Lisa's blog
Working Hard
Renovating the back yard is HARD, but it is so rewarding. To the untrained eye, it may appear we still have a big mess out back, but I can see everything taking shape.
For those of you who don't know, my goal is a treed oasis in the back yard. We've planted maple, sand cherries, lilacs (Darrell moved them from the front yard where he doesn't want them), a magnolia, russian olive, and a great hawthorne, to name a few. Lots of shrubs, and limited flowers, though I did find some glory of the snow around the other side of the house, and have moved some to the back.
Much thanks to my friends at Shades of Green for the advice about replacing the 75 wheelbarrows full of weeds from the back hill with cotoneaster! We now have a big pile of soil in the back and that will help us finish what needs finishing!
Coming Along
Well, I've been a slacker at both gardening and blogging these last few weeks-one son was graduating, and another was home for a visit from Red Deer. But we're getting back on track.
My strawberries have been flowering, and, though it breaks my heart, I've been pinching off the buds to encourage more growth later. Having a hard time keeping up with all the weeds, but, on the bright side, my 2 patches of grass are coming along splendidly!
There are some gross green worms on my container broccoli, so I must pick them off. I'm going out in the yard today (it's the first day of sunshine we've had in forever!) and will post more soon!
Getting Under Way
Well, I have to say that gardening is alot of work! With 4 kids, full-time jobs, and a 100 year-old house needing constant renovation, we don't have loads of time to be out in the yard, and Saint John weather isn't always conducive to landscaping, but we're working away.
Still haven't got any grass out front, but I did plant some hostas in a corner by one of the front doors. I wasn't sure they'd like the move from Mom's garden to a new location, but they're doing great!
We spent a few hours out in back yesterday and planted a bunch of strawberries, weeded and levelled the area around the shurbs that I planted over the last year or two, and Darrell dug up a wonderful random hawthorn from under the crabapple tree and we planted it at the back of the yard.
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