Landscaping… the long list

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I cannot bring myself to write a list of everything I want to do for renovations in the house, but for some reason I have no problem doing a master list for the landscaping outside.

Alright, I’ll admit it. That’s a little overwhelming.

There’s obviously a lot to be done, so it’s a matter of prioritizing what part of our 129 acres we want to focus on. This year, it’s the residential area.

And just to make things a little clearer than the animation above, here’s the plan for this year.

That’s manageable, right? As you saw at the beginning of the week, we’ve already made some progress on the turn around, the flowerbeds and the pond shore. Maybe by the end of the growing season, we’ll have the property in shape.

The long term plan will take who knows how long.

I’ve decided my goal when it comes to outside work is to transition from landscaping to gardening. Weeding flowerbeds is much more manageable than building them.

How do you handle renovations and landscaping at your house? Do you write everything down or just keep a mental list? What are you hoping to accomplish this summer?

Death by landscaping

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I am dead.

I’ve been working on a lovely introduction to this post referencing the Secret Garden and the joy of tending a neglected garden. But it’s not coming together for me, and I lack the mental power to make it work. Because I am dead.

You never heard any of the characters from the Secret Garden say, “I am dead. This garden has killed me.” Let’s be honest here, Ben probably said it, but Frances Hodgson Burnett did not include it in her story of love, childhood and horticulture.

In my story of love, adulthood, responsibility, country living and horticulture, landscaping has started.

The turn around has gone from mountain goat terrain to a blank slate, thanks mostly to our farmer with his heavy equipment.

I’ve weeded one flowerbed and my mother-in-law tackled two more. (All of the plant pots were left by the last owners. The plants are still alive, so I’ll be planting them soon on the blank slate of the turn around).

My father-in-law trimmed some of the trees and stumps around the pond. We still have a ways to go before we can actually mow the shore, but I’ve staked out the new fire pit, and we have lots of wood ready to burn.

Matt, my Dad and I dismantled one of our biggest rock piles on the property–and it only took us four hours.

I started building a new flower garden around the well head. And this is when I died.

Last year’s landscaping efforts were limited to some very cursory grass cutting. The property was unkempt when we bought it, and our neglect over the past year while we focused on the basement reno made it worse.

The amount of work required to bring a garden back after years and years of neglect is never mentioned in the Secret Garden. Sure there’s a bit of pruning and weeding, but mostly it’s romance and roses.

In the category of things get worse before they get better, even our efforts at clean up have led to more mess. Drilling the new well and trenching new waterlines destroyed one established flowerbed and left lumpy piles of very hard dirt in its place. Burning brush and scrap lumber as we’ve tried to pick up around the property resulted a mountain of ash and a half scorched spruce tree.

Landscaping was at the top of the list on my home goals for this year, and I will get a handle on the situation outside, even if it kills me.

Finally forsythia

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Our forsythia is finally in bloom. It’s more than a month later than last year, which shows just how long spring has taken to arrive. I think with the appearance of the bright yellow blossoms we can safely say that spring has finally arrived.

What a difference a year makes

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

This is not this year’s forsythia. This time last year after a mild winter and an early spring, the forsythia behind the driveshed was in full bloom.

This year, as the snow is sticking around and spring is dragging her heels, the buds are closed up tight and no blossoms have arrived yet.

Two weeks in a row now, my mid-week post has been my “be on the lookout for spring” post. As we’ve moved into another cold snap over the past couple of days–complete with daily snow streamers–the search is still on.

Spring?

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

A week into spring, we’ve finally had a few days in a row with above zero temperatures. Until now, however, spring has been slow in coming.

Most mornings last week–including the first day of spring–fresh snow dusted the ground. Although the sun now melts the driveway every afternoon, by evening it’s frozen again. Water flows in the creek, but the ice on the pond was still thick enough that fresh animal tracks crossed the surface as recently as this past weekend.

However, on the softening shore of the pond, a small sign of spring pushes up through the mud.

Despite walking back and forth along the water’s edge a few times, this was the only flower I found. I’m choosing to think of it as a harbinger of warmer days, rather than a lone over-eager sprout.

Have you seen any signs of spring where you are? Matt’s Dad has spotted some robins already, but I haven’t yet. What spring flowers are you looking for?

Morning at the pond

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Over just the last 24 hours, there’s been a change in the air. It feels like the cool fall weather has arrived.

Before I officially move on from summer, though, I want to share some photos from a warm sunny morning a few weeks ago.

Down by the pond

I’ve said before that the pond is one of my favourite spots on the property.

Early morning as the sun is coming up is one of my favourite times on the property.

On this particular Saturday, I had both the pond and the early morning as I began my Saturday outside with the camera. I couldn’t resist these pretty pink flowers on the shore.

Anyone know what these flowers might be?

As we head into fall, I’m already noticing that the foliage is fading and the leaves are becoming sparser around the farm. I now have a better view of the pond from the house, although I can’t see any pink flowers from here.

Is anyone else out there feeling the change in the air? What signs of fall are you seeing? Are you looking forward to fall?

Wildflower week – Goldenrod

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Matt and I have decided to take it easy this week, so the blog is going to be a little quieter than usual. To tide you over until we resume our regular program of renovations, I present a week of wildflower pictures from around the farm. Thank you for allowing me to loaf a little.