thequiltedgardener's Blog

New Photos
Feb 21, 2008 | 5:47 PM PST
Tags: Photos , Quilts

On Saturday I took photos of the back yard as it looks this time of year, mostly to use as a marker for progress but also to post as a way to show not only the progress of projects this spring and summer but also so that later when I am able to share pictures of plants and blooms that viewers get a bigger picture-if you will-of the overall yard.  That is one of the things I really liked viewing on others photo albums because I found it much easier to picture their yard.

The Lasagna beds are plain looking raised beds.  The fun and educational part was the layering and planting of those beds.  I thought it was great fun and a really good way for gardeners with earth like ours to have gardens without throwing out their backs.  One bed was doubled in depth because it will be planted with Asparagus roots in the spring and everything I read described requiring more depth than the bed currently offers because underneath is hard clay.  Of course the beds would have been more attractive if we had made one of the new beds double depth!  So much for my planning.

The views from the upper deck better show the yard as a whole instead of just individual beds. In my minds eye I can see the flowers!  Behind the tree roots is a huge rock ledge that looks like a molar-or it did before I filled the two cavities with soil and plants so it has been lovingly named Mr. Tooth-silly as it may be, there he is.  The pictures of the back side of the roots and the rocks and hole show that these roots aren't just roots.  They had grown thru and actually split large rocks underground as it grew.  When it came down in the ice/snow storm in 2005 the roots brought the rocks with it.  We tried to remove the roots in an effort to encourage the rocks to fall to the ground and fill the large hole left with the uprooting.  That didn't work.  DH wanted to pour flamible liquids on it and light it on fire-not me.  Unfortunately that fall many little plants had been placed around the tree and most were gone for good.  The old people say When life gives you lemons, make lemonaide.  I now have a lovely place to grow morning glories, sweet peas and vining squash.  Last year I grew birdhouse gourds alongside the flowers.

The hole became the first compost pile on one end and I lasagned the other side so that I could plant in it.  It will be a few years before the hole is completely full, but when it is I intend to plant clematis there.

I am really excited to have posted the photos and look forward to recording my progress.  Sure wish I had done that from the start.  In 2000 when we purchased the house the back yard was complely shaded as was the side and half of the front.  Yes, we took down trees....plants need light!!!  The funny thing about the pictures we had of that period was that DH dropped about 20 HUGE trees and it looked like our yard had been bombed-literally because the weight of the trees when they hit the ground.  The othes we had to have taken down professionially because of thier height and being so close to the house.

The Quilts.  I love to quilt, love fabric and get such great pleasure while making them.  I am self taught and a novice but that doesn't take away any of the pleasure.  I posted pictures-just because I wanted to share.

Time to go read blogs, view photos and maybe hit the forums.  It has been a geat day!