Saturday, May 23, 2009

The mission should you choose to accept....

Turn this into something you'd want to look at.


2000 square feet I'm trying to turn into a native grass area... and this is only 1/3 of our "yard". The other 2/3 will be left until next year and the year after that. I'm trying to learn not to bite off more than I can chew.

I left whatever grass was growing and killed the kocia and bind weed. (I hope) The whiskey barrel to the right of that overturned stock tank is my "water feature".

The overturned stock tank was gonna become part of the "water feature" but we dug the hole to sink it in a bit deeper and decided to make it a little bigger. Once I line it with pond liner and place brick around it for definition, it will become bee-yooo-ti-ful. (in theory)


The square area is... well... we don't really know what it is. When we moved in, there was this 12' by 12' square outlined in concrete. We think it was a foundation for a garage but no one got around to it?

My plan is to fence it, put a cute old-timey gate on it with a little free form brick path leading to a free form brick patio for seating. And I'll put the wine bottle border all around the inside. Someone asked me if I'm scared they'll break? Not if you don't fall on them. Geez. Duh!

I'd like to have an old timey 2 seater metal glider bench or two. The rest will be planted with purty plants you'd want to gaze at while chatting with friends and having a beer or glass o' wine.My water hyacinths in my whiskey barrel...The hole where the pond liner and other water plants will go...We do have SOME green things other than bind weed. I bought 8 honeysuckle plants in the fall last year. They were on the side of the nursery where things go to die... they were on clearance and the tag said they were extremely hardy and fast growing. I picked them up for $5 each. We winter watered them and crossed our fingers. All 8 survived! Here is one below...And what day is complete without a little goatie love? Hello! Lookee how BIG we are now!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your ideas for landscaping sound great! Do you need to plant one shade tree for maximum comfort? Or is the space big enough?
Love the idea of the pond. Just today I looked at the price of Koi fish for an outside pool. They were 25€ ($30) each!
I will be very curious to see how this project evolves!!!

Shanster said...

Hi Dedene! Our house casts a shadow over the square in the afternoon which makes it a perfect sitting place in summer... we can enjoy the morning sun and when it's hot, we'll have shade!

Cheryl said...

Oh, I love honeysuckle! I'd plant an entire yard full if I had one, just so I could surround myself with that wonderful scent. I haven't seen pike ones before though. Over here they're all white.

Great project. Looks like a lot of work but it's more fun this way, isn't it? With all the planning and doing. I mean, if someone came in there and laid out your garden for you, it wouldn't be the same...

Foxxy said...

I sure hope it works out for you. I am horrible with all things botany related. My house is where plants go to die. Good luck.

Anonymous said...

Your little Lamanchas are soo darn cute! The two on top look like girls, their faces look feminine, and the two on bottom look like boys, their faces look more masculine. And they are all so darn cute!

BTW... those goats sure look like they waste the alfalfa stems.. I wonder why you don't bring in a horse to eat up after the goats have picked through their breakfest and dinner.

Or do you have a plan to put it somewhere once it's time to clean out their area?

Shanster said...

Cheryl - yes, it IS a lot more work but the satisfaction value is much more for sure! I get impatient with how slow things go cuz of lack of time, muscle and money but if I had everything right when I wanted it... well, I guess I'd never get to look forward to anything would I?

Foxxy - "where plant go to die"... thanks for the laugh!

Anon - Hi! Thanks - they ARE cute aren't they? (proud mama coming thru) Yes - the goaties are a horrible waste of alfalfa stems! We built a nice feeder for the does which really cut down on waste but we haven't made anything as nice for the babies (yet). I rake them up and feed them to the horses... who all perk up when I'm raking the goat pens.

Unfortunately, we've gotten so much rain lately that I'll have to toss it all in the manure pile. It's too wet and soggy and muddy for the horses. sigh. I guess that's the way the alfalfa flake crumbles.

We NEED the rain but it sure makes everything a mess!

DebH said...

You have my kind of attitude with the do it approach...but I do tend to bite off more than I can chew. I am getting better, but your project looks well planned and thought out. Anxious to see it in progress. I really like the end result with sitting and admiring with a tall Toddy! What a good Reward! Those babies are the cutest:-) I am thinkin....thinkin...oh man...if only I had that bigger barn done. I definitely will keep you in mind when I buy my first Lamanchas. Like I said...I bite off too much some days, but what the heck X)