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June 6, 2006
Brownstoner Garden: Planting Gowanus Booty
Here's how the garden looked on Sunday afternoon after doing the first wave of planting.
Previously: Contractor's About Done [Brownstoner]
Comments
It looks great! Congrats!!
Posted by: OMB at June 6, 2006 10:58 AM
ditto!
Posted by: keep at June 6, 2006 11:22 AM
yah, nice job! the photos from this vantage reveal the yard to be much more spacious than the 'aerial' shots looked. do you have patio furntiure yet?
Posted by: Jimmy Legs at June 6, 2006 11:29 AM
no furniture yet...any recommendations or trying to get rid of something?
Posted by: Mrs. brownstoner at June 6, 2006 11:38 AM
Very nice result in a relatively short period of time. Congrats.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 6, 2006 11:40 AM
just fantastic. so jealous.
Posted by: renogirl at June 6, 2006 12:07 PM
Looks beautiful, except.....I highly suggest investing in a rain barrel for the long term, instead of the sprinkler. Click on: www.greatamericanrainbarrel.com
Posted by: gidget at June 6, 2006 12:22 PM
Where will you put the BBQ grill?
Posted by: anon at June 6, 2006 12:33 PM
Can we see a shot of the neighbor's yard too?
Posted by: Anonymous at June 6, 2006 12:46 PM
really nice! I am trying to figure out what to do with my little kensington garden. is there a site or somewhere I can look for ideas for small city gardens? everywhere I look its all about someone's big suburban backyard.
Posted by: dg at June 6, 2006 1:04 PM
question for all you yard owners here...
do any of you own a lawnmower? what are you going to do with that grass in 2 weeks? scissors?
Posted by: benno at June 6, 2006 1:28 PM
push mower. and scissors.
Posted by: linusvanpelt at June 6, 2006 1:34 PM
My garden is mostly garden (i.e. not grass.) I have one small area where I laid sod and a flagstone path. I use regular hedge clippers on it. Takes about 10 minutes or so. No need for a mower.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 6, 2006 1:49 PM
i have a lovely plaid fabric lawn chair and a rotting wooden table i bought years ago at the now-defunct OddJobb. and i just finished a new table built out of an old door i found in somebody's trash. but i suspect you have slightly more sophisticated tastes :)
ugh, cutting the grass sucks! i have one of those yard weeder things (like a cross between a scythe and a golf club) and an ancient push mower that basically just flattens the grass. i wanna get a 24HP riding lawnmower for my 10'x15' plot!
Posted by: Jimmy Legs at June 6, 2006 2:33 PM
I use a 1920s oak and iron push mower I bought for $5 at Salvation Army for my first garden apartment in the So. Slope in 1970 (the one my mother referred to as "that filthy basement slum").
I had it adjusted once by an itinerant knife sharpener about 15 years ago. It cuts the grass in my small Midwood Street garden in about 15 minutes (and I spend about 1/2 that time moving lawn furniture). I've always wanted a John Deere lawn tractor, but my wife says "no way" :-)
Posted by: Bob Marvin at June 6, 2006 3:00 PM
I don't know what everyone else does but we bought an electric mower last year. We torture our neighbors for 5 minutes at a stretch and then it's done. Some of our neighbors use weed whackers. And one, incredibly, does use scissors.
Posted by: figlet at June 6, 2006 3:06 PM
LL Bean has a some nice affordable classic outdoor furniture. LLBEAN.COM. We just got the white adirondeck chairs which are weatherproof and look great. DWR.com has nice outdoor dining tables...A bit pricier and more modern looking.
Posted by: Nelson at June 6, 2006 3:52 PM
I recommend Country Casual if you're interested in teak furniture. Teak is beautiful and will last forever -- well worth the investment. (Of course, there's always Smith & Hawken, but I believe Country Casual may be a bit cheaper.)
Posted by: Park Sloper at June 6, 2006 5:13 PM
We have an pushmower that we don't use anymore if you want it. Works great cutting the grass, but raking it is a pain. Have since upgraded to a small electric mower. Where are the herbs?
Posted by: cwarren at June 6, 2006 5:52 PM
BTW: You should water your grass in the morning or evening. In the direct sun, water drops act like little magnifying glasses and harm the grass blades...
Posted by: Anonymous at June 6, 2006 5:52 PM
Country Casual may be cheaper - but in my experience the quality leaves a lot to be desired vs. S&H. Ordered a round dining table and six chairs from them last summer and had to return three of the chairs due to major structural defects, cracking etc. They were very good about handling replacements but overall product certainly seems inferior.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 6, 2006 5:54 PM
Lowe's sells a cute, tiny little push mower. Takes me 3-5 minutes to mow our 8' x 13' lawn. Love the sound of the whirring blades, the smell of the 3-in-1 I clean it with, and it's bright orange too -- so what's not to love?
For garden furniture, we have a great table-and-chair set we bought from Crate and Barrel 3 years ago (but the design is very 1960s). Black metal: iron or alumiminum -- I'm not sure which. The finish is baked on and is showing no wear or tear at all after 2 winters and total neglect from us. I gotta bet it's lower maintenance than any wood furniture.
Congrats on your beautiful new garden. You have a great canvas -- filling it in will be fun. Even 'though you've said previously that you want a low maintenance garden, I kinda suspect you're catching the gardening bug. I hope so -- it's fabulous therapy for stressed out urbanites.
Posted by: Anon at June 6, 2006 5:54 PM
Face,
Might take you up on that manual mower...
Posted by: Brownstoner at June 6, 2006 9:02 PM
brownstoner:
did you do lighting in the backyard?
Posted by: Anonymous at June 6, 2006 10:25 PM
Nope. Gonna fire up the Tiki torches.
Posted by: Brownstoner at June 7, 2006 9:08 AM
Looks beautiful, Mr. & Mrs. B. Enjoy!
Posted by: Bx2Bklyn at June 7, 2006 5:28 PM
Push mower is the way to go. Have to pop out to garage at some point and see what model it is. And it has a grass catcher. Makes cleanup raking go faster.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 8, 2006 12:23 AM
Be careful with planting to many hostas. Slug city!
Posted by: Alisa at June 8, 2006 5:48 PM
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