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10 new friends

Category: My journey into Gardening | Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 10:46 pm

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Hi my gardening people. Well a lot has happened since my last entry. Spring has arrived!!! I am so happy, my hydrangeas are coming back from last years weed and feed debacle. I only lost one. They are small but fight to come back none the less. My perennials from last year are growing and I will be going this week to get flowers for the deck. I love this time of year I am filled with such hope. My azaleas and loropetalums are doing well and I can't wait to follow them on their journey into full splendor. I am having a problem with weeds and dichondra in particular, but I am weed and feeding (just the lawn) once a month and hopefully this will help.
Now for my big news. First off we are having some Drainage problems or more precicly erosion problems, behind the deck. It doesn't rain much here but when it does the soil follows the water. This is all due to the construction of the deck and shed, and also the removal of all the vegetation behind the deck. I am planning a two fold attack. #1 a french drain and dry creek bed in parts. to stop the erosion with rocks and move the water away under ground. #2 I just made a trip to a semi local (Atlanta Metro) hydrangea farm and bought 10 new beauties. I was so happy to find a grower within driving distance. I will definatley be going back to add to my collection.

I will plant them along the back fence line then fill in with perennial shade plants/flowers. As you can see my Hydrangeas are small but they will grow fast and help to stop erosion. I am just head over heals for hydrangeas and while "endless Summer" is pretty, I want a variety of different kinds in my woodland paradise. No two are the same. I am planning on getting name plates made for each one. I plan on laying 2 foot round pavers along the back so one can stroll along and enjoy the beauty of nature. I'm rambling now so I will sum this little blog entry up. Yeah SPRING!!!

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So Depressed

Category: My journey into Gardening | Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 1:44 am

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Hi All, I know it has been a while since my last post but it was a busy holiday season, I volunteered as the leader of my oldest daughters girl scout troop and that totally consumed my life for a while, but cookie time as rolled around and I have gotten the hang of things. I just lost my job on Tuesday and was a little down about all the things I wanted to do to the house then I made the mistake of going outside and looking at my yard, it was just even more depressing, everything is so lifeless looking, it just depressed me more. I can't wait for spring. I can't remember if I told you all about the new plants I bought the end of the summer, so I will tell you again. I have found a nurdery I like very much but it is about 45 min away in Warm Spring GA. It always seems to have fun plants you can't find other places. The first thing I got wat called Milletia Reticulata (summer wisteria). I planted it next to the wall I have been having so much trouble figuring out what to do with. It is a very beautiful woody vining plant. I got 2 and will probably need to buy another. It was warmt he other day and my DH and I finally built a trellis for it. It started to grow really fast as fall started but the last hard frost we had (18F) really did it in. You see the weather warmed up considerably (60F) for more than a week and things started to open then the freeze hit, it really to a toll. I think it will do well there despite this. We plan on building a arbor out of PVC pipe and chicken wire to cover the patio and to support is as it grows. It is very beautiful in full bloom with deep green foliage and little purple flower clusteres that look like wisteria only smaller. If anyone knows more about it send me a note. The lady said it should grow about 20 feet or so which should cover the area I need it to cover but I would better be safe than sorry so I think I will buy a third plant.
In October I bought a verigated lacecap hydrangea from the same nursery, my mom has one in her yard and I have always coveted it but never seen it for sale except online. I planted it behind my deck in a semi shaded area and it was dooing well until the 18F freeze, but no fear it has pretty green shoot near the groud under all the fall leaves. I even have a daffodil, some crocus sprouts and hyacinth buds.
I decided last summe to plant some periwinkle I clipped from my mother in laws yard around my big tulip poplar, It is doing well too, I think it will grow like wild fire this spring and summer.
After the fall I raked all the leaves around my new plants to help insulate them from the winter and to help mulch for the coming year. I decided to use pine bark this coming year instead of pine straw.
I also used my contact at the university to get a bunch more free plants. I got 5 gardenias I am going to plant in the front yard this year, as well as 4 knockout roses, some lantana, a butterfly bush, a juniper and a magnolia (FREE).
I plan on pulling out all the bushes in the front of our house, overgrown boxwoods, then planting a gardenia flanking each window along the front of the house.

We have a hideous holly my DH pruned the hell out of and well it looks hideous.

I want to plant a Ginko, I love their beautiful yellow foliage in the fall, my mom has a baby thats popped up at her house I will try to transplant it. I will then plant azaleas in between the gardenia. My DH is none to happy. He says I don't like anything he had in the yard to begin with, the thing is he didn't plant any of the stuff to begin with he only left it because it was already there, so I don't see it as getting rid of his stuff because if the thinks I want to plant had been there to begin with he would have left them too. I have tried to accomadate he like and dislikes, he told me he like very low maintenance plants that stayed green year round and so far all the plants I have picked conform to those specs. I think he just likes to give me a hard time. I will post more pics soon.
Thanks for listening, I'm feeling better now.

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New Plants

Category: My journey into Gardening | Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:18 pm

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Hi guys Its me agian. I"m racking up some blog time this year. First let me say thanks for all your support, and comments.
I got a job working for the Auburn University Horticulture Dept. this summer. I have recieved lots of free plants and have almost completed all the major planting for the yard.
A month or so I got 14 Azaleas that I planted around the deck and along the back fence line. You saw those in the previous blogs. But last week I got 13 loropetalums, that I planted along the left fence line.
This is the before picture. I cleared out the rose of sharon, and the roses, which I replanted in containers. I will blog about them later.

And this is the after picture.I mulched right under them but i'm going to just let the grass grow in until they get bigger and by then the plant will shade out any grass and weeds.

I am trying to talk my husband into getting a soaker hose to run down the length of the fence between the loropetalums to reduce water time and use.

This is a picture of the butterfly bush I planted last year. It is finaly starting to fill out and it has a nice amount of blooms for its size.


Thank you everyone for continuing to follow my journey with me.
Jenn

Last edited: Thu Aug 28, 2008 3:03 am

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Things are looking up!!!

Category: My journey into Gardening | Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:38 pm

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Hi Everyone,
No new pictures this time, but I will tell you that my yard is doing better. My Hydrangeas seem to be much happier along the back side of the deck. They will not do much this year, but the leaves they still have left are perky and healthy. I have a good feeling they will look very nice next year. My limelight Hydrangea is full of blooms.:)
I am hoping to get a bunch of loropetalum that I will plant along my fence in the sun. (see pics below) There are 4 rose of sharon, 3 roses and a golden plum, along that same fence, and I'm wondering if I should completley remove them all (not the plum) and make a nice full row of Loropetalum, or intermingle the loropetalum with the roses and rose of sharon.


Your thoughts about this would be great.*

I have attrached alot more animals to my yard as well. At first I liked the thougth of Chipmunks and rabbits, but they eat the tops off all my flowers and dig them out for their own purpose. We also have some big frogs, they seem to be harmless. I have thought about putting in a water feature. Any ideas about the Chipmunks and Rabbits?* I hate to try and get rid of them but I don't want to constantly come outside and see my caladiums and flowers chewed up.

More pictures after I get my loropetalum.
*Write back about my above questions.
Jenn

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Lots of Changes

Category: My journey into Gardening | Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 3:56 am

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Lots of Changes
So I am learning that one of the biggest parts of gardening is changing your mind or discovering what works where and moving things about.
So I need to let you all in on what been happening. This spring/summer finally arrived and my yard was looking so wonderful then I hit a little snag, I made a rather grand and I'll say it stupid mistake and nearly killed all my plants.
As all of you that have been reading my Blog know I planted several hydrangeas last year and have been struggling with a large brick wall. All my hydrangeas, including my Limelight Pan., were doing fabulous, plus ALL of the flowers I planted in pots.
Well I'll just come right our and say it I sprayed Lawn Weed and Feed on everything. Please no lectures I feel bad enough having to watch all my plants deteriorate slowly over the past month and a half.
So now for the good news, while some of my flowers have died my impatiens are doing very well, and my hydrangeas will live to see a better year in 2009.


My husband finally decided to put up a privacy fence.




I have planted azaleas I got from work along the back fence and I decided to move my ailing hydrangeas to a spot with a little more shade from this Alabama sun. I took the chance to till up the hard clay and work in composted manure and leaves so the azaleas I planted and hydrangeas I replanted would have a better chance at growth.



This next picture has a lot going on. To the far right is a new bed I built a few months ago along the side of the shed, I have yet to decide what to put in it. The left side is a grouping of Elephant ears that I planted down this side of the deck; they are recovering from my mistake also but doing well. The middle was my husbands handiwork, he laid the rocks and I filled in between them with dirt. I then transplanted some moss that I hope will fill in the gaps.
I just got done painting the small shed and attaching lattice to the bottom. I am going to add a bush or maybe a clematis to the right of the door below the window for a little color.


I will write more as soon as I can.


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Fear and Loathing of Privet

Category: My journey into Gardening | Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:04 pm

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Have I said to all of you how much I hate this stuff. It is one of the original trial the devil sent to this earth to try and turn us from gods eyes.

So my husband spent almost all day Saturday winching this hell spawn out by its thankfully shallow root system. Four big one's down the left side of my yard. I am hoping that by doing this and pulling runners as they show themselves I can eventually get it down to a minimum, if non eradicate it for ever. There were also hundreds of berried that fell on the ground, I'm tryng not to even think about them right now. I may spray the ground with some sort of shrub killer before planting.

In addition, there are two more to take out behind the deck, they are huge and will cause quite a bit more problems for us.


Sunday I helped him cart the debris to the road for pickup. I love getting an area ready for new plantings, I love planting the new plants but I hate waiting for nature to take its course, I would love to have the money to put in full-grown specimens.

So under all the privet I discover three little cedar saplings fighting for life and I dug them up and put them in nice sized buckets to use later this summer. They were too close together to leave where they were.


In the corner of that side, we have a nice sized cedar (probably the mother to the other three) that I trimmed all the branches off up to the top of the fence. It now has a very pretty trunk and will fill in nicely on the top now that the privet is no longer in charge. It already looks 100 percent better when you pull in the drive.


Also in that corner is a patch of never-ending beautiful variegated Ivy, the kind with three or four colors ranging from cream to dark green.



I have finally given in and I planted some more runners of it in the bed by the wall. I kept being indecisive about what to put there, so I will give the Ivy a go. I think its coloring and shape are just divine and I hung some from the wall to give the effect it would have and I liked it.



My husband and I still want privacy so I will transplant a bush ( Loropetalum) that I already have but will exceeds the space I initially planted it in. It will supposedly get to about 15 feet, so it should make a nice privacy piece.
I always love to get your comments so keep them coming.

Last edited: Sun Jun 22, 2008 1:59 am

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It's not supposed to be this warm.

Category: My journey into Gardening | Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 7:06 pm

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Ok so i'm very disappointed I planted a whole slew of bulbs back in october and the Anemones I planted (due to the extended warm weather) have started to grow. So needless to say I probably won't have any in the spring. The other bulbs thank goodness have not shown themselves.
On one of these unusually warm Dec. days my husband started on the privet along our other fence. We found some ceder saplings so we left them for now. He really wants some sort of privacy plant, so I think we will move them in the spring. Leaving room between each for some other type of plant like a Hydrangea, remember I love them. I know they grow slow but they smell so nice a look very pretty.
We will tackle the privet stumps then too. I want him to just pop for a stump grinder to come out, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.
I am still weighing all my options about the wall that I want a vine on, and I think it is driving him nuts. He keeps on with Virginia Creeper, but i'm trying to get away from invasive plants. The yard needs lots of work and I don't want to add more work by having to keep plants in check, more than I have too. Well I hope all of your Christmases are jolly and bright.
Jenn

Last edited: Fri Dec 28, 2007 2:37 am

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Pictures of the yard

Category: My journey into Gardening | Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:13 pm

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ok so here are some pictures of my yard.
In these pictures you can see the yard pre-deck. The shed is on the wall you are looking at in the first picture.



I planted 3 hydrangeas down the front side of the deck. I'm trying to accommodate my husbands wishes to not use lattice under the deck. So I figure I will cover it up with pretty bushes.


This is the shed that is next to the deck. The thin bed between the walk way and the wall is all cleaned out now as well. I want to plant a climbing something, so any ideas on that are welcome. It gets full sun. The little tree was a pecan but i had my hubby rip it out, because i didn't want root problems that close to the house. I just planted a "Loropetalum" but i didn't pay attention to how big it was before i planted so i have a feeling it's 15 ft size will definitely outgrow that little space. I know "DUH"


These two pictures are of the tulip poplar bed before and after. Yes thats the same tree between the small shed and the swing. I planted hostas, ferns and just recently a bunch of bulbs. I have more ferns to plant. But I am holding off to see what it looks like next spring once the hostas and ferns fill out, and the bulbs come in.



We are working on the lawn to get rid of weeds and fill in all the blank spots. But i have a great vision.
HOpe you all enjoy my story, and if you have any suggestions, please throw them out.
My next blog will be picks of the deck now and from different angles.
TTFN
Jenn

Last edited: Sun Jun 22, 2008 1:52 am

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Where I am so far.

Category: My journey into Gardening | Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 8:03 pm

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Ok, so let me start by saying I live in Auburn, AL just to give you an idea of my gardening challenges, also I just got married back in May and I moved into my husbands house that he shared with his previous wife. She must not of been much for gardening because I pretty much have a blank slate. This is my first house where I can do as I please. I am focusing my attention on the back yard which is where we find ourselves spending all of our time. We have 2 big trees a tulip poplar and some sort of maple, not the kind I was used to in Virginia, growing up. But I digress, due to the shade under the tree there was no grass and the yard slopes down toward the back left corner. So there was a lot of bare roots and just dirt. My husband wanted a new shed and we both thought a deck would be nice. So we built a 14X20 ft shed onto the back of the house and a 28 ft octoganal deck around the Maple tree. We now have a wonderful place to relax, have fun and entertain.
While I enjoy gardening so I can reap the benefits of the scenery, I am not one for spending lots of time with upkeep, and neither is my husband. I am trying to fill the yard with plants that are relatively self sufficient. I love hostas and hydrangeas. Hydrangeas are my favorite plant of all time, and I love taking care of them, pruning them and talking to them. I'm aiming at having a yard full of many different varieties. Behind the deck is a big blank area where there is/was a lot of privet (I hate this stuff). There is nothing there because there was no light. My husband told me there used to be grass back there but since the tree grew bigger and the privet grew up it died off. So for years there has been leaves and a few weeds. We recently cut back all the privet, but still have to cut the stumps and try and halt their growth (please wish me luck). So now the sun comes in more, but its mainly filtered all day long. I hope this will be ok for the hydrangeas, I don't see why not, I read an article about a woman who had them naturalized behind her house on a hill side with lots of trees, she said they got filtered light all day and they seemed to be working well for her. I was torn on rather the ground would be rich, due to all the leaves that have been decaying for years or hard clay like the rest of the yard and Alabama. Earlier this year I tried planting a hosta and could barely break the surface. Well I finally got my hands on a hand me down tiller and had my husband get out there and chew up the ground. It seems to be nice soil that has a mix of clay and organic material. I am planning on planting Hydrangeas along the fence line, creating a path around the deck for eye appeal and to aid in pruning and plant care. I figure that whatever I plant will get plenty of natural mulch from the leaves. I would like to naturalize the area as best I can. I figure close plantings, and letting the leaves fill in the gaps to keep weeds from taking over.
I have already planted three hydrangeas along the front side of the deck
I have also put in a bed around the Tulip Poplar, I edged a 10 foot circle around the tree with large stones and I planted hostas, ferns and I just planted bulbs for the spring. I am hoping to plant more hostas and ferns in the spring.
We are planning on planting monkey grass (the clumping kind) by the side of the shed to cover the gap between the shed floor and the ground.
I like the idea of different varieties of the same plant. Different types of ferns, hostas, hydrangeas, etc.. So thats where I am so far. I will keep you updated as my yard progresses. I have many ideas, some I have executed others I found I could not do because of certain limitations. My husband has some ideas I don't exactly like but I'm tying to incorporate his style into the yard as well.
Well thanks for listening to my rants.


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