The Birth of a Rock Garden

 What do we do in a spot of the garden that gets hotter than the sun?

We try succulents.

Before and After: Backyard Improvements

When we first moved into this house, it was during a full-blown Texan summer with 110 degree temperatures in consecutive days.  The back yard of this house was simply dust and dirt.  A few scraggly weeds, an oversized patio, and an old leaning fence were all that accompanied.

A couple of months ago, I took this photo.  The weeds had taken over during the wet and temperate spring, and Jason had just tilled a section to prepare for sod.  He and I had also removed a few feet of patio.

This is nearly the same view now.  With some Zoysia sod and help from friends and family, the yard is transformed.

We also covered the weeds in the bed areas with several layers of newspaper, then a few inches of mulch.  You'll notice the new sandbox and second vegetable bed in this photo. Now I am attempting to fight back the aggressive invasives, trumpet vine and wisteria.

Some sections of sod had sat out in the sun longer before installation.  But since it's Zoysia grass, it'll fill in and come back nicely in a little time.  Zoysia is great for sun, shade, drought, pretty much any situation.  And its vertical growth is slow, which makes for less maintenance.  We only had to mow our last Zoysia lawn once about every 3 weeks.

 The entrance to the back yard also has been given a face-lift with newspaper, mulch and some plants that will continue to fill in over time.  I hope to plant out a bed in front of the neighbor's garage apartment one day that will visually soften the blow of its abrupt existence right on the property line. Baby steps!

Beans, Clematis, and a Guitar

 Yet again, I'm mimicking my friend Paige.  This time I'm using her idea for providing string for pole beans to climb up (in lieu of buying a trellis).  She tied a little rock to the bottom of each string so it stayed taut enough for the vines to cling to.  I just drove a long nail into the sides of each fence picket near the top and hung a rock-anchored string on each nail.  It's working like a charm, though I know my fence pickets are way too short and the beans are going to go hog wild soon.

 This little vine was purchased from Plant Delights in North Carolina via mail order. It is is a Clematis cirrhosa, I think.  Evergreen, with small white flowers.  Supposedly hardy through zone 8, we will see if it can survive the Texas heat.

This guitar-shaped birdhouse that Autumn and I painted for the garden still has no inhabitants, though I did spy a few birds eating insects in the garden this morning, as well as a lizard on our kitchen window.  My goal is to attract birds, lizards and beneficial insects to the garden.  A lively garden is a happy garden!

Blooms and More

 Bee balm in bloom

 Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes - an heirloom variety

Cucumber vine needing something to climb on.  I'll get to that shortly...

Onion Harvest

The tops were all falling over, but they weren't totally dead yet.  I just really needed the garden space.

 This was my first attempt at onions.  Like my onion braid?  It's drying now.

See that dark spot between the garlic and marigold?  That's the planting space formerly known as onions'.  It now has some bush beans planted there and new mulch.  Space is precious in a garden!

Sneak Peek: Our First Kitchen Renovation

Kitchen is almost finished... just a sneak peek!

The Husband Builds a Sandbox and Gate

 A fig tree, full of fruit.

 Tiny okra plants.

 A sand box for the kids.

 A dog run beside the house with gate and arbor.  Eventually we hope to put the dogs in another spot, and use this as our private garden with a hammock.  It's surprising how much cooler it is in this spot now that the fence is up.

This is what 8 cubic yards of mulch looks like when it's almost half-way spread.  Landscaping is both my contribution to the value of this house and my beloved retreat from being Mommy.  Also, I like to think of it as my own little outdoor Crossfit, especially when I'm digging up stone patios and paths.  If you don't garden, you should start!  It's good exercise for sure.

Tyler Rose Garden

These were taken during my mom's recent visit.  This last one shows a variety of rose that is almost like hair - the tendrils weep down over a pergola, creating a thick shelter and a other-worldly ambiance.  This garden is so gorgeous, so full of variety and well-tended life.

Simple Soil Recipe for Raised Beds

 While I'm quite sure this information isn't new to most of you, I did want to provide a visual example of my results with this very simple soil recipe.  For our first raised bed, we tried to follow the Square Foot Gardening method as closely as our wallet would allow.  So we put together a few types of compost, peat moss, and moisture retainer (vermiculite and perlite) in about a 1:1:1 ratio.  For our 4x8x1' raised bed, that meant about $130.  For this second raised bed (of exactly the same size) we tried a more simple recipe: one part peat moss to one part compost (bagged).  We topped it with 3" of hardwood mulch.  This cost us about $80, and I think I overpaid for the peat moss.  Above is the newly planted bed, and below is the same bed less than 2 weeks and a few marigolds later.  

Obviously, we're quite happy with the results and savings.  When possible, other soil amendments like compost, worm castings, etc. can be added, but we intend to only top dress from here on out so the soil beneath is as undisturbed as possible, and microbes and worms can flourish.

What do you add to your soil?

New Garden Wagon

Clearly, it's getting a lot of use. 

Winter Vegetables in Spring

 These are the beets (kale just behind) that I planted from seed.  It's starting to warm up here in East Texas, so this may be the last post on these winter vegetables that I show.  I wanted you to have a sense of scale, so I added a person to the picture:

 I'm sure that gives you a much better idea of the size of these plants.

From left to right, these are beets, kale, swiss chard, and carrots.  Again, a human is added for scale.  Enjoy!