Monthly Archives: January 2010

Jan 22 2010

January Thaw

I love the January thaw – it’s the perfect time to get out a little bit, tinker in the garden and think about warmer days to come.  I took the opportunity to dig around in the bottom of my composter and spread a little liquid gold around the base of my shrubs.  Now they will all be so happy in the Spring when they start their serious feeding.  All that fresh, natural fertilizer for the plants to take up. 

A few words about composting – no, it does not stink.  And yes, it is very, very easy.  And don’t worry, it does not take up much space. 

See how small and simple my compost bin is!

I have very limited space in my garden so I chose a simple composting bin with a bottom drawer to extract the yummy, nutrient rich dirt.  The process I use is very easy.  Whenever I’m cooking or fixing foods with fresh vegetables or fruits, I pull out an extra bowl, put all the scraps into it as I go, add the coffee filter and grounds from that morning, and walk it out to the composter right away.  I don’t want to have a bin on my counter, though there are some really pretty ones.  I know myself well enough to know that if I have a bin, it won’t get emptied often enough and will get yukky fast, so I keep my composter fairly close to the back door (remember, it does not stink) and just fill as I go.  I also have my husband trained to drop any old leaves or clippings into the composter.  No sticks, though.  I caught him trying to put sticks in there on Saturday.  It takes a long time for a stick to break down and I like instant gratification!

Composting is best done in layers of live and dead materials, which is why I mix in the coffee greens (dead/brown material) with the fruit and veggie scraps (live/green material).  It is best to mix more brown material than green material at about a 3:1 ratio.  That’s a lot of coffee, even for me so I work to add dead leaves, old pots of soil, grass clippings, and other brown materials from the yard.  If you’re good about layering the brown and green materials as you go, you really don’t need to mix the compost much.  If you’re light on brown materials, pulling some of the mature compost from the bottom and starting if over at the top of the bin can help.  But no pressure on the mixing, I think that can be a deal breaker for a composting rookie, so don’t let that stress you out if you just want to add stuff into the top. 

Give it a try.  I promise composting is easy.  And remember, it does not stink!  There is no easier way to green up your world a little bit – and your plants will reward you with all kinds of beautiful blooms!

Jan 21 2010

A Shady Garden Path

Pretty Shady Path

This shady walkway leads from the lower lawn area to the upper terrace.  It is a major thoroughfare for two certain populations:  5-8 year olds and 5-8 deer a day, so the plant selection was a bit of a challenge!  Even “deer-proof” plants were munched if it got hot and dry enough.  But we were not to be deterred, choosing instead to celebrate that the space was reclaimed – what had been a seldom-used area in the side yard now offers a nice view and a great path for whomever wants to venture down the woodland way! 
Jan 20 2010

A Courtyard Garden

The rear courtyard started as a small yard where no grass could grow.  The only use it had was the sidewalk that went from the rear door to the parking space.  The homeowners wanted a space they could use to entertain and enjoy the outdoors in this city courtyard.  We had to take advantage of every inch of space and really wanted to have plenty of plants to warm the area up.  Every bit of bed space was treated as a container, filled with the lots of plant material.

Seatwall doubles as a raised planting bed

We created a raised bed which doubled as a seat wall to give more space for guests.  The camellias will grow up a bit more to shield the neighboring courtyard.  The Japanese Maple is beautiful in all seasons – the dissected leaves can be appreciated up close in summer; in winter, the tree’s structure is beautiful and in fall the vibrant leaves will turn and add another dimension to the garden.

Inspiration for curves

We found the inspiration for the curved seatwall in the existing steps from the back door.  They had such a graceful line that we wanted to carry it into other parts of the courtyard.

Work in Progress

I had to include this shot just because I think it is so neat to watch the stone masons in action.  Something that is so solid when it is complete – and they make it look easy! 

Jan 20 2010

Containers Shield The View

Beautiful Large Container Screens Trashcans

As you can see, the trashcans are in close proximity to the seating area on this lovely patio.  We all have trash, lawn equipment, toys, or some form of gear that we’d like to hide.  A larger container planted with evergreen can provide a screen if your yard does not lend itself to separate storage and relaxing spaces.  All that needs to be changed in this container is the underplanting – seasonal annuals can be added twice a year for about $20. 

While the container does not create a full visual block, it is pretty enough that your eye will stop at the container and your guests can look at the flowers and not the bikes behind!  It’s a lot like putting out fresh flowers at home if you haven’t had time to dust!

Jan 20 2010

Small Courtyard Garden

The groundcover will fill in to create a lush, green bed

This small city garden has an exact match on the other side of the steps.  The symetrical front gardens on this home will give a nice green buffer between the sidewalk and the front porch.  There is some pedestrian traffic in front of the home so the garden provides a visual buffer and gives a bit of shade to someone sitting on the front porch.  The space is still open and inviting with a smaller variety of crepe myrtle  so the branches will grow up and out of the way of people on the steps and porch but not overwhelm the small bed.

I love the Green Velvet Boxwood for their rounded form.  It gives a nice structure to the bed and the pachysandra will seem like a thick, green carpet that the round boxwoods sit down in.

The walls were existing to the space but I love the simple parge coating on the block with the bluestone caps to give it a feel of formality that matches the brick stoop beautifully.

Jan 20 2010

A Welcoming Front Bed

New Plantings

Most people look at this picture and see lots of cute new little plants. I look at it and think tons of things at once:

  • Of the beautiful blooms the redbud will have when the neighboring dogwoods are in bloom
  • How happy a visitor will be when they step out of their car and smell the gardenia bushes
  • How fun it will be to clip hydrangea from the shrubs, never mind how pretty they’ll look mature, in bloom and spilling around the curve
  • How yummy the daphne will smell like when visitors are walking up the front walk in the middle of a February thaw
  • And finally, that hopefully a neighbor or the homeowner or someone who walks regularly in the neighborhood will love seeing a different plant in full glory every month of the year.
Jan 19 2010

A Patio and Fireplace To Use All Year

Espalliered Camellia Sasanqua

Fireplace is a beautiful addition to the patio
This upper patio created flow between the kitchen and family room

We created this patio to provide a warm space for entertaining all year.  An old deck was ripped out to make room for the upper patio area.  With doorways coming out of two separate rooms in the house, there was an opportunity to add dimension to the patio by creating two separate areas.  The upper level is easily accessible from the house.  It is large enough for a dining table with ample room to circulate between family room and kitchen when using the space.  The lower level has more of a lounging feel, furnished now with comfy chairs for hanging around the fire.  The raised planting bed allows for some seating along the edge and softens the lines  between the two spaces.  The fireplace also serves as a screen to block the play area in the driveway behind.  Structures on a patio are helpful to create a “back” to the patio and clearly defines the spaces in the back yard.  Hopefully the kids aren’t using the chimney as a backboard!  There’s a pretty espalliered camellia back there that I put in immediately so the very athletic children wouldn’t get the idea to use the surface! 

Jan 19 2010

A Favorite Patio-side Garden

newly installed perennial bed

We were just finishing up installation of this beautiful perennial bed when I snapped this shot.  I love the boxwood parterre that will fill in along the edge of the patio – it will hide any of the perennials past their prime, while the blooms of the active plants will show their beauty over the top of the mini-hedge.  I chose plants that will bloom at different times – the candytuft will start the show in March here.   It serves as a low border along the back of the bed.   Peonies, echinacea, aster and autumn sedum will take their turns in Spring, Summer and Fall.  And the Japanese Maple will shine in the winter when the beautiful structure of the tree is uplit and can be seen from inside. 

Perennial beds are a lot of work.  Can’t get around the deadheading and care, but making the bed small makes it manageable and tucking it behind boxwoods lends structure to the space and hides some of the work that may need to be done!

Jan 19 2010

Winter planning for Spring enjoyment

I love this stage!

It does not look like much now, but in a few short weeks, this space will become a beautiful patio with a series of retaining walls to delineate planting beds and lawn space.  Since this photo, the retaining walls have been roughed in and the concrete base to the patio has been poured.  Next to go in will be the firebox and chimney structure.   The early stage in the installation process is so much fun because the design is just starting to take shape.  You can see the bed and wall lines coming into form and really something that made you happy on paper lift up into real life.  So much fun!

We started planning for this in October and it should be done and ready for entertaining by March.  I’ll keep posting the progress.  Stone work starts next week but what I’m really excited for is to get the plants picked out!