Putzing in the Garden

Lots of people have complained about all the rain this year.  I have to say overall I haven't minded it.  As a person who loves to garden, the rain is welcome.  There were a few days when my pots were threatening to drown but overall the grass is nice and green, the trees loving all this moisture. 

For me my garden is a place to go and unwind.  I think also it gives me a creative outlet that I really miss now that I no longer do the web design at work.  Every year I add to spots, see where I need new pockets of color and keep working on the "master plan". 

So here is what has been going on in the garden this year.  If you read my posts last year you know I built a trellis to kind of separate the back yard from the driveway a bit.  I came up with the design on my own and sat down and planned it all out.  After a few trips to Rona, some post digging and the realization that I needed a nail gun, the trellis was done.  Then I stained it which I think took longer than building it.  Getting in between all the little slats was a pain in the arse! I have now dug a little bit of sod out around the bottom and planted a little tree and some vines.  The vines are about to bloom and need to fill in more, but its a start : )

The side of our garage is fairly plain and I would like to have some nice vines climbing up on it.  On a garden tour a fellow had morning glory just growing out of the cracks by his garage, so I am giving this a try.  I have started the vines from seeds and they are starting to bloom.  They are supposed to seed themselves so we will see next year if this works.

Morning Glory

When we moved into the house the sides were pretty open to the neighbors.  They are nice people but I prefer more privacy and I hate looking in their yards at their "stuff".  People have lots of crap now a days and looking at it isn't pretty.  So operation block out neighbors began.  We planted 3 of the columnar aspen trees.  These things are amazing.  Here is a picture of them now and they were only about 6 feet tall a few summers ago.  I highly recommend these for privacy, and they don't take up much horizontal space in the yard.

I like to plant up quite a few pots and put them on the deck and on the front porch as well.  This year a few of my pots had sunflowers grow in them.  I planted annuals but I think my local squirrel was stashing some seeds in the pots and they came up.  So I left them in - what the heck.  

We also put in a fountain the back yard and picked up some flagstone to make a path to the shade garden in the back yard.  I keep on adding little rock plants to fill in between the stones.  This has been hit and miss with some taking well and some not liking the soil there at all. 

The shade garden has been a real adventure.  I added a mirror on the fence to add some reflection and I need to fight the battle of the slug in this type of environment.  I hear they like beer.



I have added three new rose bushes this year, one is a climbing rose.  I love roses and want more color in the back yard, not just shrubbery.  They are all supposed to be hardy for our Zone 3 but we will see.  It often depends on the winter and the spot you put them in.  So far they are taking well and blooming, so fingers crossed.




So before I bore you to death, I will end this post with some miscellaneous pics from the yard.  Some days I wish the yard was bigger so I had even more spots to plant things...but I am making the most of every spot and always have a plan for next year ; )