Having a 55-year-old home means that certain things need updating... say for instance the 55 year old shrubs that infested the front flower beds. I cut them down last fall and my father removed the stumps for me this spring. So, now that the blank canvas is there, I'm beginning to fill it up. First task was to change the layout of the beds themselves, from a squared version to a more fluid curve. This is also expanding the volume of the beds considerably.
Given the two 50' pen oak trees in my front yard, the soil is quite poor. Thus, I am trucking in dirt to fill the new beds before I actually plant anything in them. My rules for plants in the beds are simple: low maintenance. If it grows quickly, its not allowed. If I have to trim it more than once per year, it is not allowed. If I have to replant it every year, it is not allowed. So far the only things to make the cut are small evergreens and a plant called a Hosta. Once the plants are in, I will be putting a gray rock over the dirt to keep the weeds down.
Update 5/22/2006
The good news / bad news of today is the front trees. The pen oaks are getting a good trimming. Unfortunately all the falling branches landed directly in the new beds, destroying the new plants. Two steps forward...
Update 8/10/2006
Things have gone well with this project. I now need only a half scoop of granite chips to complete the rock covering of the bed. When that is done, this project can get the big DONE stamp.
Update 8/30/2006
As of about two weeks ago, this project is DONE!!!!!
My Deck
Jealousy is an evil thing. Two years ago, my neighbor, Steve, built himself a very nice deck. I have wanted a deck, with a hot tub inset into the deck, for years. While Steve did not put a hot tub in his deck, and I don't think I can afford one at the moment, I still wanit.Thedeck itself. So, I have drawn up plans for my deck and I am currently saving the cash needed for this addition to my house. The flower garden comes first however.
Update 8/10/2006
This project is progressing nicely. Sort of. The deck itself now has the support structure built and 4 rows of planking attached. By this afternoon, I hope to have many many more rows of planking down. However, I cannot finish the planking for a while.
The AC unit is currently beneath the deck structure with only 2 feet of clearance. It nees 4 feet of clearance to function properly. Ouch. So, I have poured a new concrete pad at the side of the house where I will have a new high efficiency heat pump installed. But before the heat pump can be installed, I have to upgrade my electrical service from 100 amps to 200 amps. Until about a year ago, this is something a home owner could do on their own, but my town changed its permit policy and now it requires a certified electrician. Quite frustrating.
Update 8/30/2006
The deck is now as complete as possible, until the AC unit is moved. The stairs are up and all but the last 4 feet of planking is down. The railings are up as are the spindles. Once the planking is done and the AC upgrade is complete, I will still need to put in lattice to cover up the old patio that is underneath the deck. Also, I need to move the water spicket out from under the deck, add some electrical outlets and lights.
The Back Yard
I hate grass. Its awful to mow every week and it makes my allergies crawl when I do so. Add to that the fact that weeds infest my yard and its not hard to understand why people put down astroturf instead. While the thought of green-painted concrete for a yard is amusing, it just is not practical. So, I have decided to remove sections of the yard and put raised planters and pavers in that area.
Three beds, 10'x10'x1' have been built and I am now trying to fill them with top soil. This necessitates another 8 loads of dirt. If I had known that they were really this huge, I probably would have built them a wee bit smaller.
After those are complete, I will cover all the grass withastroturfc weed barrier and lay down some type of flat pavers. Between the pavers will go gravel or moss. The planters themselves will have to follow the same rules as the front yard flowerbpaversow maintenance.
Two small shade trees and a pagoda will fill out the remainder of the open spaces in this part of the yard. The pagoda was inspired by a recent trip of mine to China, to help my sister, Kimberly, adopt her fourth child, Thomas.
Update 5/22/2006
Today saw the disappearance of the dump truck load of dirt from the
back driveway. Of the three bedpavershe back, one ipaversletely full of
dirt, another is two wheelbarrow loads shy of being full and the last
is only 1/3 full. Two more pickup truck loads of dirt should fill them.
Update 6/7/2006
Yet another dump truck load of dirt in the back yard, completing the filling process of the planters. Over the last 10 days or so, Jaime, Nathan and I have moved about 10 loads of stones to be used as pavers in the back yard. I have placed maybe 1/4 of the stones, maybe 1/6th of those are finalized. Sadly, completing this portion will take a long time, most likely not complete until the end of the summer. The work is back-breaking, and while I am not averse to hard work, my body just isn't used to this kind of work, so it refuses to do the work for long periods of time.
Also, my neighbor brought back a few dozen plants with her, from her sister's house in Georgia, and had nowhere to put them as her beds have not been built yet. Luckily for me, I had a perfect place for them. She asked, and I agreed, so she planted them in the rear-most bed. So, now I have plants!
Lastly, the lattice for the climbing plant in the middle bed has been built and placed.
Update 8/30/2006
Most of the rock is now placed but I still need a truckload or three to finish out a couple empty spots. The lattice now has a clymatis planted below it and hopefully that plant won't die. I also added 7 evergreens to the back fencerow, in hopes of starting a wall of plants to hide the hideous chain-link fence.
Jaime's Fence
My girlfriend is awesome. Unbelievably so. I know, I'm the Eternal Bachelor®, but I am ftime.Also a great relationship for the first time in a very long time. She's so great to me, and I want to do great things for her.
Just as I have wanted a deck for a very long time, she has been wanting a fence around her minute back yard. Given that the other residents in her townhouse community feel it is appropriate to let their large dogs roam freely through everyone else's yard, without cleaning up after their pets, a fence would be a very nice addition, even to a postage-stamp sized piece of ground.
Her plans are to put in a small garden and a few rose bushes. It should look quite nice when finished. Of course, before I can start on this one, my front flowerbeds have to be completed so my house stops being such an eye-sore to the neighborhood.
Update 8/10/2006
DONE!!!! This one got completed in just over a weekend. It went really well and Jaime is quite happy with it. This was the first time she had ever done any type of work with lumber and did a great job helping and learning.
