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DH is letting me tear out the front lawn...

silversword
12 years ago

My DH has finally agreed: the front lawn can go!!!

I just need ideas of what to do now! In the back corner by the tea house there will be a floating bridge over the river bed (that will go in as soon as I can decide on the front area). Since this area will be seen from the office window we'd like something pretty...

I want a lot of perennial veggies in the backs, interspersed with flowers and beauty with the annuals tucked around the front areas.

The area is about 20' long by 10' wide, with a section of 16' wide x 10' at the top (where the dirt is). There is also electricity run there (originally it's where we were going to put the waterfall)

Comments (11)

  • silversword
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I've gotten rid of a bunch of the grass already on FreeCycle and tilled this section a bunch. I'm considering starting in this little area and then working outward so I don't have a giant dirt patch to blow dust all summer (and I know I won't be able to get it all planted at once).

  • silversword
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This is from the other side of the house. It is FULLY shaded and very wet when DH ran the lawnmower (hence the tracks, how lovely!!) We're putting a waterfall just past the upright bamboo stake (between that and the solar light), that will start in the garden bed and go over the wall, and into a pool. We're extending the flagstone area and putting in a little bench by the water, then having the water from the pond go toward the tea house in the corner (which will have a flat bridge from the sidewalk to the house) and the pond will just come out the other side (to the far upper right)

  • natal
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Silvers, did you see the pics I posted on the Hot Topics Michigan homeowner's thread?

    Here is a link that might be useful: last post

  • silversword
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    LOL, yes, and I wanted to respond but the thread was full!! Thank you, that's really nice of you to post those. I don't really want the "bed" look because I want it to flow a little more than that. It looks good for his front yard, but mine is a little different because it is tucked in the back (no one will be able to see it, we'll put in a big gate and all anyone can see from the street anyway is our driveway and garage. So I want it to be more of a country garden look... with perennial veggies, etc....

    And to compound the issue, DH doesn't like the country garden look. So I need it to look "clean"

    LOL. If he had his way everything would be symmetrical or Japanese-looking. (note the bamboo)

  • oliveoyl3
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Great idea to start in that one area where the grass is already removed. Grow what you'd like to eat this fall & build on that success as you figure out the style of gardening that will fit both of you! Salad gardens are easy if you can rig up some shade this time of year.

    If I had to start the garden I tend now all at once I would have been way too overwhelmed. Over 20 years ago, I planted lettuces, radish & carrots in a whiskey barrel and it wasn't all that successful because I didn't tend it much. I never imagined our current garden design, but it's really working well as we've built the soil & structure over the years. We have a combination of raised beds with wooden sides planted square foot gardening style w/ the Joy Larkum ideas for the zig zags and lines of colorful vegetables as well as permanent beds & paths for the perennial vegetables, fruits, & herbs. Fruit trees use up a lot of space & were the 1st thing planted. The biggest hit with the kids were the strawberries & peas and as they matured into teens loved the organic fresh factor of having homegrown fruits & vegetables. The convenience of going out the garden to "get dinner" has been great over the years even if we've made mistakes while gardening.

    Sometimes you don't know how to describe what you want until you see it, so it might be helpful to look at books & magazines together.

    The more dedicated gardener of the 2 of you will be the one tending it, so might be the one best to make the decisions about the set up.

    I'm the one who has more time in summer, so I get first pick of the ripe strawberries & raspberries in our family, but I always invite the others to join me in the garden to pick what they'd like to eat.

    Another idea is to have 2 different types of gardens so you can each garden as you wish.

    Hope that helps ~ Corrine

    Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Vegetable Gardening by Joy Larkcom

  • silversword
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks Corrine!! We've spent all weekend on it so far and took out a lot more grass, lol. Craigslist free section is loving us!

    Tilling all the ammendements is killing me... good thing we have a rototiller. I'm planting tomatoes (I'm just praying for a LONG summer)

    Basically we're thinking this year we will put long rows of fencing for the supports for tomatoes and squash and plant peppers/eggplant/onions in the front. In another month I can put some kale around everything and tuck in some more fall/winter veggies.

    To tell the truth, what I really am going for... my goal... is to get the garden STARTED so that DH will not get a different idea for the area.

    Picked up a raspberry and three kinds of blackberry yesterday and transplanted them into larger pots. We already have the fruit trees going down the driveway, Meyer Lemon, Key Lime, Tangelo, orange and guavas, Asian Pear, Fig, Almond.

    I want to plant a bunch of perrennials but don't know where I want them yet, so I'm kind of 'place-holding' until I get a better idea.

    Thanks for the link, I've been checking out a bunch of books from the library. I'm really interested in vertical gardening, have you tried that at all?

  • silversword
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well... it's expanded...

  • oliveoyl3
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    silversword:
    Great growing!

    Rhubarb takes at least a year to settle in before you can harvest enough for baking or canning. In my area it's usually available only in spring, but I've seen it at fall garden swaps. You might want to find out if there are any free swaps in your area.

    Perennial or nearly so for me are:

    Swiss chard & Red Russian Kale: self sows, but will cross with other brassicas, so be aware of that if others go to seed, too. Transplants pretty easily while young. When it self sows it creates a carpet that is easy to harvest with shears or scissors. Wash, cut ever so small & throw it in any entree for almost invisible vegetables.

    I have good results with chives as edging & now have 20 or more plants out there, so can harvest all I want for dips, salads, & egg dishes from March - frost kills in late October or November some years. If I pot one up & keep on front porch and it's a mild year I can have chives on New Year's yet. All depends...

    About climbers (all are annuals for me, none perennial for vegetables):

    The most interesting was 2 years ago...green pole beans interplanted with morning glory vine & cucumbers. It was fun to watch them grow & I loved the 10' height the morning glory carried the combination to, but it was difficult to pick cucumbers. Fortunately, they hung downward again by the time they were ripe.

    Lots of comments when I plnat runner bean with pole beans around a wooden ladder, with lettuces grown in the middle & shaded by the beans. Tried pots on the steps, but it's not worth it with the small pots that fit on there.

    Easiest is probably bamboo teepees or iron obelisks planted with peas in spring then beans in summer.

    Most functional was when I reused an old 15' piece of welded wire fencing with 2" x 4" openings on 3 T-posts on a slightly sloped area of the garden where the grade dropped a bit then sloped down to the driveway. I kept that in place for about 6 years I think growing all sorts of things on one side or the other while getting that soil in better shape. Peas, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, various flowers, onions, etc.

    Two trap crops that work well without too much hassle:
    Dahlias: slugs will prefer those over your cucumbers & zucchini starts & the spring started bedding dahlias aren't much $ & don't take much space. Some years I could get dahlia growing big enough to survive the slugs & other years one plant or another just never had a chance. This is with putting out sluggo bait. It was nice to have missing dahlias rather than my veg. plants.

    Nasturtiums attract the black aphids & keep off your vegetables. If I don't plant nasturtiums the aphids will find my vegs & then I have to bother with spraying them off damaging flowers & reducing fruits.

    Even grew tomatoes, nasturtiums, & onions in old straw bales on the upper side. Took a lot more watering to keep the bales moist enough for the tomatoes + had to build high bamboo teepee & crosspieces structure for them. In 2nd year tomatoes got late blight, so 2 years in the bales didn't work. What did work well was the improvement to the soil underneath where the worms did all the work for me.

    Last year's upper garden area with tomatoes planted in remains of straw bales on left & zucchini with deer nibbled raspberries on right as well as pear & cherry trees. Most visible is the nasturtium blooms & the garden path of burlap, so not the loveliest photo, but shows a garden in growth.
    Since pics explain better than words I'll include 2 pics of our garden last year.
    {{gwi:299868}}

    The front of the garden where the concrete blocks meet the driveway & blooming chives are visible. Just behind the chives are 2 rows of everbearing strawberries, but you can't see them at this angle. Tomatoes & zucchini on the left. Bare soil & straw piled up from potato harvest. Clay pots in background contain herbs. Dangling balloon was to scare off the deer & rabbits, but it only works marginally.

    {{gwi:71807}}

  • pvel
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Nice project. Thanks for sharing pictures. Looking forward to seeing more as it progresses.

  • girlgroupgirl
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, you don't mess around! You get right to work! I can't wait to see your progress!!!

  • silversword
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for all the info Corinne!

    I have rhubarb planted already under some bamboos. DH doesn't like it there so it will have to move eventually, but it's been in the ground nearly 2 years now.

    We got it planted but somehow must have hit an irrigation line so had to dig up a corner, and haven't gotten it fixed yet. Maybe tonight :) There are onions and chives, marigolds, celosia, zucchini, eggplant, peppers, basil, and the fences are for tomatoes to grow up. They're planted off-set on either side.

    Nothing permanent, just getting everything in the ground, see what grows, what the low points are, how the sun goes, etc. this year so that next year I can be ready!!!

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