Slow progress

It's been over a month (maybe almost two) since I did these two sections of the yard so I thought it was time for an update. There's also an update to the hibiscus I was concerned about in this post.

Various Landscaping

Myfolia

UPDATE: I just saw Penchuk posted this. I'm leaving it anyway.

Since I just got my new battery charger it might be a few days until I get my baseline up. However, since there is nothing else new I thought I would post about Myfolia. Read about it on Unclutterer. I tried to find some good info but it looks like it is still a work in progress.

That is all.

Folia

Check it: http://myfolia.com/

Backyard baseline

So I walked into the backyard yesterday and tried to figure out what in the heck to take pictures of because the whole thing is a mess. It was somewhat of a mess when we moved in and since we did NOTHING for 2 plus years, it's still a mess. You all know that I pulled a ton of ivy last summer/fall. That was mainly to try and solve the mosquito problem. There's been a ton of rain so far this year but no mosquitoes. Might still be too cold, but so far, so good.

Well, the end result was I wasn't sure what to take pictures of so I upped the ante. I busted out the video camera that I bought for Laura over Christmas (hat tip to Bret for the idea of the gift). And now, the resulting video:



If anything isn't clear, let me know. I can supplement. One thing I was thinking I should do is approach the backyard from the other side of the house since I entered on the clear side.

A sad day for plants...

We have a fuschia plant in a hanging basket that has slowly started to wilt. I think it was under watered and then over watered to compensate. Should I re-pot it? Any thoughts?

Also, I discovered today that a hanging basket of a variety of petunia was starting to look pretty rough. It turns out that it was infested with aphids. I have since treated it, so we'll see if it comes back.

Beginning of May - StatoLewis Household

In case people didn't see the baseline pics from planting that happened when my parents were in town, here's the link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/brandon.staton/GardeningSpring2008?authkey=Nu5O1KlIg2Y

Home Projects Update.

Well, here is my post for a baseline.


Here is a picture from the street right by the mailbox. This picture should capture just about all of the plants in the front yard. In the mailbox bed we have a dwarf teddy juniper and the beginnings of the blackeyed susans that come late summer each year.

In the background right is the Cherokee Brave Dwarf Dogwood. Eventually I would like to create a bed for that area of the yard, but right now I have more pressing issues to contend with.

The bed next to the house has Skip Laurel and Lorapedlum.


Picture of the front beds. Plants: Skip Laurel, Lorapedlum, and Dwarf Magnolia.


Grass. . . kicking it.


This is a picture of the side yard opposite the garage. There is a large bed over here and some of the standard builder landscaping (read Holly) that I transplanted.


Lets make our way to the backyard. Here is the entrance to the backyard and the deck.


Looking up at the new covered porch from the deck. Man there is a lot of wood that needs to be stained.




Looking down from the deck to the backyard. The Parson Juniper is relatively happy and it is doing the job. The lower section is the newly placed pinestraw. I don't know if you remember the post describing the beginning of the project (The Big Kahuna), but the improvements are vast.


Here we are in the backyard looking back at the deck and the hillside. The staircase embedded in the hillside was my project from last Christmas Break. It is made up of 4x4x10 and filled with mulch although, I am thinking about changing that at some point.



10 gallons of Weed Killer. . . $16
5000 sq ft of landscape fabric . . . $135
100 Bales of Pine Straw Delivered . . .$500
Saying goodbye to the nightmare that was my backyard. . . priceless



Heading back up onto the deck. Another angle of the backyard. In the distance you can see the Forsythia.


Inside the covered porch. Got the TV hooked up (shoutout to Brandon for actually doing the work to mount the TV while I watched and drank beer.)


Standing in the kitchen/breakfast nook looking back out towards the covered porch.

Pics needed every week

All,

In an effort to capture the progress of everyone's hard work, we've decided to have people take pictures and post them on a weekly basis. We will begin this week with Bret and Matt. Here's the order we're going to follow:

Bret/Matt
Allen/Andrew
Sol/Brandon
Teri/Rhizome Master

Looking forward to the pics and comments!

Two front sections done

Back in this post I talked about the 5-year plan. Over the past few weeks I've done two small sections, namely, the sides at the end of the driveway. Pictures to follow once the grass comes in a little more, but so far, it's coming in nicely. Both sections have a purple pixie loropetalum and 3 Emerald Gaiety Euonymus. Add in the (or is it subtract?) the two big trees I had taken out and the two arborvitae from the post below that I removed, and the yard already looks a whole lot better.

Here's the plan with the colored sections what I've completed. Next steps will be the two sections directly in front of the house.

Bye bye arborvitae

See that rhyme? I'm a poet and didn't know it.

When we bought our house, the previous owners threw in some plants to stage the place. Two things they put in were arborvitae on either side of the steps up to the house. At their original size, about 3 feet, they looked great. At their final size, 8-9 feet, they overshadowed the entrance way. So, they had to go.

Before:



After:



One of the next projects is to remove the crazy slats from the banisters and replace them with vertical slats. The existing ones make the house look dated.