If you know me, you KNOW I love to garden and moving into this house did a couple of things for me:
1. it made me super sad NOT to have a garden
2. it offers me time to do other things if I'm NOT taking care of a garden
3. It provided a challenge (not that I needed one)
It has NEVER been anything---no grass planted- deck never taken care of....nothing.
So, the first thing I did was tear out all of the weeds. It was 4 or 5 HUGE yard bags full- you know, the big black ones that look like boulders when they're full? Yes....I'm sure the trash man was very pleased with me. After that, I power-washed the deck with a cleaner and stained it. BIG IMPROVEMENT. Then, I decided on what I wanted it to look like when I was done with it. I bought three small shrubs for 10.00 at Home Depot and a 20.00 blue spruce to put in the corner. It did have one burning bush in the corner that was hanging on for dear life---I only began to see it after I started removing all of the weeds.
Next, I laid several layers of 'paper' on the ground next to the deck to create a walkway....I then bought 10 bags of sand and poured that on top. Next: rocks---I brought in large rocks, medium rocks, small rocks, all from a pile in our yard at the log house. We had ordered 14 tons and I never used them all....so I brought them in boxes, load by load over to the new place.
YES, I did this all of myself. Poor Rod was dealing with being laid off and trying to find a job through this, so all of this kept me very busy and I practiced holding in my abs so I wouldn't completely throw out my back.
Next: mulch
Then, bring in all of my potted plants from the 'ol place....that filled things in!
Laid rug on deck:
Brought in potting bench from 'ol place
Hung bird feeders
Fairy lights and other solar lights to add a bit of magic and VOILA! a mini yard
I know, you're thinking 'she's crazy; it's a rental house'
But I had to---I have to look at this every day and my surroundings make me happy....
so, the next renters will have something a little prettier....
OR, I'll pack up my rocks and take 'em along!!
(AND YOU THOUGHT I JUST TWEET ALL DAY! )
LOVE YOU ALL!!
xoxo
Joann
p.s. You twitterettes are my inspiration....I kept thinking of you while I work. "They're gonna want pictures!" I tell myself.....
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| I should have taken more pictures of it 'before' so you'd really see how bad it was! |
some of the details:
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| I've put in some grass seed but it's late in the season....we'll see |
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| brought some rhubarb from back home----it's coming with me!! |
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| my pots, hanging baskets, cart filled up the empty spaces of the yard |
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| the corner that had NOTHING is now BRIMMING and the birds love it!! |
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| from an inside window----2 pots and 2 feeders---I'll feed them all winter long |
So.....I'm making lemonade out of lemons and making pesto out of basil......I get grumpy sometimes, but I'm really very grateful.....and blessed.
