Why I Oughta...

I've found myself drawn to a creator on TikTok named "Artful Roger" who combines his love of gardening with his other interests (like building miniature things, vintage Christmas and interior design).  I'm much more likely to 'swipe' up/past the miniatures/interior/tablescape design videos, but I never skip one of his garden TikToks.  And...as I've shown...I'm a sucker for Vintage Christmas.   In a series of videos, he posted about how he created what he calls a "Micropond" in his backyard.  Here's one of the videos showing the completed project - linked here - and embedded below: @endtable Here are the pond details. #micropond #gardenpond #waterfeature #gardenwaterfeature #artfulrodger #gardeningbasics ♬ Happy - Calming Tune The photo at the top of this post is a screenshot from that very TikTok.  There's a lot to like about this.  Boulders that he found on-site.  The use of mixed materials like the driftwood.  Pea grave

In May, I planted my third Japanese Maple tree - a small, container-grown Emperor 1 Acer palmatum that is upright and carries red foliage.  In that post, I mentioned that while it was the third Japanese Maple that I planted, I had lost one - a Tamukeyama weeping tree- so, I was really on number two.  Today, I'm planting another Japanese Maple that checks some of the boxes:  weeping and lace-leaf.  But, it is also green.  My first green Japanese Maple.   Back in December, I mused about how I should add a 'few Japanese Maples' to the garden this year .  Going from one to three is 'a few', I suppose.  But, I'll let the cat out of the bag - I'm not done this year.  (eek!). That post from 2022 referenced this original overview (get to know) post showing a few Japanese Maples that work for Zone 5b .  On that list was a tree called a Virdis Japanese Maple.  Well... according to Mr. Maple , the Virdis is also known as the Waterfall Japanese Maple.  From Mr. Maple

There I was....minding my own business scrolling through gardening instagram when I came across this post from....guess who?  Yep.  Erin the Impatient Gardener.  You know....the online gardener who gardens in Southern Wisconsin who I have posted about a bunch and continues to show me/teach me new things.  Here's her post below: View this post on Instagram A post shared by E R I N🌿The Impatient Gardener (@impatientgardener) Wait....What the what?  What's is this?  A Rill?!?!   I am going to admit something:  I have NEVER HEARD of a rill.  Like...this was that time when a girl in like 2nd grade mentioned something called a "Panda Bear".  I was blown away.  Never heard of a Panda Bear.  And...then..... *boom* Suddenly, this cute black and white bear was in my life.   That's how I feel about a garden rill.  This is NEW TO ME.    Sure, I've heard of water features.  Ponds, streams, waterfalls.  Even fountains .  But a rill?  I had to look aro

Last Winter, I posted a little backyard garden dream about a stock tank pond based on Erin the Impatient Gardener having set one up a few years back .  I thought it was a unique way to add a water feature to the garden - and one WITHOUT fish - but rather focused on aquatic plants.  At that time, the problem that I was facing was access to an affordable stock tank.  Between the supply chain issues and pandemic-induced staying-at-home, stock tanks were either not available or the shipping was a killer.  So, imagine my delight when I walked up to the local Big Box store this past week and I see these beauties out front: On the left are rings.  Not tanks.  Fire pits are the intended use, I think.   The most expensive ones ($129) are these online - 2' wide x 2' tall x 4' wide .  And, despite the HD listing not showing the capacity in gallons, I'm pretty sure it is 100 gallons ( based on this Tractor Supply listing ).   That seems like a good capacity to start on something li

Could it be quarantine that is getting to me?  Seems likely.  As I'm now dreaming about the installation of a small pond and waterfall in our backyard.   This isn't a new idea, as I've posted about water features over the years here on the blog - including a schematic that showed how it could work across our yard in February .  Today, I'm sharing this photo of a spot that is adjacent to our back patio that I'm now focusing my attention on in terms of initial pond placement.   Below, you can see a schematic (new one) of what I'm thinking (currently) about where things could go and how they'd work together.  Importantly, I'm trying to think about this in phases and making sure that we can make future phases work with the initial undertaking.    The new schematic calls for a pond located to the south of the patio with a small berm and waterfall that is backed up to where the air conditioning units are located.  Then, utilizing the existing grad

In the past couple of posts, I've talked about the need for backyard planning in our #newoldbackyard including the placement of a potential pizza oven and pavilion and my desire (despite Nat's properly-grounded resistance) to incorporate a waterfall/water feature into the 'entrance' of the backyard along with some stone stairs .   Because we've been so deliberate about all the choices that went into our New Old Farmhouse, I thought it was only appropriate that we enlisted some professionals when thinking about phase 2 of our landscape design and specifically to help us figure out the best way to provide some privacy screening and transition from the front yard to the backyard - as this will be the main traffic route for us and guests.  If you look back at this post that shows the pizza oven placement options , you can see the existing patio that we are working with and if you peek back at this post that shows a photo of this so-called 'entrance' to the

I've posted quite a bit on the blog here about the #newoldbackyard this summer as we've begun to grow into in and start to use.  I've noted a few areas of concern including what I'm calling the ' entrance' to the yard and some sightlines/privacy-needing areas .  I've begun to solve one of these areas with the espalier'd Linden trees .  And, most recently, I've enlisted some professional help with thinking through the layout and design of the 'entrance' part of the yard on the north. One of the things that I've shared with the landscape designer is this video that you see below as some inspiration.  If you look back at the post showing the 'entrance' , you'll note the grade difference from where our patio is located down to the bottom of the fence.  There's quite a big of grade difference that we're currently managing with just flagstone steppers.  What if there was a better way?  With stairs, plantings and....wai

There's this spot on the rear/side of our house - right next to the screened-in porch and behind the garage that is sandwiched up against the fence and is on a grade appears to be the likely 'entry point' for our backyard.  Right now, it is grass (some of it yellowed!) and a few stepper stones that you can see above.  The concrete pad that you see on the left is the bottom of a few steps that come out of my office and is right behind one that comes out from the side door of our garage.  Behind where I'm standing when I took this photo is one of the fence gates. The grade poses a problem and that's revealed by the current installation.  You have to kind of walk sideways on the pavers as they make the turn on their angles.  It is *fine* for now.  But, not ideal. The first thing that pops into my mind is to contemplate how we engineer or build out a little footbridge that incorporates a water feature/pond.  I can imagine excavating a good portion of the area whe