Tuesday, May 7, 2013

And now... back outside...

The last few weekends here have been surprisingly warm and sunny. I say that because here in our little upstate NY town it is cloudy, wet and cold more often than not.

So instead of working on indoor projects - I decided it was time to get out in the garden.

To my surprise my front planter garden is blooming like crazy! Lots of gorgeous colors every where - pink, blue, purple, yellow... and of course - lots of green.

One big concern with gardening is the the toll it takes on my body. Luckily, my medications for the fibro are helping enough that I can get the work done (well, most of it at least) before my body tells me I'm done. So far I've managed to weed the beds, plant gladioli bulbs (which are coming up super fast!) mulch and dead-head all of the hyacinths.

Oh wait - there's more!

We also planted about a billion (okay, really only a dozen) baby forsythia plants. Two are in my front yard to make a nice curve to our otherwise very "boxy" landscaping, and the rest will be making a hedge in my backyard. I'm hoping my dog learns *quickly* that digging up the bushes is a bad plan...

I also took a few ideas from Pinterest and made a pebble creek bed under the downspout to pull the water away from the house and toward my garden. It's supposed to rain tomorrow so we'll get to see it in action.

However, the BIG project is building an arbor for my front yard.

See... it all started when I saw this:


Photo from BHG.com

And when I realized that one didn't need a huge, sprawling piece of property to have a gorgeous landscape, well, I decided this was the plan for me. 

Now, of course I don't live in a southern climate where flowers bloom the vast majority of the year. So, some modifications will need to be made in order for this to not look like a bunch of sticks in a planter bed 6 months out of the year. Planning a garden in Zone 5-6 climate is not easy, especially in my area because we do have significantly less sun than most places. 

But, for phase 1 - we're building the arbor. Unfortunately as well, our soil is only about 18 in. deep before we hit rock. You would think for four little holes you wouldn't need anything more than a post-hole digger, but that's where you're wrong. We found this out on Sunday evening. :( So sometime this week/end we'll be renting an auger to drill the remaining holes so we can set the posts in concrete and start working on the rest of the arbor. 

While we're a LONG way off from our property being this elaborate (I will probably wait until this fall or next spring to do the plants in front of the fence, especially since the design will involve some evergreens to keep visual interest all-year). The good thing I have going is that this portion of my house is west-facing so I get full sun. 

For now, I will be content with my planter bed of flowers. Right now the tulips and daffodils are in bloom...

 It looks a little messy, but I'm okay with a little disorganization :) Once the hyacinth and wood squill greens die back it will look a little less chaotic. There are a few hosta that are popping up as well. 

Another side-shot of my tulips. Such lovely colors, pinks, purples, yellows and some white too. 

Some of the greens are dying back a little - once the greenery dies back, I can dig them up, divide them if necessary, and replant them in the fall. 

Here's Herman. He watches over the garden. :) I found this little guy at Target not too long ago.

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