Back Yard Photos & Plants : 2002 |
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The one thing about the back yard that aggravated me was that, as the summer went on, with all the traffic across it and the hot, dry weather, the grass got worse and worse. It was actually greener in February than in September. I'm hopeful that, as we shouldn't need to traipse across the lawn as much this year and with the added help of the "recipes" in the Jerry Baker book, the lawn will recover quickly in 2003.
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Throughout July and August my roomie kept adding rose beds and trying to keep up with all the pruning and weeding and watering. We fought black spot off-and-on all summer. Started trying some of the chemical sprays, but ended up settling on alternating spray treatments of a milk-and-water mixture and a baking-soda-and-water mixture. I guess you just have to keep the pH of the leaves slightly acidic or slightly the other way and the fungus can't really take hold. We had aphids for a couple of weeks, too, but we used chemicals on them. Next year we'll look for more natural alternatives. I picked up a copy of 
At the end of August, we put in one last rose bed along the fence with a climbing "Dawn" rose and several shrub roses in front of it. All are supposed to be winter-hardy in our Zone 5 climate; we'll see come spring.
My contributions to the back yard were relatively limited. I helped select the climbing Hydrangeas, the Rose Pentas, and the hanging baskets. I helped dig most of the beds, and hauled dirt away. I tried to start some ferns in one corner (by the patio, under the black walnut tree), but they didn't do so well. Next year I'll amend the soil more and try starting with bigger plants. It would probably also help if I remembered to water them regularly the first months! I also built a raised bed at the back of the yard using the interlocking landscape stone. I planted it with the 3 shrubs I salvaged from the front of the house. I'm still hopeful they'll recover, but if they don't survive the winter, out they go. Originally the raised bed was to hide our pile of dirt, but eventually (maybe in 2003??) I'll put in pavers behind it and build a small storage shed for the lawn mower and garden tools. I'd also like to extend it forward some, at a slightly lower level, then put a small water pool at the base of that section and run a hose up to the top level and pump water from the pool so it can cascade down from the top to the 2nd level and then down again into the pool. OK, I'm dreaming long-range again, but it would be nice, wouldn't it? ...
Here I'm clearing out the last of the dirt from behind the raised bed.