Picture one was a seven year transition! Yes, these are the same views except the fence divides the property! It does take time to develop a garden. You don't have to take seven years though, just give yourself one to two years and enjoy the process.
The crucial steps are first an overall plan (a knowledgeable consultant can be invaluable);
Second is a budget (plant gifts from friends, family, neighbors and end of the season nursery sales help a lot); Third is energy to complete the work (Bob calls himself the BOB, Beast of Burden) or paid laborers can save a great deal of time. However, I enjoy the intense personal involvement;
Fourth is proper soil preparation, fertilizer choices, application, planting techniques, and watering system;
And fifth is time to let the plants fulfill their destiny!.
The following four pictures of the back yard were taken when I bought the property in March 2005. They show the directional corners. There is green belt bordering the West property line.
As my love of gardening started on my patents Utah farm, I have collected plants for years, even bringing some purple iris on the plane to Washington! On another visit to our Utah farm I brought back a watermelon and two cantaloup on the plane. Sadly times have changed.
The next photos show the creative process of designing the lay out and the correct placement of plants according to the amount of sun they would receive. On move day, it took three pick up loads to move all my plants. I valued the plants to be a $3000.
Grass had to be removed and better soil brought in. Thirteen yards of soil that first summer, dumped in the front yard parking spot! When I was ready to put a plant in the ground, I first had to remove some of the original sand and mix in the new soil. It took over 150 wheel barrow trips from the front to the back yard that summer, and that was before I had BOB, my Beast of Burden.
Starting to take shape in 2007 and adding a reed fence to define the space.
And 2010.
Then today, 2012! I loved the reed fence but it did not hold up well and it cost as much as the permanent fence.
And just so you know, the BOB does get some time off!
I suppose I should tell you about a couple other major projects, like eliminating all grass from the walkways and replacing with wood chips with borders to contain it. Especially costly and dramatic was removing five 30 foot cypress trees, having the stumps removed, and removing three over grown mugo pines. These were projects I hired out. Knowledge and heavy equipment were well worth the cost and time savings.
The most challenging project of all was in the Spring of 2011 when we added the drip water system and electrical lines. With our rainy Spring weather, we could really only work on sunny days so delays were frustrating. My BOB and his son certainly earned their Saturday and Sunday dinners! Following is the trench digger and the resulting chaos
Spring is eternal with new ideas and gifts. I have dreamed of a green house and it was delivered April, 2008! BOB preparing the site. Then the delivery and positioning.
And the end of the summer with the Dianthus which I started in the green house along with 90 % of my summer vegetables.
Now, 2012, the rewards; a beautiful garden with lots of vegetables and flowers, hardly any weeds, easy to water, with shrubs and perennials in the right location and accented with great pieces of garden art.
What a lovely potato patch this year! And that is asparagus along the fence. Just three years ago it was those three over grown mugo pines.
