tools! I swear they just don't make things like they used to!
Working on our coop for spring chicks! (2010)
Check out the "CHICKS ARE GREAT" page for more info and chicken pros & cons.
Please check out my handmade jewelry site as well: www.Sparkle-E-Jewelry.com
This is a photo of my newest products, "gun metal lockets" just in time for Valentines day-Small heart gun metal lockets that really do open=)
