Mulching: Before and After

 I've been waiting over a year to be able to

share before and after photos of the yard.

Finally, I have a mostly finished product!

This is the view from our back door looking down to the back of the property.

And this is the same view now.

 And another view closer to the garage.

 This is of course the view from the beck of the property

looking back towards the house.

 And the same view now.

 Close up of the old lilac bush that was outside the back door.

It was rotted and not in great shape.

And now it's gone.

The large area in the photo that doesn't have plants

is the future site of the water garden I plan to put in.

There will be a waterfall in the back right corner of the house.

I'm hoping to be able to do that late summer/early fall

if I'm lucky.

Another wider view of the area.

This is a shot of the side of the house

and the lovely yews.

Another yew full frontal.

And here we are yew free.

This was a really big transformation.

We went from the yews to yew stumps 

to nasty grass and weeds 

to this.

A photo of the area on the side towards the back.

The room with all the windows is the laundry/mud room.

And here is the little garden now.

There was a garden there originally,

but it was full of weeds and mint.

Mint is the devil.

DO NOT plant mint directly into your garden!

Trust me.

Another view of the yews from the front of the house.

And the new view.

I'm thinking of planting a climbing vine on the rain spout.

A clematis would look good there,

and it would give the garden some height.

We don't have a front yard at all- the porch touches the sidewalk,

so I need to make sure the areas I have close by really pop.

Here we have some random shots of the new gardens.

We will eventually replace the old nasty wire fence

with a privacy fence.

The rest of the yard will be picket fencing.

I originally stuck my grandson's playhouse in the garden

to take up space.

I've decided to leave it there for now.

I had the idea to use containers 

and let him plant some annuals to have around his house.

The garden angel that was once my grandmother's.

Now that everything has been weeded and mulched, 

and all the plants have been planted,

it's time to make a list of what plants I'd like to add.

I have another hydrangea that was part of my wedding decor to transplant, 

and I'd like to get a lace cap hydrangea too.

Big E wants a rhododendron,

and I've saved room along the side of the house for that.

I need some more milkweed,

and I also want

rudbeckia (brown eyed Susan),  lavendar,

phlox, columbine, hollyhocks, and some coreopsis-

plus whatever else I happen across that I like. 

Mulching for Mother's Day

 So, I've been dying to get all the flower beds mulched

since last year.

Last year, we dug out a circle around the cherry tree and

gardens along the fence in the back yard.

We only managed to mulch the area around the tree last year.

This year, we dug out more garden area along the side of the house.

Since it was Mother's Day, 

I used it to my advantage and requested slave labor all day for mulching purposes.

 This was the first load of mulch.

We didn't just have mulching to do, 

that would have been easy.

We had to edge and pick up piles of weeds and grass

as we went.

We filled 10 large trash bags of yard waste when it was all said and done.

 In the end, it took 3 loads which equaled about 6-7 cubic yards of mulch.

Everything has been done except 

around the tree.

The transformation is amazing,

and I'll be blogging before and after photos soon.

I still have some areas to fill in with plants

(there's a list)

and hopefully later this summer or early fall

I'll be able to start on the water garden.

I guess now with all the weeding and mulching done,

I have to clean the house.

My Whomping Willow

This is the Whomping Willow from Harry Potter.

And this is the one in my back yard.

Ok, so it's really a kwanzan cherry tree, 

but it looks like a whomping willow.

 That's because of the way it was pruned a couple of years ago.  

For some reason, people around here think that cutting off

all the branches except the thickest ones.

I don't exactly know what the idea is behind this, 

but it's about the worst thing you can do to a tree other than cut it down.

So don't do it.

Anyway, I had the tree and shrub care person at my office come take a look

at the tree as it looks a little sad with some split branches.

I wasn't sure it could be saved.

Luckily, it appears with some fertilizing and controlling Japanese Beetles

and some mild pruning, it will last a while longer.

Some of the roots have come to the surface of the lawn, and since hitting the roots isn't good for the lawn mower

or the tree, I've decided to mulch around the tree.

This is going to be my first outdoor project and I'm anxious to get it started.

I've already pruned, and I spray painted a circle around the tree where I need to remove the grass

now I just need to get out there and do it.

Pretty soon, the tree is going to look like this one,

and I want to be able to enjoy an iced tea at my little patio table under the tree.