Showing posts with label garden features. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garden features. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

What We've Been Up To...A Garden and Yard Tour

It seems so long since I've sat here and composed a post...the month of June has gone by so fast it seems, but that's most likely because we have been completing quite a few projects on our to-do list!

 We've had a pretty wet spring, but that hasn't deterred us from tackling some outside projects.

We dug out some existing gardens and got the soil levels down away from the foundation.  I've planted some hostas along with a dwarf Japanese Maple tree that the kids bought me for Mother's Day along the back of the house.



I also painted the support posts on the "carport" sitting area black to clean them up and make them last another year until we can really tackle this project.



McG and I dug out the shrubs and stone from this area and added new gravel and a small shed to hold our garbage pails and recycling boxes out of sight.


McG got my fountain up and running in its new home as well.  I love to hear the water while I'm out in the garden.





I've been busy adding to the garden under the tree in the back yard.  Most of it we brought from the garden at the other house, but we've added some cedars and small shrubs to this space as well.



I've cleaned up the garden bed along the "carport" as well thinning out some of the plants and adding some pots of flowers.


McG has started to remove the grass for our new patio.  It will be a space where we can put our outdoor fire pit and enjoy some marshmallows and hotdogs cooked over a fire.


The brick edging for the back garden was recycled from some of the existing garden beds that were here when we purchased the house.  This area under the big Maple tree in the back made the perfect garden space as there wasn't much grass growing under the tree anyway.




We will be moving the stairs to the other side of the deck soon and re-routing the sidewalk to make access to the septic tank cleanout a little easier.


Earlier in the spring McG finished trimming up the pine trees along the driveway.  This gave me even more garden space since it provided another area that had no grass growing in it.  We cleaned up the edging and I've been planting along there as well.




Most of the hostas in this garden were splits from ones that were already in the yard when we bought the property.  A few of them I purchased new and the rest I split out of my Mother's garden.  She was very generous and helped me fill up this space.


All of the garden art and other "pretties" came from the other house when we moved here.  It is so nice to finally have them in their new home!


This garden is approximately fifty feet long.  It's really taking shape and we've been getting many compliments from people passing by.


I've also been working on trimming all the existing bushes in the front of the house and adding a few hostas and perennials to this area as well.






McG also set up my smaller fountain in the front garden under our bedroom window.


Most nice days you can find me in the yard, cutting the grass or weeding the garden beds.




It's been a busy month around here as far as the yard goes, but those projects are almost finished up.
Next we will be onto painting the exterior of our home and rebuilding our back deck.

Never a dull moment around here...what have you been up to around your home?

Tuesday, June 03, 2014

Garden Blooms

Since there's not much in the way of DIY'ing and home decorating projects going on right now, I thought I'd give you a quick tour of some of the garden today. 

These pictures were taken yesterday morning after a quick rain shower. 
 They were edited however for some reason when I transfer them to the blog
 - the green is showing up very intense.  




This is the back garden - I LOVE the Weigelia bush when it is in bloom.
..below is a closeup of the flowers.








 My container of black velvet petunias is starting to fill out nicely.




These are the Blue False Indigo in the side yard.
  I never think to pop over there much and end up missing some of the flowers.  




This past winter has been hard on the garden.
 My Clematis in the front yard is usually a show stopper
...this year only one bloom!!  




This is a Double Million Bells planter out in back. 




It's blooms resemble small roses.




This bloom belongs to the Dwarf Highbush Cranberry.
 It kind of resembles a hydrangea.




Here's a view of the front yard looking up from the driveway.




One of the many varieties of Hosta covered in raindrops.




The peony buds in the side yard.  They should open this week.




And the variegated Iris...a real show stopper!!
And that grape Koolaid-like scent gets me everytime!

Thanks for stopping by my garden this week!!

Cheryl

Monday, June 24, 2013

DIY Water Feature

It seems that the dog days of summer are upon us here in Ontario.  Spending time in the garden is something that I really enjoy.   Years ago, when the kids were little, we had an above ground pool to keep us cool.  Once the liner went, we made the decision to take the pool down, since our kids weren't really using it anymore.

We turned the pool deck into a pergola (which is another post to come) and added stone and a patio table to the area.  I wanted to add the soothing sound of water back into the yard, but didn't want the upkeep of a pond.  There was still some wood left from taking the deck down, so I designed a water feature for McG to build.  It centered around a pond pump and a large Rubbermaid tub...
YES - a plastic storage container turned water feature!


McG drilled a hole in the upper right-hand corner to allow the electrical cord for the pond pump to go.


He then built a wooden box to house the container with the left-over wood from our pool deck to pergola transformation.  It has a 6 foot high back to hide the copper pipe that cycles the water from the plastic storage container.

I re-stained the wood once he built the frame (that was a couple of years ago, so it could be done again).
Once everything is in place there is a wooden frame that sits on top to hide the edge of the plastic container.



Once it's filled with water, it's plugged in to a ground-fault electrical plug and we are able to turn it on and off with an outdoor timer.

McG used plumbing fittings to make the "shower head" that brings that lovely water sound to the garden.


Here are a few shots of it running.  It is so soothing to hear.



This picture shows too the pergola that used to be our pool deck...and my solar chandelier - a Pinterest project I made.

This is probably my favourite DIY project in our yard...it was a lovely gift from McG to me!  It gives all the sounds of a pond and waterfall without all the work - and would work in a small yard or even on a balcony!

Don't you just LOVE it??!!