Sunday, May 10, 2009

Fun Monday - How does your garden grow?

Yeah, yeah.. I know it's been a week since I posted anything. I've been busy and lazy and when I get to the computer, I either have conversations with my friends Chris or Margaret on FB, play InkBall, or just shut the thing down and go to bed. My mind has been a bit of a blank.

I'm here now and it's time again for FUN MONDAY!!!

Faye's our hostess and she's decided on a proper springtime topic for this week:

I'm asking you to think about gardening. Do you consider yourself a gardener? Or, just the lawn keeper? When you think of your home, is it important that there are growing and flowering plants in your home landscape?

Regardless of where you live--from a city apartment to a farm--do you need to grow something, even if it's a pot of geraniums on the patio? Do you grow your own food or have childhood memories of helping parents or grandparents grow a vegetable garden?

Do you look forward to Saturday morning expeditions to local farmer's markets to buy the first strawberries or asparagus of the season and talk with the local farmers? Are there public gardens that you love to visit? What do you learn from them? Do you think it's important to teach your children and grandchildren about growing beautiful vegetables and flowers?

Oh, man, Faye. When I signed up for this, I told you my post could be the comic relief because I was BORN with a brown thumb.

I have even managed to kill an air plant. I didn't do anything to it. I was just in the same room with it. A lot. And it died.

I would LOVE to be a gardener though. One that didn't kill everything she planted. I do have a house with a yard and I really, really, really want to landscape it with flower beds and vegetable beds... But even here, I've managed to wield the brown thumb:


It was beautiful the first spring we were here. Then came the second...

IMG_3474 dead tree

I suppose the front yard is presentable enough. The grass is green and healthy-looking even though there's dollar weed patches throughout. We have a bed in the front:

front bed
Front bed - empty Grandma's flower

And then there's the back. Tall grass, defunct pool (DM promises it's coming out this week), defunct hot tub (I'm actually a little scared to go into that mosquito nursery - they're going to eat me alive!), lots of dog poo (I spared you the visuals), a deck we never use, old pool toys, and in the places where there isn't tall grass... there's no grass at all. In fact, the dogs are creating a little Grand Canyon out there - or maybe a shortcut to China.

Tall grass defunct pool
mosquito nursery unused deck
pool toys China shortcut

Yes. That is an old wheelchair you see in that last picture. My son "rescued" it from a trash heap, brought it home, played with it all of 10 minutes, then promptly forgot it. I think I might try to sneak it out to the trash pile next Thursday.

It is rather depressing actually.

However, if you know me, you know that I see this as a CHALLENGE. I've got PLANS. When that pool comes out? Sod. Raised vegetable garden. Blueberry bushes. Pruned azaleas. The hottub/mosquito nursery is gonna come out too. We'll try to salvage the building so ZBoy can have a "tree house" since there are no appropriate trees around. The unused deck? Most of it will come out and a small fish pond and water garden will be added (with a fence to keep the dogs out of it.

The front yard is more easily remedied. Clean up the front bed. Make it mostly succulents and grasses and get rid of the stuff that's not. I'd like to pull out the boxwood hedge across the front and make a rose bed in front of the porch. I have always wanted to grow roses and now that there's such a thing as a knockout rose, I might just realize my dream.

And now you know what I'm going to be working on this summer! Along with Z's bathroom and maybe the kitchen.

My eyes are always bigger than my stomach.

16 comments:

Mariposa said...

I still love the green carpet!

And looks like you have lots of things in your hand... ;)

Faye said...

I would have a hard time enjoying gardening in your place because you probably have to be very careful in plant selection to avoid being a slave to the watering hose.

Word to the wise--don't try to grow roses and dogs in the same spot. I did and the dogs won--no roses in my backyard now--even though I had them in raised boxes.

Just think about all that good re-modeling you tackle on the inside and don't worry about the landscape.

Peter said...

Anything you can kill I can kill quicker, I can kill anything quicker than you!!!!!

Ari_1965 said...

If I were an Old Maid card, I would be Patty Plantkiller.

Boxwoods are iffy in zone 4a, so the 3 small ones started by the previous houseowner didn't make it through the winter. I have one whole bed in which nothing survived the winter, not even hostas.

I love the idea of having blueberry bushes.

Jan n Jer said...

You do have your work cut out for you Sayre. Landscape and gardens are a lot of work and you have to keep after them. Sounds like you have a good plan for zero scape. When I lived in Fl, I found out about dollar weed, It drove my hubby crazy and the st augustine grass looks like our crab grass here in the N.E. Our house plants here in the north are your outside plants in Fl. I love all the palms, sagos are my favorite. Good luck on your future project, we will expect a blog about it along with photos.

Jill said...

you cant really blame yourself for a TREE! those just die anyway. you cant do much except maybe give them water, they should be hardy enough on their own. anyway, good luck. i am just dying to get our own piece of heaven so i can do anything with it, doesnt matter what!

Jan said...

Step at a time, is the best policy. Your yard had great potential. I'll quietly disagree with Faye re: dogs and roses. I've always had roses, over 40 years, and always had dogs, all my life. Shh.

Beckie said...

You have ambitious plans! It will look lovely when it is done.

I wish I would have participated in this FM - I do love gardening, but my garden is never quite the way I want it to be.

Anonymous said...

Knockout Roses survive chickens! They thrive! Don;t forget, I have a tiller. dad

Unknown said...

Nice pool, ours was pitch black. Eww...
I am trying my luck with gardening this year. If it works I'll post pictures.

Living Life said...

It sounds like you have it all planned out! And I can't wait to see the finished results!

movin down the road said...

I'll take a picture tomorrow, but my garden is two pots of purple pansies in front of my front door to my condo.

Gattina said...

There is only one solution ! Do like I did. Put plastic everywhere and tree barks on it (weeds die automatically under the plastic, so you don't even have to pull them out) and then you can put on it some pots with fake flowers or plants that resists your bad influence. Then you only have to mow the lawn.
I am a garden consultant for lazy people, lol !

Sai Hijara - Ferraris said...

Hi! I guess you already know I'm hosting next weeks Fun Monday. Check it out and sign up now... ;-)

Sandcastle Momma said...

I know how you feel. My mother can look at a plant and it will thrive but I am the plant slayer LOL Hubby's grandmother was an avid gardener and used to give me plants all of the time. Then one day I admired something she had and she told me she wasn't sending another plant to my house to die LOL
I have really good luck with palms and aloe plants. No matter what I do or don't do to them they just don't die.
I'm on a mission to regrow the grass in our yard but between the hoard of boys always running through my yard, the dogs and the dollar weeds I'm not real hopeful.

m (the misanthrope) said...

Oops - I thought that my FM rounds included you! Sorry I missed out on the day. Anyway - I think your front yard is lovely! And I adore that deck...gorgeous. I am also jealous that you live in a state that boasts so many palm trees. Palm trees are my absolute favorite tree. I just feel happy whenever I see them. *sigh* I need a Florida fix!