Manor Monday {Great Expectations: Our New Garden}

"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow" ~Audrey Hepburn

Like most projects, our simple raised beds turned out to require a lot more time, labor, & money than we initially thought. In the end though, we have a wonderful place to marvel at the working of mother nature and teach responsibility, healthy habits & hard work to the littles.  

The garden plot was a former landscape bed that we cleared of a half dead burning bush, day lillies, hostas & a few other plantings that this still learning gardener can't identify. On Mother's Day weekend I asked Hubby to build two raised beds as my gift (the one weekend a year he must comply with my requests). We lined the bottom of the beds with cardboard and 800 lbs of soil!!! The plants went in and the beds were topped with straw. To cut down on weeds and help prevent mud, we surrounded the perimeter with pea gravel. 

The final step was to instal a garden fence to prohibit visiting vermin and make the garden a magical place to visit. There is just something about a gate to children that makes the place they are about to enter so special. Belle requested the aqua latch & spray painted it herself...not bad for her first painting project.

I painted the boxes, lattice and posts SW Urban Bronze to match our front door & driveway seating. Having the continuity of color throughout our outdoor space helps to unify everything and is easy on the eye.

As for the garden itself, the large bed measures 10'x10' and houses tomatoes, hot peppers, sweet peppers, zucchini, pole beans, mini cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce, kale, spinach & a sweet baby watermelon.

The second bed is our berry patch that measures 10'x 3'. Inside we have a Caroline raspberry bush and 3 strawberry plants. I would have to say the kids are most excited about this bed and the deliciousness we hope to be picking over the summer.

I can not end this post without a humongous "thank you" to Hubby who passed up several hours on the course to build this gift for our family. We are lucky to have you! Now the fun begins...fingers crossed I don't kill everything. We've already had 3 fatalities. Any tricks or tips you all have would be greatly appreciated.

Want It Wednesday {Espalier Vines}

I've been logging in quite a few hours outdoors between our new garden & spring cleaning.  I  tend to pass the time by letting my mind dream up new designs for the space I'm working on. Sort of a bad habit, as it only leads to more work needing to be done and the vicious cycling continuing. Nonetheless, I've been stewing over landscaping ideas for the awhile now and here's what I'm loving, espalier vines.

I've always been drawn to the classic design of vines trained in geometric patterns along walls, fences, and houses. So it comes as no surprise that I am plotting a way to add some espalier to my life. From the research I've done, these designs are often high maintenance and require quite a bit of attention. At this point in my life my TLC slots have no vacancies so I'll just have to fill this inspiration away for another day.

sources:1&2 3 4

The former owner of our house was very much into the Prairie style: tall grasses & natural wildflowers. Slowly, we are working on changing that and someday I'll have my espalier vines. How about you? What's your garden style? Tailored & crisp? Maybe you're whimsical and cottage? 

Want It Wednesday {Lily of the Valley}

Since it is the week before Mother's Day & I seem to have flowers on the brain, I figured why not continue this week's posts with one of my absolute favorite flowers of all: Lily of the Valley. These tiny little bells have a heavenly aroma and are graceful while completely unassuming.

Source

I have loved them for ages, in fact I wanted to carry them solely as my wedding bouquet nearly a decade before Kate Middleton, but the florist couldn't guarantee that the bouquet wouldn't wilt or that the flowers would even arrive open (all the way from Ireland mind you). 

So as Hubby & I approach nearly a dozen years of wedded bliss, I think it is time to add some Lily of the Valley to our lives and lucky we have just the right spot.  Right now it is bare mulch under a maple tree, but in a year or so I am hoping it looks like this:

Now it is important to point out that Lilly of the Valley is poisonous so if you have children (or pets) who regularly ingest your landscaping, you might want to seek out other options to get your fix. One of which is Crabtree & Evelyn's Lily home spray. 

I think I used this spray religiously the first few years Hubby & I were married...I was completely obsessed. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to locate some Lily of the Valley pips.

Manor Monday {Good News...Bad News}

Seems like ages since I've done a Manor Monday post. In fact, last time I posted I'm pretty certain there was snow on the ground. We are now well into Spring and that means it is time to turn our attention to the outdoor goals on the 2014 Home Goals List. One of which was a larger garden space. After pacing the backyard and deliberating various schemes and layouts, we've opted to clear the bed where the current garden sits and repurpose it entirely as a new garden plot.



As of now my thoughts are raised beds, gravel pathway & small fence for bunny protection. Seeing as how it is nearly May, I need to kick this project into high gear if we are going to get our plants in the ground on Mother's Day (our traditional planting day).

And because mother nature isn't always pretty, look at what has become of our beautiful flowering plum tree. It has contracted a disease known as black knot, which is virtually impossible to cure.





I attempted to cut away the affected branches and within 5 minutes I stopped; nearly 85% of the tree is infested leaving us no choice but to cut it down (insert tears).

For now, the plan is to transplant the flowering bushes from the new garden bed to the spot the tree once occupied. Granted they won't provide shade or privacy, but they are free and buy us some time to decide on an appropriate replacement.



So that is where we stand on the garden front. How about you all? Anyone else reworking a garden bed or two? Anyone ever dealt with black knot? Or if you've got a favorite ornamental tree, I'd love to know that too.

The Garden of Lazarus

If you recall our 2013 Home Goals, two of them were garden related. The first was to plant a vegetable garden. It might be tiny, but seeing as it was our first garden ever in this home, we figured we were better off not biting off more than we could chew. 

The second gardening goal, and perhaps far more important than the first, was to not kill the garden. Like all new things, we attentively cared for our new garden. Watering and feeding as needed. And our plants loved us back with bountiful goodies. 

But then the summer rain came & drowned our poor little plot. With all the commotion of back to school and a leisurely visit to the lake, our dainty garden was written off. I figured our minimal harvest was a success for our rookie year. 

Last week when we were camped out in the backyard watching the roofing action, Peanut happily announced that our garden was brimming with tomatoes, peppers & cucumbers. 

We are back to nurturing our plants and looking forward to tasting our own fall harvest. And since the kiddies took such a liking to the garden, plans are in the works for a much larger garden plot next spring. I'll be back next week with more details.

As for you guys' gardens, are they still producing away or did you lose plants this year? Am I tooting our horn for nothing; maybe it is traditional for plants to produce a second time in the early fall? Do tell, I am clearly not a gardening expert.

Turning Green

On Mother's Day, Belle gifted me a hand painted pot & flower seeds. We set to work planting the seeds and dreaming up the beautiful flowers that would spring forth. Truth be told, I was quite certain all we would end up with would be the same sad looking pile of dirt. Then last night when I went out to water look what I found.

I was so excited I had to restrain myself from running upstairs and waking Belle from her sleep. You see I haven't been able to grow anything from a seed (despite countless efforts) since I was Belle's age & sprouted a lima bean in class. To this day I vividly remember the ziplock baggie, wet paper towel & spouted bean that made up my first attempt at gardening. I also recall the great sense of accomplishment I felt….a feeling that it took nearly 30 years to duplicate. I am hoping this is a foreshadowing of things to come. Perhaps our garden will actually yield veggies this year…perhaps:-) 

How about you? Do you grow flowers or veggies from seed? Or perhaps you are in PKA (Plant Killers Anonymous)? Let me know which end of the spectrum you fall on.

How does your Garden Grow?

Growing up, every Mother's Day weekend the whole family spent a day planting flowers as part of my Mom's gift. As a result, I feel an uncontrollable urge to carry on the Mother's Day planting tradition. Conveniently, on our 2013 home goals a vegetable garden & sustaining said garden were among the listed ambitions. So after Belle hopped off the bus on Friday Hubby, the kiddies and I headed out to pick some plants.



After scouring the aisles of Home Depot for every variety of white flowers for the deck (post coming soon once I can clean all the pollen off the deck) we moved on to the veggies. Despite numerous pleas for a plethora of veggies, we kept our first ever garden simple and low key by purchasing one plant of the following:

• tomato
• red pepper
• green pepper
• cucumber
• squash
• zucchini

Further research had me fearing our proposed garden plot was too close to a tree (tree roots are rumored to rob plants of their nutrients). So to buffer against planting in the wrong spot, I opted to do a container garden this year. This way, if need be, we can move the plants around the yard until the optimal location is determined.

The configuration of the garden is as follows. Tomato and cucumber plants each have their own pots. The peppers share a pot, as do the zucchini and squash. The trellis is constructed out of garden decorations that the prior owners left behind. My hope is that the cucumber and squashes will grow up and over to help conserve space. To help ward off any bunny bites Hubby wrapped the whole garden in chicken wire. 

One of the great pleasures of Summer is cooking with fresh herbs. To keep them accessible, we planted oregano and sweet basil in the deck boxes. I was thrilled to discover "boxwood basil". These delicate miniature leaves don't need to be chopped up like the large leaf variety and the plant grows in tight formation mimicking the boxwoods I love so much! I happily snatched up two of them for the pots flanking the deck steps.

So that is our veggie garden: small and manageable. Hopefully container gardening agrees with us and the plants flourish. I am a little worried because after it was all said and done I noticed the bag of organic soil we purchased said "not for container gardening"…..ugh fingers crossed my plants don't die! Anyone else grow a veggies out of pots? Any tips? Lessons you've learned over the years? I can use all the help you can offer.