My Yard in the Fall

I love the seasons!! Since I grew up basically without them (in Florida) I love all of the changes! I can even appreciate the snow in October! I do have trouble with it in April, though!

Living in Utah, I've also come to enjoy colors other than green. There is beauty even in the gray!

So, here are some pictures of my yard in the fall!

Work in Progress

I have decided that my yard is always going to be a work in progress! We are always reworking what we want and adding or moving new things. For my birthday, my SIL got me some butterfly bushes that were supposed to be an arch for entering the garden. I think we may have put them too far apart, but they are still going to look spectacular. To put the bushes where we wanted them, we had to move some very old and rank roses. We actually love the blossoms, but the plants had been neglected for many years and were a mess. So, we cut them up and dug them out. They are now replanted and will hopefully survive. We decided that we were willing to lose them, so it wouldn't be a big deal. My husband and I really want them to live. They have a chance, since it is cooler right now. So far, it looks good. It has been about three weeks.

We've also decided that we want a mostly perennial orchard/vineyard/garden in the back. We want more fruit trees, more blackberries, as well as some currants, raspberries and grapes. We'll leave about a 5 by 20 foot area that will be an annual vegetable garden.

I haven't decided if we just change what we want to do all of the time or if we have finally settled on what we really want now that we've lived here for a year. Either way, I'm happy with the plan and we'll see how it all looks next year!

Garden Update

I thought I'd give you a look into my garden as it stands, now! We finally have a real plan and that makes it so much better. We are getting somewhere, now! I know it doesn't look like a lot, but we have marked the edge of the fruit and vegetable garden and the fence. You can just barely see it starting in the bottom of the photo. In the middle of the fence, we are going to have a horticultural arbor. It's made from some transplanted snowball bushes that we are hoping survive after all the work we put in to get them there! The left side is the veggie garden and the right side will eventually be a kids' garden with a pergola and sitting area!


We are actually getting some fruit on the apple and peach trees we planted this year! I am so excited! There are literally about 6 fruit total, but it will make a nice snack!! I can't wait!



Some of our roses are blooming even though we hacked them to bits. They were completely overgrown and we were planning to move most of them. Now that we have changed our plan, we are going to leave most of them where they are. I've also been trying to get some cuttings to root, so we may end up with a ton of roses! This one smells wonderfully even when you are just standing close to it! I love it!!


This is my fairy garden. I had to cut back a lot of the branches of the shrubs on either side of it so that it could get more than an hour of sunlight per day. Now, it gets about three. I still need to build three fairy houses (the kids want them, too) and some various furniture for the fairies to come and visit us.

The Colors of My Garden!

I love to take pictures of my garden! I like to get up close and see lots of detail and beautiful color!

Enjoy!









If my neighbors see me, they probably think I am nuts! I get down on the ground and right up to rocks and grass! I love it! My family already thinks I'm a nut because I take pictures of plants on vacation!

Mystery Plant

I planted a Houttuynia cordata 'Chameleon' in the fall. I just love them! They are so pretty even without great looking flowers! (Beware: They can be invasive and hard to get rid of!) But, on to my story...


So, this Spring, when something came up in that spot I was glad to see that a favorite plant had survived it's first winter here. They I started to realize that it wasn't the right plant. My husband tried to convince me that I must have remembered wrong.


I kept waiting and researching. But, I couldn't find any connection between the two plants, nor could I identify the interloper. It was all wrong: leaves, flowers, timing! (If you recognize it, PLEASE let me know what it is!)

Then, I noticed that the Houttuynia was growing up underneath.


Finally, I decided that I didn't like the new plant and that it was my garden, so I could pull it out if I wanted to, and I did!

So, now I am letting the Houttuynia grow and flourish!


The end! (Until the old bits that stayed in when I pulled it out grow back!)

Excited!

We were offered the use of a tiller! I am so excited! Instead of having to weed it all by hand, we can just clean all of the trash out of the backyard and borrow the tiller to get the weeds under control! We also have to figure out how to get the dead fruit trees out of there as well! I can't wait to be healthy enough to get out there and make some progress! I really want to grow a ton of stuff in the spring! The same couple who offered the tiller, offered to teach me how to can! I've never done it before, but now that I have the space to grow and store food, I am really excited to do it!

Weeds!

We have moved in and have things running well. The yard isn't as easy to settle into. We've figured out the sprinkler system and water turn. We bought yard tools and a lawn mower, and we need to get rid of some weeds in the grass. The garden plot is a whole other story.


The weeds are about a foot high and the ground is pretty solid. Most of the weeds are actually dead, but clearing them and all of the trash in there is daunting. We have a ton of work to do. If we could just start planting, we'd have some things in there for fall, but we have too much to do before that. We are hoping to be able to plant some fruit trees and shrubs this fall and have the rest under control so that we can plant seriously in the spring!

I wish I could do more, too, but at 8 months pregnant there isn't a lot I can do. Maybe I could put myself into labor by weeding in a couple of weeks!!

New Yard

I am excited to have a new yard. It is the first yard that is actually ours! We can do whatever we want with it! There is even a ready-to-plant (once we weed!) vegetable garden!

My first plans are to plant a few melon seeds, since not much else would do that well by the time we get there and I'm pregnant and don't have a lot of energy.

Then, I'm going to start keeping track of the light in my yard. Since I haven't lived there, yet, I don't know where the shade falls and for how long. I want to create a map and pay attention to the light each area receives. Then, next season, or maybe in the fall if I can afford it, we can start planting some things and hopefully have good luck with them, since we'll plant them in spots that are good for them.

Now that I think of it, I should pay attention to how wet/dry things get as well.

Look at What's Coming Up!

I was so excited to see my tulips coming up! I just hope they do better than last year! They aren't in the sunniest of spots!

I don't remember what they are called, but they start out yellow and slowly turn pink with lots of orange and other beautiful colors along the way!

Yay for spring!