Wordless Wednesday

Revamp of a overgrown bed with mulch, new plants and a wood border.

Rain Rain Go Away…

Arbor Garden Sept. 2011

Days of rain this week have left my yard and garden a muddy mess.  Plants are flopping and the lawn is getting a bit overgrown.  I’m sure by the time it dries out enough for me to work out there I will have lots to catch up on.  Don’t get me wrong I appreciate Mother Nature watering the garden for me, but it has gotten a bit excessive at this point. 

Shed Garden Sept. 2011

My grass hasn’t been this green and lush since last Spring and things that survived the horrendous days of July are bouncing back with a vengeance.  I have lots of things that I need to divide, cut back, plant and generally just clean up in the weeks to come.  Fall is my second favorite season.  Usually I’m out there redoing and improving the garden after hibernating indoors during the brunt of summer.  The rain has delayed me a bit.  Hope everyone is having a nice weekend so far.  Hubby is taking me out to lunch today to celebrate my b-day since he had to work Friday.  🙂

Tour of my garden in June…

Summer came on us quickly this season with temps in the upper 90’s as early as May and a lack of rain as well.  June has been just as warm with some relief by way of evening showers this past week.  The grass has taken the brunt of it, the gardens are doing well inspite of this wacky weather.  Hope you enjoy my tour of my back gardens this month.  Have a nice weekend everyone.  🙂

Mulch Time!

Me and hubby have been busy this past weekend doing some edging of flower beds by hand with a flat garden spade and a half-moon edger.  I slowly cut along the outer edge of each bed with the half-moon edging tool and he followed behind me digging out the turf and soil until we had a deep trench.  This trench was crucial for not only aesthetic purposes but keeping the mulch from washing out into the grass during a heavy downpour.  And nothing is going to waste either because we’ve used the good pieces of sod to fill in bare spots in the lawn.  Fortunately we got a good rainfall after doing this piecework which helped settle them in.  We’ve completed all of the backyard beds except for one and we still have 3 out front to do as well.  I’m in the process of mulching the beds too.  Don’t you just love how great everything looks with a layer of mulch.  It’s like the icing on the cake. Things are starting to fill in nicely, especially with all the rain we’ve been getting lately.  The only thing that is making this spring a bit hard on me is my seasonal allergies which have been at their worse this season with the fluctuation of the temperatures from cool to warm and the pollen.  Needless to say I’m keeping stock in antihistimines which makes me feel a bit groggy at times. Might have to look at getting an over the counter allergy medicine instead.  I hope everyone has a nice weekend in or out of the garden.  🙂

My other garden buddy…

Mooch (the cat)

I know you all have seen various pictures on my blog where Spaz the terrier has managed to get in shots I’ve taken of the garden.  Sometimes I don’t even realize it until I upload the photos.  😉  But here is one of my other garden buddy, Mooch the cat.  He tends to stalk me when I’m doing work in the front flower beds.  It’s common for me to be kneeling down doing some weeding and him to jump out and scare the mess out of me.  lol  Last week I was trying to get some photos of the garden for a post I was doing and he managed to get in a few shots.  He was following me around like ‘hey pay attention to me….’  However I do have to keep an eye on him because he likes to chase the birds and butterflies like the typical predator.  Luckily for them he doesn’t have front claws so they have a fair chance of escaping.  This is his favorite garden to lounge in during the heat of the day since it stays shady in the afternoon.  During the morning hours he likes to hang out in the front foundation bed under the Buddleia or in the raised bed between the Daylillies which he manages to squish every summer. Oh well, gardening with pets isn’t easy but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  🙂