This 'n That

 My ambition is waning at this point in the year.  There is much I didn't accomplish, much I can still work on, and much that I did (surprisingly) get done.  I've decided the cat fencing will wait until next year, so the only thing I'm concentrating on as far as the back yard now is...all that pea stone.  I've decided to extend the path from the lower patio to the upper pea stone path, so that should take care of my excess aggregate.  I've been doing a little planting, too; some perennials I'd ordered over summer have come in and I'm popping them in around the holding beds and in the back yard here and there.  I planted six Miscanthus plants (giant grasses); 3 Huron Sunrise and 3 Oktoberfest.  Looking at them side by side, it's impossible to tell them apart.  These grasses should grow up to 6 feet tall or more, and they spread into massive 2-4 foot clumps, depending on how you manage them.  I already have 2 Miscanthus; Porcupine Grass and Maiden Hair.  All of these grasses have a common trait as far as their seed heads.  They are stringy plumes, mostly burgandy, that dance over the grasses on tall spikes.

As the seed heads mature, they take on a soft, silvery glow.  They are absolutely beautiful swaying in the wind, which is why I wanted them.  The six new grass clumps will form a backdrop for my wildflowers in summer, and add interest to the garden in winter.  

I dug up my curly willow tree that had been temporarily housed in one of my mother's gardens and planted it near the bog garden.  I'm hoping it will shade the garden enough to help it retain moisture, because during summer the afternoon sun beats down on that spot and will dry it right up.  I also managed to add more humus, compost, and garden soil to the bog garden so it's finally able to accept plants.  I've started with a few small swamp milkweeds, a few primrose, and a turtlehead plant (Chelone lyonii 'Hot Lips').  I hope to transplant a few more perennials in there before it's too late.

I realize the bank is a hot mess of grass, weeds, and native wildflowers, but I hate cutting down plants before winter.  Even though they die, they still provide shelter and food for many insects, rodents, and birds.  I'm just going to leave it for now and deal with it in the spring.

The hyacinth vine is really outdoing itself.  I honestly didn't think it would have enough time to grow and produce flowers, since I purchased the seedlings so late in the year.  

I think I'll use the same planting there next year, too.

My big push, other than the back yard, is my mess of a hill garden.  

Not having water the past few months and the ridiculous number of ground hornets really bummed me out, and I've basically neglected it.  Some things have thrived despite that - my herbs, the corn, carrots, onions, and most of the perennials are very healthy given the lack of care.  I have a vision, though, to revamp this area.  I'm taking down the fence around the vegetable garden and am going to reset it to include the shade beds to the left and the entire perennial holding bed area.  I don't have any matching fence, so it's going to be pretty eclectic to say the least.  I just dragged home an old metal round bale feeder ring, and I'm going to try to set it in the middle path halfway up the garden and use it as a squash trellis.  I need lots of chicken wire to keep out woodchucks, and I need to keep the grass mowed to discourage the hornets from nesting.  I also need to set up a better rain water collection system, so I'm prepared for a dry well again.  Maybe next year will be the year I finally don't give up on my garden.

Never let me calculate aggregate

 I ordered 5 yards of bank run gravel for the base of my lower seating area this weekend.  Once it was spread, I was finally able to get a feel for the area.  It's one thing to visualize it, it's entirely another to experience it.  It was thankfully a fairly easy job to spread this load using Reputa and my little york rake, with some hand raking in between.  There was a much larger area to work in with no fear of driving over a cliff edge, like with the upper seating area.  

A few people have asked why I don't use some kind of edging along the rest of the area, and my idea is that I want this to be a part of the landscape, not apart from the landscape.  I want the edges to blur, to feel as though this has been there for years, and that any moment the yard might take it over.  It's part of my grand scheme...

Once that was spread, I headed down to the landscape company and ordered 4 yards of round pea stone to top it.  Well, that was about 2 yards too much.  Once I had half of it spread and realized my error, I had to figure out what to do with the excess.  I put some in the low areas of the upper path, some in the water feature and around the rock edges, and quite a bit on the lumpy little road my tractor guy and I had carved out of the brush behind the two houses.

And still...

I barely put a dent in the pile.

I'm going to create a little off-shoot area for my iron fireplace insert that I'll be using as a fire pit, so I can lose some in that.  I may end up putting in a little edging and making a path that leads to the upper area, I'm not quite sure yet.  These are the times I wish we had a little tractor with a loader to make moving this sort of material easier!  Someday...

In any event, this is the last thing I needed to complete before the final push, which is the cat fence.  Next year I'll concentrate on establishing my perennials in the lower area and getting some trees and bushes planted.  I have other projects I'd like to get to before snow flies, if possible.

What it is and what it isn't

 No more calling the hole in the ground filled with water the p-word.  From here on in, I will refer to it as my water feature, which is what it really is.  I've had a few people misunderstand when I used the p-word, and they were thinking ye olde swimmin' hole...uh, no - nothing that grand.

Anyway!  Another day of deluge, and the p...water feature...is the most full it's been so far.  While the edges are clearing up finally, the middle is still quite murky.  The froggie doesn't seem to care, so I'm not going to worry.  This weekend I hope to set up a replacement fountain of sorts.  I can't wait to try it out. 😁  I bought some Ogon Sweet Flag plants for the edges of the water feature.  I really like the contrast of that yellow-green, grass-like foliage against the dark green of what's left of the grass and clover.  I'm excited to see it next year, when the area has recovered a little better. 

Froggie approved.

Happy first day of autumn!

(almost) Finishing touches and stuff

 The Rock on a Roll arrived and I'm not unhappy with it.  It's a bit like textured wallpaper, but obviously made for outdoor use.  I wish I had opted for the grey instead of sandstone, but it was more expensive.  I think once there is more water in the pond, and next summer when there are more plants in and around it, it will blend in better.  I went wading (holy cold water!) and did my best to scoop the sand and river rock off the black liner and redeposit it on the edges of the Rock on a Roll.  Obviously it roiled the water and it's cloudy again, but that will clear up.  I carefully placed rocks along the edges to hold everything in place, and while I was at it I rocked in the bog garden, too. 

I lost one frog; not sure when or how, but the OG froggie sat on the edge of the pond while I puttered.  When I was done, I climbed out of the water and he jumped right back in!  I also lost my floating solar fountain.  I didn't realize it was missing until I had finished the edges inside the pond and was half way through putting rocks around the outside edges.  I think it floated under the Rock on a Roll when I lifted it to scoop sand and rocks off the sides.  I didn't have the energy to pull everything apart to try to find it, so it's now considered buried treasure.

I tried to put the chunks of sod back along the edge; according to what I've read, you should have at least one area that has grass along the edge.  This gives smaller frogs and insects a place to hide when they leave the water, and many times the stones along the edge are too hot for little creatures to traverse, whereas the grass is cooler.  I'm not sure that it will take, but we have a couple more days of rain coming to help bind it back to the earth.  

Oh, that line of stones in the background?  That's the edging for my patio.

It's made from mostly square cut granite that's been lying around the farm since the beginning.  It's almost a shame half of the block is buried in the ground, but I wanted to use material on hand for this.  Now I just have to mark out the other edges and get some aggregate delivered.  I know it all looks rough, but that's how I like it.  If I wanted perfection, I'd use preformed blocks from Lowe's. I want this to look like it's been here forever.  I planted my yellow twig dogwood shrub at the end; I needed to get that poor thing into the ground!  Next year this area is going to look really good, once the grass grows back in and the patio is set up and the fireplace is out there.  Patience...Rome wasn't built in a day.  😊

If you build it, yadda yadda yadda...

 The day after the pond was (mostly) filled, I begged some water hyacinth off my mother and dropped them into their new home.  Lo and behold, the very next day, a frog had moved in.

See him there, just about dead center?

The last water feature I built had the same effect; it seems frogs just hang around the peripheries of your property waiting for you to fill something up with water so they can lay claim to a new home.  I can dig it.

I'm really pleased with how quickly the water cleared up, too.

I have a product called "Rock on a Roll" coming this week, and I can't wait to cover the edges with this material.  It looks really good in photos and video, so fingers crossed it hides the liner edges.  Hopefully it will reduce the amount of evaporation, too.  The bog garden isn't staying as wet as I'd hoped, and I'm going to try planting my curly willow tree near it to block the sun when it is at it's strongest [summertime] angle.  I thought this would be a shady enough spot for both the pond and bog, but it may not work quite as well as I hoped.

The frog isn't the only one taking advantage of the new features.  A little Phoebe has been happily using my garden stakes as perches when she hunts insects in the pasture.  In the past few days, she's discovered the bird cage and the lamp hook, too.

I'm hoping to start the second-to-last project this week; setting up for the second gravel patio on the lower level.  Summer is nearly over, and time's a-wasting.

Project #3 complete, on to Project # 4

 The privacy fence portion of my yard fencing is done!  I managed to create a pretty sad gate out of one fence panel, which I cut in half.

I started adding a few personalized touches here and there, like solar string lights and the lettering I've been collecting for a few years.  I also managed to get some blocks under the soaking tub and level it out.

 

 I had my tractor guy here to work on a few items, one of which was covering the protective bottom mesh on the back of the fence with soil and rocks to keep naughty kitties from digging under and naughtier wildlife from digging into the yard.  I used four foot tall plastic coated welded wire fence as the barrier material, which is fixed to the fence with heavy duty electrical staples, and lays out across the ground about three feet.

I'm still trying to decide where to place the lower gravel patio.  Until I figure that out and get the materials delivered, I can't put up my net cat fence.  In the meantime, I'm working on my pond and bog garden, AKA Project # 4. 

I laid an old rubber-backed area rug in the pond hole to protect the liner from sharp rocks (should have filled it with sand, but I'd rather use what I have on hand), then set a few key stones around the perimeter to hold the liner in place. For the bog garden I had my tractor guy scrape out about 8" of ground, then put a black plastic liner down.  I punctured it in the very middle to allow for some drainage, then put some of the soil back.  

 The next day I put a few bags of play sand in the bottom of the pond liner to weigh it down, then added some river rock and a few larger stones for the bottom to add structure for anything that might want to live there.  In the bog garden I mixed garden soil with humus and compost into the native soil.  I'm going to need a bit more of this material to finish the area.

 I rushed to get this part done, because the weather reports are calling for nearly two days of rain.  This morning, I was elated to find the pond half full.  The cloudiness should resolve on its own after a few days when everything settles.

Rainwater is supposed to be better for the pond than hose water, and with our well still being dangerously low I can't add any water.  I'm holding my breath hoping there are no pin holes in the membrane from my walking on it to spread materials.  I really can't wait to put water plants in it next year! 

While I had my tractor guy here, I had him pick away at the rock wall along the driveway.  He removed quite a bit of stone and shaped the bank.  He's also my plow guy, so opening up this area makes moving snow much easier for him.  The goal is to shift the retaining wall diagonally towards the old barn.

I had him move the boulders to the other side of the driveway, to create a more defined parking area.  At some point I may bring in more road pack to make the parking area less grassy, but for now the rocks are just a marker for how far into the pasture he can push snow.  We'll pick away at more of it next year. 

The hyacinth bean vines I planted inside the bird cage had a massive growth spurt the last few weeks.

The new plants I put in around it are all doing fantastic.  Mom and I went to the last sale of the season at a local native plant grower's and I picked up more cat safe, shallow rooted plants to add here and there.  I've decided to plant perennials along the privacy fence to hide the uneven bottoms.  I'm still trying to decide where to plant my magnolia tree, yellow twig dogwood, and witch hazel.  I have an ever-evolving end design in mind for the lower level of the yard, but much of it hinges on where the second patio ends up.  I'm also second guessing the bank, which I was planning to leave as is with grasses, weeds, and wildflowers.  Now I'm envisioning a bank of tall ornamental grasses that will sway in the wind...clearly I watch too many gardening shows on tv.  

                                             * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Later that day...

One rock is completely submerged - c'mon, RAIN!  Fill that hole! 😁

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Update, 48 hrs. later...

Not quite full but daaaang, that's a lot of water! 

Project #3 - Stones...why did it have to be stones?

 Well, the fence is up.  No, it isn't perfect.  Yes, I had a helluva time digging holes for the posts, which is why 1.) the posts aren't all at the same depth, and 2.) I ended up having to stagger the panels.

Everywhere I dug I seemed to hit massive boulders underground, despite the recent excavation of most of this area.  Also, the land slopes down away from the house, which would mean with this type of fencing my last panel would have been about three feet from the ground to the bottom of the panel.  I'll never use this doweled fence again, that's for sure.  Perfect for flat ground, not for this piece of property!

I ended up trying to stagger the panels to eliminate the bottom gaps by screwing them into the posts with decking screws on both ends for the first staggered panel, then for the next panel I screwed one end to the post and the other side I managed to set the dowels into the holes in the post.  I was going to do the same for the last panel, but it ended up being perfectly in line with the other post, so both ends have the dowels in the holes.  I'll have to do some creative cutting to block the open areas near the posts, but I think a few single pickets might work.  I need to cut a panel to make a gate, so I'm going to try pulling some pickets from the leftover portion to do that.

While it looks a bit messy from the back, if you look at it straight on, it's not so bad.  That one post that sticks up too high irritates me, but it's sitting on a bit of ledge.  I could have cut the post, but I honestly didn't have it in me to haul the tools out to do it at that point.  Sometimes you just have to say good enough and move on.

Not too bad for a 53 year old overweight ex-smoker.  My suggestion - if you're going to do fence, have someone there to help.  I needed Mother to hold posts and panels a few times, and by the end of the process I could barely move the panels into place alone.  It's these kinds of projects that keep my chiropractors and acupuncturist busy. 

I could have added one more panel, but I would have had to really stagger that one, so I opted to end where I did.  I've calculated the cost of the dog fence I was hoping to have installed but it's well out of my financial reach, so I'm cooking up some alternative ways to build my netted cat fence.  Today I'll mark out where I want the boundary to be and estimate my material list, and hopefully get the gate made and hung.  After that I'll need to affix some metal fence at the bottom of the panels and back-fill it with soil and large rocks to ensure cats don't squeeze under and escape, and to prevent outside creatures from digging under the fence.

Next up after this?  My pond awaits.

Project #3 - Fencing is a go, I repeat: Fencing is a go

 I've started putting up my privacy fence!  

I'm no stranger to fences; I've installed picket fence, electric fence, windbreak panels, post and wire fence, post and board fence, split rail fence, and cat fence.  I have never, however, installed dowel paneled fence.  So far it's going pretty well, it's just a little difficult to adjust heights and maneuver dowels into holes by myself, but I'm getting it.  I dug my first hole and immediately realized I'd purchased the wrong posts; I grabbed 3 end posts when I only needed 2, and forgot to buy corner post.  I took some time to re-finagle my design on paper and by simply moving the gate, I didn't need the corner post.  So far the digging has been typical for this area; it took most of the day just to dig four post holes and put up two panels.    

As for my seed...well, it's not what I'd hoped.  I spread three pounds of clover seed just as our well decided to get dangerously low.  Pretty hard to keep seed watered with no water.  I counted on a couple good rain storms to help out, but instead when it finally did rain, it came down with so much force it washed the seeds into low areas...mainly the gravel path.  So what I'm left with is a few clover seedling here and there, and then  clumps of it in lower areas.

So much for my groundcover.  I still have the field peas that I can plant, but I was hoping to save those for my vegetable beds, since they'll add quite a bit of nitrogen to the soil.  Wildflowers don't want nutrients, they want desolation.

I also managed to wrangle my tub into place alone.  It was over near the vent pipe and I wanted it on the gravel.  I chained a six foot pipe gate to Reputa and flipped the tub onto it, then dragged it somewhat into place.  I'll need some help getting it leveled and up on pavers to keep it from sinking into the gravel.  

The perennials in the circle bed are hanging in there, despite the drought.

I'm hoping they survive the winter, and this garden will look much better next year.  In the meantime, I'm off to do some more fencing.

Companion planting: regrets, I have a few...

 I've never really tried companion planting before, so I did a little research (dangerous) and decided to plant borage and nasturtium with some of my vegetables.  

The borage is supposed to be an all-around good companion for many vegetables.  It adds trace minerals to the soil, attracts pollinators by the droves, and is supposed to repel tomato worms (verdict - after picking about 40 hornworms off my plants yesterday, I'd say that's a myth).  All parts but the roots are edible, and it's said the leaves have a taste like cucumber.  I have eaten a few of the flowers and they are sweet delights, but the leaves and stems are covered with prickly little hairs that make me itch like I've been infested with fleas.  They sting a bit, too.  That might just be me and my uber-sensitive skin, but I can't imagine trying to choke down a leaf of this plant.  Also, nobody really let on that they may overtake whatever you're planting them with.  

Back in late May/early June, I planted five tomato plants in my big planter and peppered in a few borage and nasturtium seedlings.  Won't they be lovely when they bloom, in amongst the tomatoes?

 

Oh my aching head...

There are tomato plants in there, I swear.  I did have to pull the center plant as I inadvertently pinched the wrong leader and rendered it worthless, but the other four are doing well despite these thugs.  Trying to get water to the tomatoes is a feat; if it's early morning or late evening, there are sleepy bumble bees to watch out for on the borage flowers.  If it's middle of the day, there are hyperactive bumble bees, honey bees, hornets, and hawk moths to avoid.  In this area I've already had run-ins with a paper wasp nest on my porch railing, and an underground yellow jacket nest in the lawn.  I've become so petrified of being stung (two stings on the same ankle, one on the thigh) that I mostly avoid this area altogether, and it's become a bit of an overgrown jungle at this point.

So neat, so tidy.

Two months later...

Yikes.

As for the nasturtium, I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor of the blossoms.  I'd read they had a "peppery" taste; in truth they are more like a really good radish.  I love radish, so I've eaten quite a few of the blossoms.  I've also read that they will self-sow and run rampant and honestly, I'm ok with that.  They're pretty flowers and beneficial plants for insects, and are often used as a sacrificial plant to lure aphids and damaging beetles away from main crops. 

A few years ago I planted some creeping thyme in with my strawberry plants as a "living mulch" if you will.  Worked great the first year, ok the second year, and now...well, 

I've tried to pull what strawberry plants I could find out of that ridiculous mat, but most have been lost.  I had planned to try a xeriscape lawn with the creeping thyme, but went with wildflowers instead.  I still hope to pull this up and transplant it somewhere that it can expand its territory unbothered by my silly restrictions.

I also tried companion planting vegetables with vegetables, but a hungry woodchuck kept mowing down whatever I planted, so I kind of gave up trying.  There's always next year.