Wow, you've put a lot of work into that! Looking good! And by this time next year, it'll be looking great when it all fills in. Good job!

Laurie

Well since we're doing project pictures here, I thought I'd post some of my pond. The pond was constructed last year and I did a little bit of planting around it. Now, I only have one more juniper to plant in behind the waterfall and I think it'll be close to being called done. Oh, I think I'll be dividing up a couple more hostas from another bed to put underneath the ohio buckeye, then I'll be done.

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My first waterlily of the season.
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My fish say "HI"!

I'm just about done planting a newly dug flowerbed. When I'm done mulching I'll post some pics of it too.

Laurie

vrie, looking good, but some of your photos are hard to view when they're not rotated ;)

Laurie, your pond looks like an oasis, great job!

Pudge, if I were a bird, that's were I'd want to feed!

Sharon who still has 1001 projects on the go ;)

Wow, lots of rocks - I love to see that. Very nice, both of you. Lots of works, but worth it in the end, eh?

Wow! Looks like you have both been very busy. Looks great. I like the open look of your beds. I personally tend to crowd my plants. Not intentionally, I usually end up buying more than I need. My beds looks like jungles.
My project for this year is to make my beds bigger, so I can move stuff around next spring.

Sazzy, I seed everything almost, so when it all comes in, I'll have a jungle too! After it's all there, I'll mulch and bark around the happy ones and let it go! I guess I'll never have that manicured look!

Laurie thats gorgeous. I don't dare do the waterfall thing here, I'd be even more eaten alive than I am already! Besides, I have 3 dogs, one would think that was a personal pool!

sorry about the pics, I don't even notice it! I look at so many photos and so many beds at so many different angles that I don't even think about it! Had the nongardener of the house been here, he'd have said something (he hates portrait layout photos!)

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback! Yes, hauling in all that rock was just "tons" of fun!lol But I love the way rocks and plants go together, so it was definitely worth it. Once things fill in, I'm hoping I'll have that jungle look too. But I know I must be patient for this to happen, which isn't one of my strong points!

Vrie, the fish eat any mosquito larvae that may be in the water, so there's no worry about enlarging the mosquito population. But if you have dogs that love water, this could be a bad combination!lol Luckily our dog is half husky and prefers snow much more than water. She does enjoy watching the fish every now and again with me, and my boys just love dangling earthworms in the water so that the fish rip them out of their hands. Must be a boy thing I guess ;^)

Laurie

Laurie what a great job you have done with your pond! I'm still trying to figure out where I want to go with the plantings around mine..as soon as I planted mine I knew I wanted something different with the shape of the flowerbed and the plants I used...I guess it might be a project I will tinker with for a few years..lol..
Vrie you have done alot of work in one spring..I can't wait to see your pictures once everything has filled in and is blooming..
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savona

Here's my shade extention project that I worked on today. I'm doing the lasagna method, first I layed down a layer of wet cardboard, then a layer of aged manure/compost, then topped it off with straw, by fall time I will add leaves and peatmoss. So by next Spring, I'll have lots of extra space to bring out all those crowded plants near the house.
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On the otherside is where I want to make the pond, first I have to get the power guys out to make sure there is no wires underground before I hire the Bobcat guy to come and dig, then I will extend right out to the left of the photo making it all one island bed. I'm hoping this project will be done in 2 years ;)

Sharon

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Here's that Rock Garden that I started last Fall....
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Fall 2005

Still have to plant my Cacti order and add some pebbles, sit back and watch the plants grow ;)
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First Day of Summer 2006

Oh yes, another project that DH made me this year, a raised tomato bed. I'll take a photo later in the season when the nasturtiums and flowering cabbage/kale is in its glory. Oh btw, all that garden space behind the raised bed is all new too.
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The deck that we started last year is still in process, update to follow ;)

Sharon

Savona your pond is coming along very nicely! Love the herons, I may have to get some for my pond.

Sharon your new shade bed will look awesome next year. I wish I had the patience for lasagna beds, but when I get the idea of where a new bed should go, I can't wait to start digging. You'd think I'd learn by now!
Your raised bed and rock garden are filling in nicely too. Although, I think you're gonna have problems getting in that door pretty soon!lol

I've pretty much finished planting this bed that I extended from the old one. Finished mulching it this morning and snaped a few pics. I still have to put in a few stepping stones in the middle to make it easier to get across.

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I still have clematis 'Blue Bell' and cypress vines to go on the 2 obelisks, but I'm just not sure where to position them. What does everyone think? Keep the 2 together where they are? Put one on the other end of the bed to separate them more? Or get rid of one all together?

Laurie

Thanks Laurie! That garage door never gets used, LOL.
I know, I would love to just get at it and start digging, but you see I go back to work in a week and I want a healthy strong back when I return. ;)

One thing I have learned in making beds is to always go bigger, I should of initially extended out at first, what was I thinking a small strip like that against the house was going to hold all those plants!

Your garden is so serene (park-like) Laurie, good job! If I were you, I would buy another obelisk and put them in a triangle spaced apart of course, everything should go in 3's or uneven numbers, that will mean that youÂll have to buy another Clematis, right?

Sharon

I agree that things look better in 3's, but the problem is that I picked up those 2 obelisks last fall at walmart for $3 and $4 on clearance. I doubt that I could find a third matching one. So, it might be better to stick with the taller one and find another bed for the shorter one.

I see Laurie, I understand your dilemma.

Here's the unfinished deck project that DH started last November, we still have to put lattice on the bottom, rail all around, stain and buy a patio table set.

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Sharon

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Here's what I did all day long, these patio blocks which go along the south and east side of the house had about 3-4 inches of turf all around them, so today I got out the shovel and weed wacker and cleaned it up. There is actually a path way now.

You should see the blisters on my hands thou ;)

Sharon

Love your deck Sharon. I can see you sitting out there with a margarita in hand! ;)

I really like how you've staggered your walkway. Makes it much more visually interesting than a straight edged path.
Ouch! Blisters are no fun. I think you deserve that margarita break now!lol

Thanks Laurie! Margarita break, yes, yes, that's sounds like a good idea, especially a fresh strawberry kind! I only got 5 more days till I go back to work, I deserve a good bender ;)

But I woke up this morning and I do have a huge open blister on my left hand, I was even wearing my beloved (can't go without) Atlas gardening gloves.

Today, I'm going to run to the Hardware store and buy some paint and once it cools down this evening, I want to paint some garden furniture.

Sharon

Here's a couple of this year's projects. I finished the new gravel path to the kids' fort on Sunday. It's just gravel piled over old carpet. I hope the carpet will keep the weeds out. It cuts through the shade bed that I renovated this spring. The plants are very happy that I pulled the landscape fabric and added manure. The hops on the fence had grown out 4 feet under the fabric. Now they have lawn edging to slow them down. The scruffy-looking picture is the start of my new rose bed. In a couple of years it should start to look good. Next project...
Connie

Looks great Connie! What a good idea to use old carpet as a weed barrier. Too bad we threw out our old carpet.......probably should have saved some. But we did use the old underpad to put under the rubber liner in the pond. That worked like a charm.

Laurie

WOW everyone's projects are looking great!

I'm sadly falling short on many of the projects I said I was going to do! LOL

DH has got the concrete squares to finish the patio but hasn't even mentioned it yet. We've been BBQ'ing there the past few nights and it's a tight fit between the BBQ and the patio table.... hmmmm.... maybe those beers are relaxing him too much and he doesn't even care! LOL

Trellises? well, I mickey-moused one with some old tree branches and some elastics, basically a teepee style. It will look better once the cobaea twines its way up the branches!

An island bed? Well, maybe next year! LOL Maybe I'll have to try the lasagna method!

On the other hand I've been browsing the Garden Junk forum lately! Haven't tried anything yet, but I'm sure I will one of these days!

Ang

my raised beds:

Well, thank goodness for long weekends (I think). Gave us a chance to finish our 'courtyard'....it was the major project for this summer and we managed to get it done this weekend.
The idea originally started out as more of a trellis wall with a pergola-type cover over it and a flagstone base. Well, that idea got a bit of a reality check, both in terms of time and $$$.
As it turns out, the courtyard is actually more of a floating deck - enjoy having my morning coffee out there and, would you look at that - a couple of birds have settled in!!!

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Before (sort of) - actually more of a part way through shot. Had already expanded the flower bed and built a trellis/fence.

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After - taken from the opposite side. Still a bit of touch up work to do, but there's another weekend coming up!

Now, time to relax and enjoy the courtyard and the gardens.

Margaret

Nice courtyard Margaret. Love those birds!

Mcav0y, those raised beds are sure looking full! Maybe next year, or the next, I'd like to put some in for veggies. I just have to get DH motivated for it ;^)

Well, I just finished my third project that I really wanted to get done. The bed between the house and sidewalk really needed to be revamped as, as I suspected, a nearby tree had some major roots in here and the plants weren't doing so well. So out everything came, I chopped out a pile of roots, added a couple wheelbarrows of manure, re-arranged and added some plants, and I added a soaker hose. I also replaced the old rock mulch with wood mulch and added a couple of rocks too. The empty spot behind the black rock is where I planted a goatsbeard which should get to about 5 and half feet like my other one and add some height to the bed.

I also have an idea for a tall bamboo art piece to add more height, but this will have to be a winter project. Got this bed finished just in time, as next week we're off camping and I hate coming back to a half finished project ;^)

I think I've got one more project in my head for this summer. I need to rip out a monster grapevine off the side of the shed and work up the soil and add some edging and viola! a new bed to plant! I have a feeling that the grapevine isn't going to be that easy to get rid of though...........may need the chainsaw for this one!lol

Laurie

Looks good Laurie, are we ever done our projects? never ;)

I too want to rip out or roundup this monster Hops vine that is growing on the front trellis. Its such a beautiful wrought iron trellis that my BIL made me and I would love to be able to see at least some of it in the summer months. I'm thinking a Clematis would do much better than this Hops.

Love you little ball lights at the front ;)

Sharon

Laurie, that looks like a great bed. I too like the round lights. I really would like to get some of the solar powered walkway lights, but unfortunately, they don't work so well up here. In the winter, we don't have enough light to charge them and in the summer, we don't need them (today the sun rose at 4:37 AM and will set at 11:32 PM).

One of the things that I have learned about the raised beds to plan locations based on the height of the plants better. The broccoli is totally overshadowing the carrots. It is not as if I can transplant those either.
Ahhh live and learn...

Thanks Sharon and Mcav0y for the nice comments. I thought those lights were pretty cool looking at the time too. Had them for about 6 years now and other than the occasional one breaking off due to soccor balls, skateboards, etc. they've held up well to the elements anyway! Being on the north side of the house, solar lights wouldn't work very well either that's why we chose these that are low voltage. They also give off a lot more light than the solar ones, which is better for safety reasons along this walkway, so you don't trip over soccor balls, skateboards, etc. ;^)

Sharon, good luck with your hops vine. I've never grown one before, but I assume that they must be vigorous? My grapevine had recieved shots of roundup before and laughed in my face. I think I'll have to wound it first with the above said chainsaw!

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My lily bed. It was grass this spring. I mulched it with my Little Mantis tiller and no grass came back. Amazing.
This bed will be expanding yet. And I'll have to find spots for the perennials that I moved in to fill the gaps. Projects are never ending.
Shelley

My goodness Shelley, has that bed ever filled in nicely already! Love the arbour too........do you have any vines that will be growing up it?

Laurie, I have a climbing rose on each side of the arbour. (Go figure) Next year they should be taller so you can see them from the house.
I think the rest of my new beds will be done Lasagne gardening style though. This is physically much easier.

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A new bed done this spring as well with shrubs and roses.
Shelley