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newyorkrita

Before and After. Changed this area of the front yard.

newyorkrita
11 years ago

Oh boy this was really a project. Remember the Little Tree Garden? Well, it is gone!



Little Tree Garden. In front of this tree is where I used to have the Lupine Garden.

But since the Lupines all died, it just never really looked like I wanted. Plus I wanted to extend the "old" tomato garden area and just did not have the room unless this area was redone.



That section of the yard. You can see the end of the tomato garden and the tree garden.



Closer view of what space I had.



Dug out the tree. Took out the three daylily clumps in front of the tree. Tossed all annuals stuck there for color.



Moved back the row of bricks in the garden next to tree garden and curved it all around to make a border for the way the garden was now. Going to plant grass there in the newly created pathway.



Old Tomato garden.



Old Tomato garden bed extended and now much longer. More space for next years tomatoes!



And finially a view of that area now looking from the driveway up. It is much more open now with that tree gone.

Comments (12)

  • silverkelt
    11 years ago

    looks good rita..

    What are you going to do with the tree? My thought on trees is they belong in the forest, not my hard won gardening space.. but thats me, and I live.. well in a forest, so seeing trees isnt a big deal, I know others dont have that same opionion at all and I dont begrudge them that.

  • newyorkrita
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Gone and cut up. It was a Mulbery tree which wanted to get large and I kept prunning back.

  • organic_kitten
    11 years ago

    I'm tired just looking at all you've been doing, Rita. I am having a spell of "I am tired of it, it's too much trouble." It will pass, but I haven't been been looking at blooms lately, much less taking pictures. My season has been too long. There, I've said it.

    These scattered late blooms can't compare with the season, and I just want it to cool off so I can get busy and redo some beds. (Whine, whine, whine.)

    All of your work has resulted in a wonderful new space. Good for you, you go girl!
    kay

  • newyorkrita
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I have been thinking on this from earlier in the summer. Finially decided to get it done when the weather here turned much cooler. In fact it is unusually cool for August. No complaints from me.

  • mantis__oh
    11 years ago

    Mulberries are horrible in that they have such rampant growth and get so messy. An elderly friend has one, and I have to prune it constantly or it overwhelms the garden. You made the right decision!

  • jean_ar
    11 years ago

    Looks real nice RITA., so; no more LUPINES for next year? and I thought they were soo pretty.

  • Nancy
    11 years ago

    Your tree looked so healthy & green, seems kind of a shame. I didn't recognize it as a mulberry tree though, so I can understand why you would get rid of it. I bet you really had to trim to keep it to that size. The ones I have dealings with I guess are wild ones that birds tend to leave right at the worst places. Like in the middle of my blueberry bush. They grow like mad!
    Looks like lots more tomatoes for your future! What is your favorite large tomato? I got 3 Big Boy tomato plants this year, got a bunch at one time, but there are not many on the vines right now. I am wondering if there is a tomato that spread its harvest out more. We don't eat lots of tomatoes, but a few every week would be nice. I guess I need to check for early, mid & late season tomatoes. Maybe I should put in a few more plants too :)
    I miss your beautiful lupines, but lupines only lasted a couple of years for me either. I tried planting some seeds a couple of times, but they didn't come up. I've decided I don't need to try such difficult plants, I'll stick with the ones that work for me.

  • avedon_gw
    11 years ago

    So much work, Rita, but you will be rewarded for your efforts. All of us on the Forum will be rewarded by seeing your photos next year, lucky us. Avedon

  • newyorkrita
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    The tree was actually planted in a pot which was sunken in ground. So digging it out was not as big a deal as one might think. I just had to dig around the pot and the soil there was really easy to dig in as it was a garden bed. Then I relocated those three daylilies that had been in front of the tree to the sideyard garden.

    No more lupines, sorry. I tried and had to redo the lupine garden twice and again they died. They sure were stunning but it just did not work out.

    Oh yes, there will be even more pictures of tomato plants next year LOL! But really, I do like the way it looks there in that front section of garden much better now that I have it redone. That tree was NOT behaving itself and needed to go.

    I did get grass seed planted in that pathway area. Had to dump in some soil first and level it so it wasn't so lumpey ha-ha. Didn't need to get it too perfect as the grass will hide the imperfections after it grows.

    Nancy, I really love my Big Boy and Better Boy tomatoes. Great taste and lots of tomatoes.

  • newyorkrita
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I have been watering my grass seed that I put in the pathway and it is just starting to come up a tiny weeny bit. That entire area will look better once that grass grows in and makes it all look like it has been there a while and not just done.

    I also had a chance to study the entire tomato bed and decided that it needed to be just slightly wider. So I made the entire length one brick wider. That will give me slightly more room so that next year it will be easier to place the tomato cages.

    I just covered the grass in newspaper and put on some compost just like I did for the extension. I am pleased with my new much larger tomato bed.

  • Julia WV (6b)
    11 years ago

    Might as well use the space for what you can eat. :-).

    Julia

  • newyorkrita
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Grass coming up nicely around the garden extension. I wanted more room for tomatoes next year so I had to think of something!