Pond Building 101

This picture is how we ended after our first day of wall construction. Josh was completely worn out from moving and placing the rock in just the right place. Building a stone wall may not look like it's a lot of work but it is. The stone have to fit sort like a puzzle next to and on top of each other.


We decided to go with a pre-formed pond as oppose to a site built one. Too many problems exist with a site built pond and since we weren't having a huge pond, the pre-formed one fit the bill.

My birthday day, Josh was renewed with vigor, so he set out to dig the 2 foot deep area the pond needed. A few hours and many root removals later, the pond insert fit.



Time to backfill around the pound, making sure it was level. Thank goodness for strong youthful backs!










With the pond in place,the rest of the wall could be built. Then came the waterfall construction. Or should I say frustration!


Josh built, tore apart, rebuilt the waterfall so many times that day. Trying to get the water to fall just right from one stone to the next can be tricky.



After trying and trying again Josh has given up temporarily. Hopefully he is thinking out his next plan of attack. The hubby says that he will help him with the design later this afternoon, so hopefully there will be a successful waterfall. We even have our first visitor to our pond, a small tree frog. Wish I could get a picture of him but he's about the size of a quarter and blends in too well with the pond right now.

One of the things we did get accomplished was to ring our front street tree with a stone retaining wall. I planted some impatiens and transplanted some hostas in the new bed. I think it looks rather lovely.

My New Flower Bed Day 1

A year ago, I decided to remove the old tired looking shrubs that were in the front of our house. I don't know what held me back from doing it sooner...well that's not quite truthful, I do know. We didn't intend to be living in this house too long, so we did nothing for the first 5 years. Whether we live in this house for another 5 years or 5 months, I decided it was time to do something that I would enjoy.



Who knew it would take another year before the foundation bed would get planted. The delay was mostly due to the selection of shrubs that we wanted being unavailable until this spring again. So when hubby and I stopped at the nursery 5 weeks ago and they had what we wanted we purchased the shrubs. Then came the looking at stone for the bed walls. We looked at a few different ones and ended up with a colonial grey stone. So now it was just finding the time. Well this past weekend was perfect. Hubby and the boys got caught up on all their lawn service lawns and had Sunday free. So off we went to buy the stone. Couldn't buy it before we were ready to use it as the darn pallet of stone weighs 1500 pounds and it has to be loaded off one piece at a time.


Anyway, we brought the shrubs from the backyard where they have been patiently waited to be planted and began to lay down the stone.




The boys worked on laying out the wall and made some pretty good progress on Sunday. They got both the top tier and the second tier along the front of the porch built.



Instead of building the wall all the way up from the ground in the back with my expensive wall stone, we used cinder blocks as the foundation. Once the dirt is back filled in, you'll never know the difference. Work had to end because we were at the point where it was getting dark and were where the pond needed to go....yep, we putting in fish pond too. Really it was the hubby's idea to put in a fish pond. Of course there was much discussion on what kind of fish pond we were putting in...whether it was going to be built from scratch or a preformed one. I'll post more tomorrow on pond building 101 tomorrow!

Summertime...my favorite time

I just love summer. All the work that I have done all spring long is coming together. We are finally going to get a squash off the squash plant as both a male and female flower were opened yesterday morning.



We got the beans trellised and the tomatoes caged. The plants were getting big and were starting to fall over. No worries now...Just to get some more tomatoes to set and the beans to climb.













Tonight we should harvest our first lettuce and a few radishes as well...yummo! Love fresh greens for a salad.
















My wave petunias that I have in hanging planters on either side of my front door are just gorgeous. They have certainly outdone themselves.










I picked up these New Guinea Impatiens at the local Home Depot...I just love the color. These have only been planted a few days...can't wait to see how nice they are by the end of the summer.


Isn't this rose just stunning? About 20 years ago my dh and I gave this rose bush to my mother in law for Mothers Day. Well it's still growing strong. The roses that this bush produce are some of the most highly scented I have ever smelled.

These coreopsis were planted last year. They are one of my favorite flowers. I especially like the more feathery variety and plan on planting some in what will be my new porch shrub/bush/flower bed.


Echinaceas are one of my most favorite summer perennials. I would have a whole field of them, if I had space. They are so beautiful.








The orange lilies are growing in the back of our yard...outside our fence in our alleyway. They are so hardy and withstand salt, cars exhaust and the constant dog marking that occurs there. We have roadside embankments literally covered with these orange lilies, here in Maryland. They certainly put on a spectacular show now, don't they?


I got my hubby to finish up putting the raised bed boards around the rest of my flower beds. I was able to fill in the front of the bed and plant some more impatiens for color in that bed. My sod is starting to root and grow and will soon need to be mowed. I'm so glad that we went with sod instead of waiting for seed to grow. I've already started my new grass growing project. Here's a picture....




This area will be a little more of a challenge for me to grow grass there. It is under the linden tree and the soil there isn't the best. Grass hasn't grown there for what seems like forever as that area once was graced by a rather large silver maple that has long ago been removed and replaced by the linden.

I planted a new circular mini flower bed around the base of the tree using impatiens and hostas. I haven't yet finished it off with stone to keep four legged creatures from lifting their legs but hope to do so when I figure out the stone for the front porch bed. Maybe by the time I get that bed done, the grass will have grown in.

I have enjoyed sharing my gardens with you. If you have some to share back, I'd love to see, so be sure to post a message with your link.

Our Bumper Crop & Raised Beds

My hubby planted a bunch strawberries plants in containers...this is the most we gotten ripened at any one time. They are absolutely delicious.




We put in some raised vegetable beds taking out most of our postage stamp backyard. My hubby and boys built the beds. They went down to the county landfill and got truckload of composted soil. Our county recycles yard waste on a bi-weekly pickup or you can take your yard waste there. It was nice to be able to recycle the yard waste everyone generates into something useful.



In one of the beds we planted lettuce, spinach, carrots, beets, radishes, zucchini, yellow straight neck squash. Actually my boys have done most of the planting.





In the other bed we planted tomatoes, pole beans, oregano, basil, and cucumbers. We still need to add a trellis for the beans and the one cherry tomato to climb.












This last picture is of my one of my flower beds in the backyard. We took out one of the railroad ties and will be replacing it will trex decking material like we made the raised beds from. My hubby didn't want to use pressure treated lumber due to the chemicals, so we are going to put the decking around the edges of the existing flower beds and make the beds more raised. I was too impatient to wait for grass seed to grow, so I put sod in between the vegetable beds....I still need a few more pieces of sod to finish off the backyard.

Landscape & Outside Renovations

Our landscape renovations and paint spruce started with the removal this spring of the 50+ year old silver maple that once graced the front yard. Due to severe rot we had to sadly have the tree removed.



Once the tree was removed, we could grow grass again. The whole front of the house became sunny. We could plant new sun loving flowers! Yeah! Some of my favorites are sunlovers.





I scrapped around the bay window and the door of any loose paint and repainted them. Painted over the bay window and door with black over the hideous green that was there. Scrapped and painted the wrought iron railing. We replaced the light over the door with a more modern and up to date one. The planters on either side of the door had already been in place from last year, so I just added a wave petunia to each.









After all the painting was complete, the next thing to start on was the landscaping. The bushes had taken over, overwhelming the house, so they had to go. My son Josh and his friend Josh, yep, Thing1 and Thing2, as I affectionately call them, removed the front porch bushes.






So with a little time and a bunch of young muscle the boys removed the bushes...








Now doesn't that look better?

We still have lots to do out front. The plan is for a two-tiered stone raised bed. The back tier for new bushes/shrubs and the lower front tier for beautiful flowers. I've already have a few ideas of what I'd like to put in the new bed that will be built.

Oh and much to the hubby's dismay (only because it requires him to do some work) I'm hoping to add window planter boxes to my front second story windows.


Over the next few weeks I hope to have the new bed in and be started on my next landscaping project. I'll be sure to post pictures and give you an update.

It's May Day!

It's May Day. Hard to believe a quarter of the year has already gone by! Where does times go? These pansies are on my front porch. Aren't they gorgeous? It's been sort of showery on and off here for the last 3 days. Which has helped my grass seed sprout.



Can you see the sprouts? LOL! They are there! Yippee! In February we had a large Silver Maple taken down due to disease. The branches were hollow and we could see daylight through the trunk. It's sad but the tree had to be removed. So down it came...now the challenge of getting grass to grow.



I've fertilized the lawn, watered it 3-4 times a day during the 90+ degree days and it's finally paid off...I have grass sprouts! WooHoo!! I know the little things in life that make me happy. I can grow flowers but grass has always been a challenge for me. Funny thing is that the hubby has a lawn mowing service! We are the true shoemakers family! LOL!

I need to go back and overseed some more and hopefully in a few weeks the dirt area will have filled in with a nice green patch for my boys to mow.

The sun has peeked out again so it's time to go put out more seed....Mother Nature is suppose to provide us with some more showers tonight so the seed can get another soaking.

Have a Happy May Day whether you are dancing around a maypole or working in your garden.

In Honor Of Earth Day....

In honor of Earth Day, I decided to give you an update on my flower beds. I've gotten my side flower bed all planted. I was able to get some nice perennials from the flea market on Sunday. I planted some coreopsis, dianthus, lavendula, and arenaria to compliment the hostas, peonies, salvia, bearded irises, and day lilies that were already there. I also planted some marigolds and impatiens for summer color. We added some solar lights to provide low level nighttime lighting.

Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970 as a way to promote awareness of the Earth's environment. Approx. 20 millions Americans participated with a goal of a healthy, sustainable environment. Twenty years later Earth Day grew to 200 million people in 141 different countries, lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. Today it is celebrated in over 175 countries with various observance activities.

Earth Day has spawned many of todays' environmental programs that we have in place. Recycling plastic, paper, cans and aluminum to keep it out of landfills. Calls for clean, renewable energy sources. Protection of our streams, rivers and natural resources including endangered species...these groups all found a reason to unite and pool their efforts in a common cause...to raise awareness of our impact on our environment.



In our family we try to respect the Earth by recycling our bottles, cans and paper products. We use CFL's in our light fixtures to cut our energy consumption. We try to turn off lights, tv's and appliances when we aren't using them. We have installed low flow shower heads and low water use toilets. We have replaced some of our appliances with Energy Star rated ones to help lower energy consumption. It's just our small contribution to help our environment.

Today is a day to rethink our environmental strategy. To find ways that we can further help save the environment. Any small contribution that one person makes, can be multiplied by millions all across the world...we can make a difference.

Anyway, Happy Earth Day. Get out and enjoy the day. Plant a tree, a flower, a bush. Embrace our world...it's the only one we have.

How I Spent My Sunday

The day started off early...6 am. Went to meet a friend to go flea marketing with. I meet Eileen through ebay and many emails later we've become friends who share an interest in painting anything old and discarded. We both love giving things new life. So we met at the market and spent the morning going through booth after booth looking for the different and the unique. I think we both found some neat stuff as you can see in picture. I also was able to pick up 2 small rockers...these will sell well at Christmas time. When I go to paint them I will take a before and after pictures.



When I came home my hubby suggested that we go to Home Depot to get mulch since it was on sale. So off to get mulch. The picture is of about half the mulch stacked. I had the boys put the other bags in the flower beds so I didn't have to drag it too far.



My longest flower bed takes the most work as I reset the stepping stones when I mulch. A few sedum, one of my coreopsis, and some bearded irises are popping through the mulch. The black eyed susies were just starting to come up through last years mulching...and should be through this years in a few more days again.



More mulch on the backyard flower beds...not much is popping through there yet...the hostas were just starting to sprout. There are more irises and a rose bush or 2 along with some day lillies and a few more sedum. I can't wait to be able to plant all my annuals and add to my periennials. I spend a lot of time in my flower beds, planting, weeding and pruning.



I picked up this piece a few years back from my favorite junk guy...I just love it as I haven't run across a love seat metal lawn chair in all my years of junking. I decided to paint it in the americana theme. The heater is also from my junk guy Harold...I just love those old kerosene heaters.

It was a very full day and I was glad to see my bed.