I just noticed that it has been two years since this blog began!
It has been two years since that first little bit of scratching around began work on the new house!
If you want to see the Yard and Garden work around the new house, start on the post linked here.
August 20, 2008
More Roses...
I've been busy.... it has been hot here in Montana... and everything needs watering every other day. I have only so much water/water pressure... since we pump from the Milk River... and it is some distance from the pump. So, it takes some 'creative' planning to get the one sprinkler back to whatever plants need it.. when they need it! :)
I've decided mowing grass is fun... especially when you've been without! :)
Here is a recent photo, from August 7th:
And another view... looking back toward the house:
(yes, I need to finish the sidwalk!)
More roses:
I've decided mowing grass is fun... especially when you've been without! :)
Here is a recent photo, from August 7th:
And another view... looking back toward the house:
(yes, I need to finish the sidwalk!)
More roses:
Morden Sunrise
This next rose is one of my all time favorites:
Mary Rose ... it blooms well, is very fragrant... tolerates many different situations... and will usually survive our winters with minimal protection (grandly comes through with proper protection)
This is Petal Pushers:
Oh, and I have hauled in more manure and goat pen bedding!!!!!
My mom is coming in a day or two to look at my yard.... and I have been frantically pulling/mowing weeds, and trimming, digging... and rushing around. Other things have been happening... like a fox and an owl stealing my chickens (LOTS!!), and the usual rush of summer work! I haven't done any housework for nearly a month, so if Mom will be coming in the house when she visits, I had best do some major cleaning too! :)
This next rose is one of my all time favorites:
Mary Rose ... it blooms well, is very fragrant... tolerates many different situations... and will usually survive our winters with minimal protection (grandly comes through with proper protection)
This is Petal Pushers:
Oh, and I have hauled in more manure and goat pen bedding!!!!!
My mom is coming in a day or two to look at my yard.... and I have been frantically pulling/mowing weeds, and trimming, digging... and rushing around. Other things have been happening... like a fox and an owl stealing my chickens (LOTS!!), and the usual rush of summer work! I haven't done any housework for nearly a month, so if Mom will be coming in the house when she visits, I had best do some major cleaning too! :)
July 31, 2008
Hot Summer... but some plants are blooming!
The good news: I have been MOWING LAWN!
The bad news: until this past week, I wasn't cutting grass, only weeds.
But this last time I mowed, the grass was tall enough that I actually cut the grass itself... and when I was done, you could see big patches of grass!
It actually looks like a lawn now! :)
And there may be a lot of weeds, but no perennial weeds, and even in the thinnest patches, there are grass plants every 6 inches or less! So, I feel that next spring will see enough grass to compete with any annual weeds that may sprout! YIPPEE!!!
The patio area on July 18, looking from the front door at the same angle as the 'raining photo':
and a few days later on July 24, looking in the opposite direction, back toward the front door:
Here is a Hope For Humanity rose... which came so very small and weak looking, starting off so very slowly.... and I haven't mulched it yet...... AND it still is blooming it's head off. The color in this photo is a bit 'neon' looking, but the red color is very eye catching, and nearly this color.
Another Canadian bred rose: Morden Snow Beauty. This one is a low growing, groundcover type of rose, but it is so very fragrant, and this first-year plant was just covered with blossoms!
We have had excellent luck with Canadian bred roses wintering over here in Montana... even though we still cover/protect them each fall.
Anyway....
Just had to post a few photos.... I have flowers and grass! :)
The bad news: until this past week, I wasn't cutting grass, only weeds.
But this last time I mowed, the grass was tall enough that I actually cut the grass itself... and when I was done, you could see big patches of grass!
It actually looks like a lawn now! :)
And there may be a lot of weeds, but no perennial weeds, and even in the thinnest patches, there are grass plants every 6 inches or less! So, I feel that next spring will see enough grass to compete with any annual weeds that may sprout! YIPPEE!!!
The patio area on July 18, looking from the front door at the same angle as the 'raining photo':
and a few days later on July 24, looking in the opposite direction, back toward the front door:
Here is a Hope For Humanity rose... which came so very small and weak looking, starting off so very slowly.... and I haven't mulched it yet...... AND it still is blooming it's head off. The color in this photo is a bit 'neon' looking, but the red color is very eye catching, and nearly this color.
Another Canadian bred rose: Morden Snow Beauty. This one is a low growing, groundcover type of rose, but it is so very fragrant, and this first-year plant was just covered with blossoms!
We have had excellent luck with Canadian bred roses wintering over here in Montana... even though we still cover/protect them each fall.
Anyway....
Just had to post a few photos.... I have flowers and grass! :)
June 3, 2008
We Finally Had Rain!
Here in Montana, we have been VERY DRY... a month ago, we were seriously concerned about summer pasture for the cattle. I mean: there just wasn't any grass even beginning to green up! It was severe enough, the cattle were turned into the hay/forage fields. That is a 'last resort' type of thing, as grazing hay fields could cut production by half -- or even more.
A week ago, it did rain... boy, did it rain! We got 2.3 inches! It came slowly, raining off and on for four days. Overnight, the hills began to show green! Things began to look up!
OH, I WAS GLAD I HAD PLANTED MY GRASS the morning it began to rain. I played in the mud, planting a few things as it rained.
It cleared off, and I began to move things from the greenhouse to the flower beds. The patio and front of the house began to take shape.
Yesterday afternoon, I got a phone call from my mother, saying a hail/rain storm was heading our way. It had been very severe in her area, with drifts of hail stones still laying in her yard.
The sky to the west of us was dark and blue... and I could hear thunder in the distance.
I frantically put up 'shingles' around some of the newly set plants, while I covered most of the roses with pots and garbage cans. Of course, I hauled in rocks and cement blocks to weigh them down. I carried the pots and misc. plants that I could lift back into the greenhouse.
Then I went into the house and waited. The thunder got closer.
It began to rain slowly and softly. Then a few tiny hail stones fell.
Suddenly the sky opened and it just dumped! We got 8 tenths in about 20 minutes.
I took a few photos from the front door.
At least it was a test of my grading away from the house! It all seemed to work! Everything ran away and didn't puddle up, considering we still don't have eaves on the house.
I was going to post a nice, pretty photo of the newly planted patio bed, but I guess this 'muddy' photo will do for now! :)
A week ago, it did rain... boy, did it rain! We got 2.3 inches! It came slowly, raining off and on for four days. Overnight, the hills began to show green! Things began to look up!
OH, I WAS GLAD I HAD PLANTED MY GRASS the morning it began to rain. I played in the mud, planting a few things as it rained.
It cleared off, and I began to move things from the greenhouse to the flower beds. The patio and front of the house began to take shape.
Yesterday afternoon, I got a phone call from my mother, saying a hail/rain storm was heading our way. It had been very severe in her area, with drifts of hail stones still laying in her yard.
The sky to the west of us was dark and blue... and I could hear thunder in the distance.
I frantically put up 'shingles' around some of the newly set plants, while I covered most of the roses with pots and garbage cans. Of course, I hauled in rocks and cement blocks to weigh them down. I carried the pots and misc. plants that I could lift back into the greenhouse.
Then I went into the house and waited. The thunder got closer.
It began to rain slowly and softly. Then a few tiny hail stones fell.
Suddenly the sky opened and it just dumped! We got 8 tenths in about 20 minutes.
I took a few photos from the front door.
At least it was a test of my grading away from the house! It all seemed to work! Everything ran away and didn't puddle up, considering we still don't have eaves on the house.
I was going to post a nice, pretty photo of the newly planted patio bed, but I guess this 'muddy' photo will do for now! :)
April 20, 2008
Patio is taking shape!
The total number of tractor-bucket loads of dirt and manure is now to 78! but I think I am nearly completed with three sides of the house. I actually 'heeled in' some perennials that my mother in law sent home with me.... and 99% of the patio and step is done.
I still have work on the sidewalk, edging between the gravel driveway and the lawn area, the beds around the patio and the foundation planting areas, etc.
Here is a photo of the 'patio'.... it is not completed yet, but I had to put out my table and chairs! :)
I have laid and then redone half of the walk to the driveway! I can't seem to keep it straight, and I am using lines, and squares!
I finally realized that the 'square' pavers I had bought at 'the cheapest place' were not exactly square! So now if one doesn't butt exactly up against the first, I just rotate it until it fits better.
Not exactly correct, but it will have to do, for this 'do it yourself' project!
I still have work on the sidewalk, edging between the gravel driveway and the lawn area, the beds around the patio and the foundation planting areas, etc.
Here is a photo of the 'patio'.... it is not completed yet, but I had to put out my table and chairs! :)
I have laid and then redone half of the walk to the driveway! I can't seem to keep it straight, and I am using lines, and squares!
I finally realized that the 'square' pavers I had bought at 'the cheapest place' were not exactly square! So now if one doesn't butt exactly up against the first, I just rotate it until it fits better.
Not exactly correct, but it will have to do, for this 'do it yourself' project!
April 7, 2008
Serious Landscaping Has Begun!!!
Spring is 'not yet arrived' here in Montana. Nights are still in the low teens (F) and the daytimes are lucky to get into the fifties. Just in the past several days, have the south-slopes of small hills begun to show a tint of green. Even the weeds are not yet sprouting along the south edge of the roadways.
However, I am hard at work around the new house. It is really in a stage of discouragement, rather than excitement.... but I am hoping any day will bring a turning point!
The official total of tractor bucket-loads of dirt, manure, etc. hauled in around the house is now at 63! That does include last year's efforts, but the 14 this year have been the ones that need to be spread around by hand shoveling!!!!!
I think that is what is so discouraging: For every load I haul in, I see where I need two more! And each pile of manure or dirt simply seems to disappear when I start throwing it around!
BUT, in reality, things are getting better, and I must keep reminding myself that all the time I put into the soil now will mean so much in the future success of any planting I will do for years to come!
In the past, I have tried to use 'shortcuts' in preparing a new planting area... and it doesn't work well!
Well, have to run now... lots of baby animals here on the ranch.... and that means hours of chores! And then back to more shoveling!
I'll be back soon with some 'before' photos and some graphics of my design plans!
Mrs. John
However, I am hard at work around the new house. It is really in a stage of discouragement, rather than excitement.... but I am hoping any day will bring a turning point!
The official total of tractor bucket-loads of dirt, manure, etc. hauled in around the house is now at 63! That does include last year's efforts, but the 14 this year have been the ones that need to be spread around by hand shoveling!!!!!
I think that is what is so discouraging: For every load I haul in, I see where I need two more! And each pile of manure or dirt simply seems to disappear when I start throwing it around!
BUT, in reality, things are getting better, and I must keep reminding myself that all the time I put into the soil now will mean so much in the future success of any planting I will do for years to come!
In the past, I have tried to use 'shortcuts' in preparing a new planting area... and it doesn't work well!
Well, have to run now... lots of baby animals here on the ranch.... and that means hours of chores! And then back to more shoveling!
I'll be back soon with some 'before' photos and some graphics of my design plans!
Mrs. John
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