Birch & Aspen

Fence Between House & Garage

2011-09-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

I wanted to create an inviting entry to the back yard... a visually appealing area that I could have a garden along with providing a sense of privacy.
My inital attempt was OK.... I had used inexpensive split rail fencing and made my very first arbor (don't laugh too hard when you look at it!)... the arbor looked fragile but it held up fine for 2 harsh winters and would have lasted longer if my son, Aaron, hadn't decided to build me a new fence and arbor for my birthday this past spring!

As you can see by the "after" picture, the new fence is wonderfuI! It provies the perfect amount of privacy and a great backdrop to my flowers!

2011-09-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Too many years... too little time...

But, wait! I have accomplished a lot around my house! I just keep forgetting to upload new photos to my blog... I do take pictures, though and, perhaps, I will have some free time today or tomorrow to upload some!

A Fun Challenge

2009-04-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

Directly behind my house is a shady area that lacked any visual interest... for me to create any gardens there I had to keep in mind that snow from the slate roof will come crashing down on the ground, no bushes could be planted in that area. Plowing builds up a rather high mound of snow...again, any plant that is 'above ground' in the winter will be destroyed. The soil is not in the best of shape... and, there is a lot of shade. Plus, I needed to keep the project very low budget...

Morning Glories - September 2008

2009-04-01T07:17:00.001-07:00

I took photos of my gardens last year so I wouldn't forget what "worked" and what didn't! I loved how the Morning Glories softened the look of the vegetable garden's fence!

You can see the pond to the left of the garden. Hey, perhaps I will find time to actually sit and relax on my Adirondack chairs this year! (at least they give the 'look' of relaxing!)

Spring 2009

2009-04-01T06:59:00.000-07:00

Two years since my last post... a lot has been accomplished in my yard and I am so excited that it is finally springtime once more! This photo is of the wonderful pond that is behind my house. Soon the 'spring peepers' will arrive!

Spring 2007

2007-05-23T11:38:00.000-07:00

Last fall we asked my grand-daughter (she was only 18 months old at the time) to select her favorite tulip from the Breck's catalog... well, she picked the Rembrandt Mix. I am so happy that she did since it was not something that I would have picked myself and I absolutely love how vibrant and 'crazy' they look! The colors are varied and bright! I had purchased other bulbs in that same order and am extremely pleased with the quality of their bulbs.

The East Garden (or... dreams of a garden!)

2006-07-26T05:39:00.000-07:00

This past winter I purchased the land to the east and south of my house, giving me a grand total of well over 4 acres.... plenty of space to garden to my heart's content! This sping I planted some apple trees. I purchased 2 from Whitneys' Farm in Cheshire and 4 from Wal-Mart. I have one apple (on one of the trees from Whitneys) which is one more than I had hoped for! This spring I had transplanted these two trees from my previous land border, having purchased them last year. From what I have read it usually takes a few years before one can expect to see any apples growing. I look forward to having my little grand-daughter pick the apple this fall!!!!
The top photo was taken mid-June. My son put in the split-rail fence. I planted orange daylilies near the fence and dug up three birch trees that were growing in the field behind the house and placed them in the inner corner area near the fence. Landscape fabiric will go on the ground underneath the fence (on the outside perimeter), then black mulch over that. I do a lot of business with Bryanna's Bark Mulch in Cheshire and they have black mulch available this year for the first time. Black goes so much better with my house colors than brown mulch! The other photo shows the black mulch. This was taken in my 'ShadyGarden' to the west of my house.

Front Walkway & Garden

2006-07-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

These are two pictures from the front porch looking out to the river stone walkway and gardens. I am pleased with how well the stones remained in place over the winter months. Since this is the first stone path that I have 'put together' I had been concerned about frost heaves, etc. I am encouraging moss to grow between the stones and have even transplanted some little clumps from other areas of the yard. I am trying to make the path look aged so that it will match the house! Some of the flowers have re-seeded themselves amongst the stones in the path and I will gently pull up the tiny seedlings this weekend and add them to my other gardens. I have noted that the Hysop plant's color is less vivid and deep this year compared to last year. Perhaps it requires more plant food so that will be added to my growing 'to-do' list for the weekend.
(photo taken:.June 2006)

Notes on this season...

2006-06-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

I have fallen in love with Hostas! They seem to thrive in all settings! This weekend I hope to add a few more to my collection... perhaps some blue-tinted ones!

A new vegetable garden

2006-05-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

I have just started working on a vegetable garden. The size is approx. 22' x 28' and there will be a smaller garden for herbs to the north of it, approx. 9' x 8'. I will plant "a little of a lot"; pumpkins, squash, lettuce, tomates, zucchine; etc. and in the herb garden I will plant basil; sage; thyme; camomile; dill and more.

Summer 2005

2005-08-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

This photo and the 3 others preceeding it shows the progression of work that my son and I accomplished over the span of 2 years.

This pictue shows the path completed, flowers and bushes planted, etc.

Fall 2004

2005-08-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

In the photo you can see that the front of the house has been painted, much of the roof has been completed and the narrow, straight, cement path has been removed. The width and curve of the front path is being worked on....

Fall 2004

Spring 2004

2005-08-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken during the Spring of 2004

Fall 2003

2005-08-19T06:50:00.000-07:00

This picture of the front of my house was taken the same month that I had purchased it, September 2003.

The roof was badly rotted and my son had just started removing the old shingles.

Forgotten 'Lucifer'

2005-07-23T04:39:00.000-07:00

As I walk around the gardens I am realizing that if I don't jot down notes of what is doing well and what perennial is in full bloom right now I will have defeated the main purpose for creating this blog.
I have a plant that I had purchased last summer, 'Lucifer Crocosmia' Crocosmia x 'Lucifer', that is doing beautifully. I have never grown this plant before and after this past winter all that showed above ground was a sad looking little bent twig. As spring continued not much activity showed on this hapless looking bent twig and I was tempted to pull it out thinking that it had died from the harsh winter. Fortunately, being the super cautious gardener that I am, I left it alone and planted some little plants round it to hide the 'twig'. As the summer progressed I had mistaken the leaves that were growing in the vicinity of the twig for irises, since I have many in that garden, but walking past these plants this past week I could tell that these long, flat pointed leaves were part of this exotic looking 'Lucifer' with bright, vibrant red flowers that curve backwards in an arch. I now hope to locate more of these for the front gardens!
The stats printed on the back of the original 'ticket'"

Red flowers in summer

Full sun
Space 24" apart
Grows to 3'
USDA Zone 5, USDA Zone 9
Water regularly as needed

I have it well mulched and water it infrequently. This is a 4 star plant for sure!

Front Yard: 8 1/2 months later

2005-07-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

July 2005 - It's getting there! The stone walkway is all done, 3/4 of the house is painted and I have been working on making new gardens to add color to the yard!

Front Yard

2005-07-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

October 2004- I had already painted most of the front of house by the time this picture was taken by my friend Mary. The original cement path (not shown in this picture) was only 2 1/2 feet wide ... and went straight out to the road... My son, using an excavator we had rented for him to prepare the driveway for paving, dug up and removed the large cement slabs that made up the old walkway. He then dug a trench for the electrical conduit for my future lamp post. It took me hours, but I eventually filled in the trench and smoothed out the ground. In this picture I am still busy trying to decide on the exact curve of the new path that we will put in using what is termed 'River Stone' which we will pick up at Agway. The 2 large bushes came with the house. The one on the left is a 'Mock Orange' and has large white flowers each June. The one shown on the right is a 'Bridals Wreath'. It was crushed numerous times from falling roofing shingles but it should survive since it is a hardy plant!

Memories of June

2005-07-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

June, beng one of the most busy gardening months of the year, found me too busy painting the old [circa. 1870's] house of mine to give proper attention to my gardens.... so July is proving to be a 'catch up' month for me.

I have 2 large Mock Orange bushes that came with the house when I bought it nearly 2 years ago. Their blossoms peaked during the 3rd week of June, and the ground underneath them slowly turn to a lush carpet of white when the pleasantly sweet smelling flowers lose their petals. I have found seedlings of these bushes scattered about the yard and collect them to share and to plant.

I never finished rototilling my newly dug vegetable garden (an increased rectangular area from last year, approx. 20' x 7'... so all that is growing in the older section is oregano, sage, thyme and some bushes that I pulled out of the front yard earlier this spring that were nearly dead from a harsh winter and accompanying road salt... I also have 2 small Quaking Aspen trees that i had found and planted in the rich soil.... I will share one with 'Aspen' and keep one for myself!

Dreams of having a pumpkin patch this Fall have disolved into the reality that there is a critical lack of hours in one's day to combine working full time during the day repairing computers, running a computer consulting business at night, painting an old, 2 story house single handedly and attempting some pretty agressive landscaping projects all at once. I sense the cold winds of Winter sneaking up behind me and I try to move faster, hoping to complete everything before the ground freezes.... an odd thing to think about on July 7th!

Yellow Iris

2005-06-14T06:09:00.000-07:00

I planted yellow Bearded Irises yesterday evening. They were from "Aspen" and had been some of the dozen or so that her husband and I dug up at their house last week. The Irises were sitting in a bucket of water underneath a shady tree ever since... it is a wonder that they hadn't rotted yet! We have a large (3 feet in diameter and4 feet long) log lying next to a wooded area of our yard. I thought that it would be a nice backdrop to an assortment of perennials.... and they all would be visible when looking out of the dining room window. In the 90+ degree day I quickly dug up a section of sod and began a new garden... The Irises, and 2 other plants have a new home. I hope to extend the area soon and add some Day Lilies.

Theme...

2005-06-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

I realize that the infinite amount of themes that I could select to dedicate my first blog to was keeping me from actually writing anything at all. So, keeping to the title, 'Birch & Aspen', I hope to treat this blog as a gardening journal with a bit of side-tracking allowed.

I named this blog 'Birch & Aspen' for a special reason. My eldest daughter's favorite tree is a Quaking Aspen and my favorite tree is a Birch (any and all varieties!)... and my daughter and I have been very involved with starting some new (and ambitious) garden projects this season.

First entry...

2005-06-02T08:01:00.000-07:00

I am experimenting with this...