Living Our Lives Well: My Garden

Showing posts with label My Garden. Show all posts

June Blooms and Random Views

Time for my monthly photo tour! All of these pictures were taken around our yard....a mix of wild flowers and perennials, and some miscellaneous shots. Hope you enjoy this little glimpse of June beauty!

Starting with these beautiful purple and white irises. I took a picture of them early in the month, thinking I almost missed them, but they have continued to bloom all month long!

And then onto some of the wild flowers that grow all over our acreage.

Can't leave out a good sunset!

This is a painted daisy...one of our perennials that grows among the false spirea hedge.

Brian brought these home and just put them in the ground until we could find a home for them...they seem to like it here in the sand!

I had to include this picture...I love these trees! We don't have many on our property, and of the 50 we planted, only a few survived...but these ones are thriving in the pure sand! I like to pretend my house is surrounded by them! One day it will be...these trees are producing a small forest with all the shoots they are sending out.

My beautiful fence and arbour covered in virginia creeper. It gets better every year!

Another few of my forest in the making!

And last, a pretty little shrub that Brian planted...but I can't remember what it is...maybe someone can tell me.

That's it for June. I can't believe we're just a few days away from July...see you next time!

November In the Garden

On a frosty November morning, we still have some flowers blooming!

Cranesbill has some nice fall colour

Yarrow just keeps on going

Veronica decided to bloom again!

I thought this delphinnium was finished in September,
but it's still hanging on!

Another pretty yarrow

And this yarrow, I left to grow in the middle of the lawn!

Virginia creeper has lost all of it's leaves,
but I'm sure it will be pretty when we get a hoar frost.

These annuals haven't noticed it's November!

And the petunias are finally done.

I'm sure my next garden photos will have a lot more white in them!

DIY Patio Planters

After all the work of building our house, there wasn't much left in the budget for completing the outdoor living areas. For the first two years that we lived here, the area at our front entrance was just gravel and weeds. No matter how many times I went and dug up the weeds, and raked the area, it was still a pretty sad entrance to our home! Paving stones and stacked block planters weren't something we could afford, so we had to find less costly materials to complete our patios.

Concrete patio blocks aren't the fanciest material, but they served our purpose. Finally, the gravel was covered, and I didn't have to worry about it being tracked into the house!

Patio blocks laid

By the time the patio blocks were laid, I had come up with an idea of how we could cover the retaining wall by the driveway. I love how I can present an idea, and Brian comes up with the plan!

The planter is constructed from treated lumber, but lined with pieces of styrofoam insulation we already had.(scavenged treasures!) The purpose for the styrofoam was mainly filler, to save on soil, and also to keep moisture away from the wood. Landscape fabric lines the inside.

The outside of the frame is covered with fence boards, and the cap is 2x6 treated lumber. We filled the bottom of the planter with sand, then a mix of peat moss, and soil. We bought a few bags of soil, to avoid planting weed seeds in our new planter. So far, it's worked; we have very few weeds!

Finished planter with fence boards along the front and 2x6 cap

We still have to finish off the top of the concrete wall, but that's a project for another time.

Brian built this next planter one day while I was away visiting my mom....I love coming home to surprises like this! It's built the same way as the one along the retaining wall, but because it's quite tall, we put some big logs in the bottom that will eventually break down. (our attempt at hugelkultur) As the soil settles, we just top it up each year.

Steps from patio to deck, planter beside steps

Planter beside the deck completed!

And a handrail to make the building inspector happy!

We filled the planter with petunias from a hanging basket.
They fit perfectly and spread beautifully!

Patio, planters filled with petunias, patio furniture

Planters finished, filled and planted....another project done.
Well, except the staining...that's a whole other project!

Finally, a nice welcoming entrance to our home...just don't trip on the garden hose on your way in!

Saturday Snapshot - Fall Colors

Virginia Creeper turning red for fall.

Puppies In the Garden

I'm a little distracted these days, with our four week old CavaDoodle puppies. We had them outside for the first time today, and I managed to get some pretty cute pictures of them in the garden.