Pond Project

I started this Pond Project at the end of Spring, but things take time and other things needed to be done.  This was mostly for fun!  

I relocated the small pond form that was a little further back in the foliage, with just enough open for me to see the birds.  It's really my forest version of a bird bath.  I get more warblers and ground scavenging birds this way.

I used to have a large, tall bird feeder in the clearing in the back, but have decided to let the ecosystem re-balance itself for a while and took it down.  There are plenty of berries and bugs for the birds to eat.  I'm still providing water and habitat to qualify for my Backyard Wildlife Habitat status.

I started with this rough layout.

Then moved the pond in place and added the plants.  I wanted some color back there so I added some colorful blooming plants for the hummingbirds and bees.

I'm still tweaking the rockery, I want to hide the pond rim completely in the end.  Next year the plants will fill in and I can divide and add more.

Another extremely affordable project, all I purchased was the plants and some dirt.  I had compost dirt and rocks are available everywhere here.

More photos when things change a bit.

Zen and Now

This not so little undertaking began in February of this year. I wanted to get a head start on it before the plants woke up and found out what I was doing.
This area right in front of the house was getting out of hand a couple of years ago but it hadn't actually come out into the pathway yet - so I ignored it for a while.

Pretty sad right?  But it's an area with potential.  

During the winter is when I think about all the things I'll do in the yard as soon as I can get outside. This year we had some incredibly mild days without sideways rain (or snow), stating in early Feb.  What a treat for me!

I relocated the two potentilla's to another part of the yard, moved out the bamboo pots and removed all of the weeds.

My plan for this section was to keep the pretty ostrich and deer ferns, then create a small hill for dimension with a dry creek bed running through it.  I had to redo it once when I realized my creek bed didn't look realistic enough, but in the end I got what I wanted.  

I contoured the ground, laid landscape fabric, then added bark and the river rock.

This was my first try at installing a lawn edge too. I did what made sense and then filled in the bark on one side and topsoil on the other, the grass will fill in on its own.

All in all it turned out well I thought.  The only cost to me was 3 bags of bark at $2 each and a half bag of topsoil, around $2 worth.  The lawn edging was less than $10 and  I already had the yard art and the ferns, as well as the river rock which was at the end of my driveway.  Oh I also bought that black pot for the small bamboo, $7.

It's an easy DIY project for dramatic results, low investment and no landscape professionals to pay either! 

Next week is about the back privacy deck area that gets a little make over.  Stay tuned!! 

Those Final Projects

 

There's a section of my yard that you can't really see and I rarely visit there, but there it is and something needed to be done about it.  I had built a retaining wall of concrete blocks and planted a few things up top and called it good.

Recently I was inspired to make a few adjustments (of course that only came after some work I did on the hill which opened up the sunlight to this area.).  Below is the "before" picture.

 
 I moved the flat wall out into a curved shape, filling it in with some excess dirt from another area, and then designing a mini labyrinth - of sorts.

Below is the "after" photo of the blocks moved out.

(Ignore that 1x2 in the foreground, it is marking the property line).

I went on to adding some chives and other plants that I knew would do well in this spot and don't mind getting moved around.

 Photo from the top.

 I wanted a small path and am filling it with rocks every chance I get to the beach.

I will be adding more ground covers to this area next.

There's even a little bird bath in case the wildlife back there was feeling left out.

One last thing I needed to do was to paint an L shape section of the back of the house that no one can see - except me of course.  So I got that taken care of as well, since I was working back there.

Below are the before and after shots of just one section, I don't have after photos for the rest of the area and of course I have already stacked up the project wood there.

 Before

 After

 This is what happens when the ex husband leaves the house unfinished and the pioneer woman is forced to figure out how to finish it - with no funds and what's available.  But I digress, and that was 8 years ago.  

Not bad considering I pieced together these odd siding panels before I bought a compact miter saw!

That's it for the summer to do's around here.... I think!  

Phase II Privacy Deck

 After two years the lovely privacy deck needed some TLC, a little sanding, new stain and hmm, maybe a make over.
I decided to install a 4 foot bamboo privacy screen - recycled from another part of the yard, originally a 6 foot screen.

The next task was inspired by a library book on landscape design.  I took the original deck apart and reassembled it in two pieces, one slightly higher than the other and away from the house wall.

I filled in the gap with rocks, a choice piece of driftwood or two, and a Buddha.  Eventually I will fill in the area to the right with more beach rocks.

I found the perfect old window frame at a building recycle place to fill in that blank wall space.  I just happen to have two old rusty pieces of chain with hooks on either end for hanging it too.

The space is usable again now, but I am still sanding the decks and staining them.  Just in time for the Memorial Day weekend hide out!