soaphouse's Blog
soaphouse's December 2007 Entries
Last Post 9 days, 9 hours Ago
Dec 28, 2007 | 9:02 AM PST
Tags: advice , juniper , blue , sky pencil , holly
I have a spot in the front yard by my window seat that seems empty. But, then again...maybe the negative space is nice. I can't decide...
I have thought about putting a few sky pencil hollies there, or a blue dwarf juniper, or maybe just some metal yard art...or maybe it doesn't need anything. It gets full sun, but up against the wall of the house, the back of whatever is there will not do well. What do you think? I need help... THANKS
Here it is in early summer:
Mid Summer:
Dec 28, 2007 | 8:21 AM PST
Tags: fall veggies , garden , sprout , seeds , drought
So, back in the late summer I planted all sorts of wonderful fall veggie seeds. I was so excited! I even did a lot of research on companion planting and was going to implement that for the first time. Well, the week after I put in all the seeds, my city issued a complete out door watering ban. No water=no veggies :(
There it sat....a pile of dirt full of seeds waiting for something to help them reach their potential. Well, we have started to have quite a wet winter and the seeds are starting to sprout. I know its way too late...and I won't really get anything from them, but its fun to see them doing something!
Here
is a pict of the veggie garden that could...
Hopefully the rain is making a dent in our drought situation and we will be able to water again come spring...
Dec 27, 2007 | 2:20 PM PST
Tags: pine straw , mulch , winter weeds , weeding , knockout , alliums , tulip , daffodil , hellebore , linten rose , new year , bulbs , madame alfred
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I have been taking advantage of both the season end sales at the garden centers and my time off from work to get a lot of things done in the garden. My local garden center has all their left over bulbs on sale for 75% off, so I planted 20 purple and 20 orange tulips in the front yard. I also planted 30 daffodils by the azaleas in the back yard. I am still waiting on some allium bulbs I purchased on line. Those will go in the back yard so that I can see them while I do dishes :).
I got 2 more double knockouts for 50% off to compete the grouping by the bird house.
I also spent a good bit of time applying a generous layer of pine straw over the front beds. It took 36 bales! It used to take 90+, but now that the plants are growing in niceley...it takes less. It feels so good to have this done. Here are some picts:
Yesterday, after taking down most of the Christmas decor, I spent a majority of the afternoon weeding the back yard and getting it ready for its winter pine straw application. I have 2 Madame Alfred Roses on order that I will plant on either side of the arbor in the back. I selected this particular rose because: it is thornless, evergreen, climbing, and blooms white....the only rose I could find that met all of these criteria (which is what I wanted for the arbor).
While I was doing this work in the back, I noticed that for the first time, my hellebores are blooming! I got these as little seedlings from my mom's garden 4 yrs ago...patience pays off!
Can't wait for my goodies to come in the mail...but I really can't wait to see the bulbs come up in the spring!
Happy New Year Everyone!
Dec 16, 2007 | 3:02 PM PST
Tags: coral bark maple , double knockout , rose , winter , cold , mulch , pine straw , discount
Well, last week the temps were in the 80's and now the high today was in the 40's with a windchill below freezing! Not that cold for a lot of you up north, but its cold for us here in Atlanta! But, I must say...its about time. I stopped by a local nursery yesterday that has just declared bankruptcy (due to the drought) and they have almost everything on sale. I got a fabulous Coral Bark Maple that I have been wanting for some time to use as a focal point for the new bed in the back yard. I finally got to get it b/c it was 50% off. My sweet (and somewhat disgruntled) hubby helped me get it in the ground today:
BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!
Can't wait to see it come spring...
I also got another double knock out rose to add to the front. They were 50% off too! I wanted to get more, but only had room for one in the car since we also had the baby with us :)
This will add some nice color by the abelias
My wonderful and still somewhat disgruntled hubby :) is at Home Depot, as I type, getting bales of pinestraw to do the winter mulching. YEAH!!!!
Dec 14, 2007 | 6:25 AM PST
Tags: fall , cleanup , rake , leaves , blooms , spring , grass , color , front , yard , back
Its been a while since I have spent a good chunk of productive time in the garden. And, yesterday...I did just that. In the morning, my girl and I made Christmas cookies and when she went down for her nap, I headed out to the garden. I did some clean up; such as raking and pruning. I also had some fun with my new camera. The weather here has been very wacky! The highs for the last week have been around 80, so we are having a false spring....things are blooming and buds are appearing. Its quite strange, because there are still many signs of fall in the garden. The Laurapedelum is in full bloom:
And yet, the grasses are showing all their fall color:
After a couple hours of clean up (It didn't need as much work as I thought, I guess all the hard work in the summer really payed off) This is what the yard looks like:
Front yard:
Side view of front yard:
Back Yard Views:
