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The grass is always greener…when it’s fertilized!

Peter and I are having a love affair with Golf Green fertilizer. How could we not fall in love with something that took our “lawn” from this…

Frame_13-Tripp-June 2013 (4)to this…

Lawn-spring 2013…in just three short months! That was last summer, our first summer in our new-to-us old house. We’ve worked on the planting beds and made some great progress.

Last spring (2013)…one ugly upright juniper and a couple of starving evergreen shrubs made up the entire landscaping picture.

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Today (August 2014)…a lush, well-fed planting bed that receives daily TLC. The flowering shrub is a Hydrangea tree–so pretty!

~~Front shrubs-2-13 TRIPP AUG 2 2014 (14)

The photo below shows the planting bed under the living room window and in front of the fireplace chimney. It’s a bit of a challenge due to sun conditions, but still much better than it was when we first laid eyes on it last spring.

``Front bed under LR window-13 TRIPP AUG 2 2014 (4)

I’ve converted the space along the side of the garage from a rock bed to a perennial bed. It’s brand new, so it will be next summer before it becomes the dazzling showpiece I’m hoping for…I’m an eternal optimist and I do have high hopes!!

The lamp post is slowly becoming a focal point,too. The Forsythia bush is new this year, but is making great strides. I think next spring I will add something with more colour. I’m still trying to find a way to keep the weeds from growing between the  edging stones–it’s a never-ending job. Any ideas?

~~Lamp post

I turned the stone bed that runs along the side of the garage into a perennial bed. It’s all new this year, but I know by next summer it will be photo-worthy. To ensure a pretty garden from spring to fall, I was careful to choose plants of different heights and blooming times.

~~Plant bed along garage-13 TRIPP AUG 2 2014 (33)

On the other side of the walk is a five-foot chain link fence that doesn’t offer any privacy. But, we’re addressing that issue with very fast growing vines. In another year or two, this will be a wall of beautiful green leaves.

~~Vines on side fence-13 TRIPP AUG 2 2014 (34)

We feel very blessed to have a home in a quiet suburban neighbourhood. We may not be changing the world, but we are making our little piece of heaven prettier and prettier. I hope you enjoy following our progress. There’s so much more to come!!

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We have sunshine in our yard!

In my last post, our big old, dirty and rotting Silver Maple tree was being cut down, one nasty branch at a time. We lost a tree, but we gained a clean and sunny backyard. Yay!

Now we’re working hard to create the garden of our dreams. We’re just out of the starting gate, but we’re starting to see a little bit of progress. Another couple of summers and our yard will be our own private little haven.

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Remember this? That’s what our yard used to look like every day. We swept and hosed and threw around a few colourful words, but nothing helped. We couldn’t even use our gazebo because of the flying filth from the tree!

Check out the photo below. That’s our nice clean patio, now. Much better, don’t you think?

I’ve planted very aggressive vines strategically along the fence, as well as some shrubs which don’t really stand out in the photo…yet!

 

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I’ve started creating a garden bed around the patio. It will be so pretty with many varieties of Hostas and ground cover. Here it is in it’s infancy. I need to put some sort of edging around it to keep the grass out…and lots of mulch to keep the weeds at bay. The Hostas will come out of their pots, of course.

13 TRIPP AUG 2 2014 (28)--Patio garden bed

Here’s the stump of what was once a 42-year-old, 80′ tree. I kind of like that old stump! Peter is going to hollow out the inside of the stump and put a big flower pot in it. Then, I’ll do some creative planting in it and it might just become a focal point in our garden.

13 TRIPP AUG 2 2014 (29)--the old stump

Before the tree was removed, grass simply wouldn’t grow in our yard. The root system of that huge tree drained the soil of moisture and everything we planted was stunted or slowly perished. Now, although we’re dealing with lots of bare spots and weeds, at least we’re starting to see green. And it’s spreading like…well, weeds!! Some grass seed and fertilizer will have this pathetic yard looking like a golf course in no time. If you think this is bad have a look at what our front lawn looked like last year, which was our first year in the house. A bag of Golf Green really can make miracles happen. (Please excuse the mess, it is a work in progress, but it will be pristine when we’re finished).

13 TRIPP AUG 2 2014 (27)-- back lawnIf you’d like to follow of our battle with the weeds, keeping coming back to see our progress. Lots more photos to come! Happy gardening, everyone! (P.S. Remember, we’re doing all this ourselves AND on a budget…but, we love a challenge!)