Why I Oughta...

Over the years, I've created and expanded garden beds using various methods including digging out all the turf, flipping the turf and (more recently) doing some combination of digging/flipping the turf and layering on cardboard to supress the grass.  That cardboard smothering method seems to work pretty well and it is well...easy.  At least it is FAR easier than digging out the turf.  But, the cardboard method has a big drawback - the grass is *STILL THERE*.  So, that means it is tricky to plant in the bed immediately. If you plant in the cardboard zone, you have be careful to remove the turf around any 'holes' in the cardboard that you want to plant in - otherwise you'll end up with grass peeking through around the stems/trunks of whatever you plant.  Trust me...I know.   My problem is that I don't plan ahead enough and get the beds ready BEFORE I want to plant them.  So, why shouldn't I use some of this "Fall Planting" time to build out new/extend ex

I've organized my approach to the yard and garden season a few ways the past couple of years.  First, I think about some of the potential options for where/how I want to prioritize.  In terms of effort, budget, time and thinking.   Then, I narrow those down to create some focus.  What falls out of those initial priorities is my annual to-do list that helps keep me honest in terms of what I am trying to accomplish.  Last year - I did an early look at some priorities as a way to organize my thoughts .  A few days ago, I marked 20 years of Blogging and in that post, I referenced Paul Graham; and how he has said the act of writing generates ideas.  That's what is at play here.  I need to sketch out an approach and with it, will come some clarity. This is different than my annual to-do list.  Here's last year's scorecard - which is informative in terms of what worked/what didn't work/what's left remaining.  But, this is more about sketching out a list of priorities.

Yesterday, I created and published a lengthy - and winding - post about a potential front-yard garden transformation that is anchored in conifers and contains a potential 'path' through the middle.  In that post, I talked about using a berm in part to create some elevation change and I also sort-of came to the conclusion that I would certainly NEED to start in phases as the project is a multi-year planting (at least for me).  In that post, I concluded that based on some inspiration, I could (in theory) start down by the sidewalk with a small bed and expand from there.   One of the dependencies is the creation of the berm and the location for said berm.  My current thinking is that the berm is created if-and-only-if, I do some excavation for the pizza oven.  I would haul the material that I excavated from the back out to the front and build up a little berm on the driveway side of the front yard, down near the sidewalk.  I bring this all up, because I recently came across a pho

As part of my 2020 planting/buying plan, I've begun to focus on a couple of areas for prioritization.  We have SOOOO much to do in regards to buying new plants per our plan that I thought it would make sense to break things up into chunks.  The first one up on my priority list is this section of the landscape plan that is visible from our patio.  It calls for seven new Alice Oak Leaf Hydrangea bordered on one side by a series of Summer Beauty Allium and underplanted with Fanal Astilbe out front.  You'll see in the image above that I've called out 3 'columnar trees' in teal.  That's based on this tree-planning post .  We have three existing hydrangeas in this area - where the Oak Leaf ones are supposed to go - including this Tuff Stuff and this Everlasting Revolution and this teardown Limelight .  The first two were planted very small and have NOT bloomed, but the Limelight one that I transplanted bloomed last year , so I want to think about what to d

Over the years, I've been quietly (and not so quietly ) pining for the day when I can build a wood-fired oven in our backyard.  Between the lifestyle we have (with young kids) and this being a pretty hands-on, weekend-time-sucking project, it seemed like it wasn't ever quite time.  But now?  I'm still not sure it is the right time for tackling something like this - what with the digging of the foundation/footings, building the frame, then cutting and creating the dome from firebricks. But, I also want to - and need to - get going on the full planning for the #newoldbackyard including some fall tree/shrub plantings and hardscape upgrades, future water feature placement , the eventual placement of a vegetable garden and greenhouse, irrigation system, a sports court and more. At our old house in Elmhurst, we built out a backyard pavilion that we used to shelter us from the sun that housed our patio and I'm keen to replicate some parts of that with a new pavilion