Getting Our Hands Dirty in the Garden
We got cracking on our garden this weekend. Our contractor had removed the old tool shed that was in the yard when we bought the house. Other than that, this was unchartered territory. A few hours and a few aches and pains later, we had generated six contractor bags of leaves and garbage and two…
We got cracking on our garden this weekend. Our contractor had removed the old tool shed that was in the yard when we bought the house. Other than that, this was unchartered territory. A few hours and a few aches and pains later, we had generated six contractor bags of leaves and garbage and two large bundles of vines that we had carted away Sunday afternoon. We suspect that we weren’t the only ones working in our garden this weekend.
I forgot to say, think of the back area as a ”room” for dining and entertaining.
As no garden is maintenance free, there are some solutions to your black thumb. Dining in the rear area sounds great. You might choose to level the front area rake it clear of all debris add a little topsoil and then have sod installed. Suggestions for the rear deck could include some kind of nice transition/steps leading up to the second level with maybe raised beds for plantings on either side, Maybe dry stacked stone? Also some kind of low voltage lighting? Maybe a small pergola? Grasses are great for low maintenance. Don’t forget lots of spring bulbs. Think perenials with a long flowering time, Also a place for the kids to grow their own stuff.
the biggest obstacle/ongoing issue for us is that I have a killing thumb. plants do not thrive by my hand. and then there are the kids…so we were thinking low maintenance with play area. I love green and white so one thought was a variety of green shrubs and grasses aong the border that occasionally flower white and play area/grass in the middle and “dining” at the back on the elevated part. Our sister put her summer table at the back of her garden last summer and it was really beautiful, so…
I would love to have a panda. 🙂 Also, our whole backyard is cement!@#! Does anyone know someone who would/could get rid of it for us? We are in the process of renovating our ground floor apt. so removal of the cement now would be perfect. We’d actually like to have GREEN back there. We have so much work to do on the house the cement removal isn’t a priority but since we are talking backyards and the apt is still a mess bringing stuff through wouldn’t be a problem at this point. Much thanks. P.S. Did I mention we are not filthy rich so the person would have to charge a reasonable price?
I planted bamboo in my brooklyn yard ten years ago and not only does it spread like crazy it attracts panda bears. We now have over 14 pandas living in our small 700 square foot garden.
a little side humor re bamboo. we knew of someone in FL, who decided to grow bamboo for fishing poles, next thing you know he had bamboo trees everywhere. lol.
For bamboo, just ensure you plant it in a confined area with some sort of barrier buried in the soil around the bamboo to prevent runners from growing out of the area and spreading a bamboo forest through your yard.
bamboo
stay away from it, once you plant it, you can hardly get rid of it.
i planted some arrow bamboo, thinking it looked so nice, now i cant get rid of. it spreads all over the place. no matter how much you cut it.
I guess non invasive is a relative term for bamboo. For instance, some varieties can grow 30′ tall and ten feet wide in just 5 years. one way to stop it is to plant within a confined area where the runners cant get by the barrier. Bamboo is a grass and throws out these long surface roots in order to expand. check out ‘Hardy Bamboos” by Paul Whittaker or go to his site Hardybamboo.com for info.