10 July 2010

The Hills are Alive





I bought red flowers today. They're peonies, I think. I've never bought red flowers before, which seems silly as we have a red racecar. Yes, I am that much of a nerd. I would so buy matching flowers. How did you not know that by now? (:-D And no, they're not in the above picture.

I also bought a small lavender plant and planted it next to the backyard gate. I heard that planting it there is supposed to bring good luck. I figured it was worth the try.

I think my next project will be planting the unfinished hill that is in the picture. Right now we let it grow wild until Kevin can't stand it anymore & weed-whacks it. He does leave the ferns which you can kind of see by the power pole.

We have the rock garden behind the house but I don't want to have it go all the way across. I want something a little more natural.



We planted the ornamental firs (cough*notmyidea*ahem) along the fence but they've not grown hardly at all & I would not be disappointed if they went away.

At one time, I wanted Kevin to bring home cobbles...those lovely, larger, round rocks...so that we could make a faux creek bed that would follow a natural groove in the hill. He says it's a lot of work so I've put that idea on hold for now. I would also love a water feature of some sort. I don't think I want a pond because I think it would be a lot of upkeep with all the leaves, pinecones, and needles.

So, I am thinking about a few shrubs, ferns, dogwood, with a few others that I can point to but have no idea what their names are.

Then of course, native plants are expensive which is ironic considering they're NATIVE. But I guess you have to pay for not going up into the woods & getting them my own damn self.

I guess the fun thing about being a homeowner is you have time to figure this stuff out and make it happen. A few years ago, I would have never thought that I'd be considering any sort of a gardening project. So there's progress right there.

What plans do you have for your yard? Or the yard you want to have someday?

4 comments:

Swistle said...

I bought two small blueberry bushes---but now I have no idea where to put them. They need full sun AND moist soil. Our front yard is very sunny and very dry. Our back yard is shady and wet. One side yard is shady and wet like the back yard; the other side yard is sunny and has a driveway in it. Hm.

creative kerfuffle said...

omg---i'm nerdalicious when it comes to garden dreaming : ) peonies are my FAVES. our yard is a work in progess. my goal is to have it LUSH. we have a several different flower beds and plants all over the place. that hill of yours makes me salivate : ) if you want something relatively low maintenance, and if they'll grow in your area--daylilies. they spread, they flower, there are tons of different kinds, and they're pretty. what about a butterfly bush? that's the next thing i want to put somewhere. i loved seeing pics of your yard!!

Surely said...

@Swistle - maybe in the yard next to the driveway? Then it has full sun AND you can remember maybe to water it? And it will be convenient to pick the berries when they're ripe?
And I'm going to add that to the list of things I want to try to grow.

@CK - Ooooh, daylillies! Yes they will grow here. My mom used to have them. And the butterfly bush is teh cool. Must.to.have.some.

So I have two plant ideas for when I go to Home Depot next weekend. There is a plant that is growing in the woods behind the house that grows wild here. I hinted strongly that I want them so maybe the father-in-law & Kevin will make it happen for me. (:-D

Anonymous said...

I have big plans for the back. The front is done, minus actually cementing in the bricks around the flower beds. All native plants, which are expensive here too. WTH? I would love a water element in the back. Right now we're focusing on the veggie garden- every year we've spiffed it up as we learn. This fall we're going to convert part of it to be able to handle a hanging veggie garden.
B