"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Front garden progress - Raised beds and gravel.

We've had some very sunny days here lately and I've been taking advantage or them as much as possible.  I spent Friday out in the back garden cleaning out the pond and enjoying signs of spring back there.  The string algae has already started taking over the pond, it seems to be worse this time of year.  I got most of the pond plants cut back and noticed some baby fish from last year swimming around.

We are focusing so much attention on the front yard that I don't want to forget to enjoy what's happening in the back.  Crocuses are blooming as well as Daffodils and Bleeding Hearts are quickly growing in.
Now onto the front garden:
I left off on the last post "The lawn is gone" showing that we had removed all of the sod and were left with two big piles.  Luckily I got two great suggestions at the end of that post with what we could do with it and we used both ideas.  Eileen mentioned using leftover sod at the bottom of beds they had put in years ago and it decomposed into nice soil.  We filled the bottom third of these beds with the sod put in upside down.  Tina suggested putting it on an internet listing - she uses freecycle, but we tried craigslist.  We had two people take quite a bit to use for their own projects.  That saved a day of renting a truck, paying dump fees and many hours of moving the sod again.  This is what I love about blogging - all these great ideas I would never have thought of.

 Here the beds had been set in place.  We spent Saturday morning putting the beds together in weather in the upper 30's, very cold but the sun was out

The beds had been set into the ground at this point.  It was a lot of work because the ground under the lawn was rock and then hard clay.  My husband had the smart idea of having the crushed gravel dumped right into place rather than the driveway where we usually have deliveries left.

Whoever says women are bad drivers never saw our awesome dump truck driver maneuver this truck around and then dump the gravel exactly where we wanted it.  She was amazing.

 This was the beginning of Sunday.  It was very cold the night before and everything including the pile of gravel froze.  While we waited for things to thaw we put down more landscape fabric and moved the last big pile of sod to the driveway where it's going to be picked up tomorrow.  I don't ever want to pick up sod again.

We also put in this edging to keep the gravel out of where the fence and soil will be, once the soil is in it should barely be noticeable.

Between the raised be and the edging it's nice and filled in with gravel.

 Here's the muscle moving some of the 7 yards of crushed gravel.  He really lived up to his name today.  This area will have a small table and chairs and lots of planters in it.  We're calling it the courtyard.

 By the end of Sunday that whole pile of gravel was gone!  It was such a relief when it was finally all cleaned up.

Sweet Pea on a well deserved break.  We were able to get everything and then some accomplished that we had planned for the weekend.

My husband has taken the week off in hopes of getting everything finished.  Of course we now have snow and below freezing weather (10 to 20 degrees below normal) predicted for most of the week so hopefully we can still get everything done on the good days.  Our plan for tomorrow is to start some post holes.  We wanted to use an auger but found that we'll have to be careful because of lines that run near where we want to put them.  Then we are taking a few days off to have fun and make a trip into the Flower and Garden Show.
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33 comments:

  1. Wow... what a project! What fun.... Larry

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  2. Your progress is amazing!!! I love it!

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  3. I really am amazed at your project, and I do this for a living. You have undertaken a huge job and are doing a great job. After the cold weather is gone, you will be seeing your work literally come to life. This is a fun project to follow here in blogland.

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  4. What an amazing project - and such fast progress!!! I can't believe you have crocuses already, mine are still such a long way off...

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  5. Oh wow, the raised beds are just gorgeous!!

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  6. Just amazing! Your husband is a gem!
    Have a good time at the show - you deserve a break.

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  7. Wow you really are doing a lot of work, but I can just tell that it will be so beautiful when you are finished! Get some rest!

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  8. So much progress! How exciting to see it all coming together so nicely, Catherine! Back-breaking work, yes, but once it's all completed, you're going to absolutely love your new front garden!

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  9. Catherine, Your new raised beds and the gravel pathways look awesome! You have all worked so hard, and it shows. I bet you are all tired and sore tonight. What a good kid SweetPea is, to help you.

    I'm planning to go to the show next week too, really looking forward to seeing the show gardens and getting ideas.

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  10. Wow - I'm really interested in this project, as my garden club is contemplating adding accessible raised beds to the gardens we maintain at a senior housing facility. Your post makes clear we're going to need some muscle for sure!

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  11. This is a huge project Catherine. The raised beds will be beautiful when filled in with plants and so easy to take of when in soil above ground.

    Eileen

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  12. Catherine ~ What a wonderful, but labor intensive project, one that your whole family is involved in. I look forward to seeing the progress as things grow and fill in.

    Way to go girl, you've all done a fantastic job.

    FlowerLady

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  13. What a transformation your yard is undergoing! How cool not to have any lawn to mow! I hope the weather cooperates so your husband can make good progress this week. I look forward to seeing the changes over the season.

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  14. Wow you got a lot done. Love the suggestions for the sod. It looks great. You're going to have so much fun with those new beds and I like the courtyard idea!

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  15. the project is coming along nicely and I think I am as anxious as you to see the finished product...OK you are more anxious I am sure...my mind's eye is working overtime and giving me ideas!!

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  16. This is such a huge garden project and it is all coming together so nicely - I love reading about all of the different phases. I also had a problem with string algae in my pond, but I purchased a plastic barley ball off of ebay and it's worked great.

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  17. It looks great Catherine! And those beds are huge! We did the same thing with our raised bed, using the sod turned upside down in the bottom. But we didn´t remove any sod on the inside of our bed only where the brick wall should be built. I hope you´ll have some nice time at the flower show / gittan

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  18. Holy Crap! This is going to be over the top awesome when it's all complete....I hope you are extra sweet to The Muscle, wheelbarrows full of gravel is a lot of hardwork. Can't wait to follow the progress here.

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  19. The work you've gotten done is amazing! That is going to look great. Could a garden tour be in your future? I hope you're able to get to the Flower and Garden Show!

    Blessings,
    Kay

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  20. Dear Catherine, The front garden is really taking shape now and you will all certainly deserve a family day out at the end of the week. I do think that it is a good idea to name parts of the garden and 'The Courtyard' sounds a lovely name for your seating area.

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  21. I'm getting hooked into your project! Can't wait to see what you do next :)

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  22. Great job...what a lot of work! It really looks like it will be so worth it though...can't see how everything takes shape when the plants are all in!

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  23. Gotta love those helping husbands! Of course we're getting the cold weather, too. This weekend my husband is supposed to go camping with the scouts, but the temp is supposed to go down to 4 degrees. We'll see if they cancel or not! Have fun at the flower show - and yes, I did fly to Oregon just for a hellebore-buying adventure.

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  24. I think you all have made such wonderful progress.That is a lot of back breaking work. Great use of the sod in the planters. I love the idea of the gravel. Just think you will not have to mow that anymore!

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  25. It looks fantastic. After all that work you deserve a few days off. Have fun at the garden show.

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  26. Wow! WHat a transformation! You always give me such good ideas... How long did you garden with out raised beds? Im attempting to get smart and plan a head. 1 raised bed next year, 2 more the year after, etc :) I hate getting dirty but love gardening.
    I too am going to the show and looking forward to it with a newly receptive brain!

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  27. April - We've had raised beds for years on the side of our house but it's just not sunny enough for vegetables so we grow mostly blueberries there. This will be our first raised beds anywhere else in the yard so I'm looking forward to gardening in it. Have fun at the garden show. I'm really excited for it.

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  28. What an exciting project! I'm so happy for you. There is such excitement when creating a new garden. I can't wait to see what you put in the beds and your little courtyard! Have fun.

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  29. Catherine,
    Pretty cool project! Can't wait to see it planted.

    Looking at the design, it is 2 x 6 western red cedar right? Not very strong, you might want to add one or two braces so the middle does not bow out from the weight of the soil. And a few scraps to tie together the 2x 6s so they don't bow apart from one another.

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  30. Whew Catherine girl. You've really got your work cut out for you. I love what you're doing and am enjoying watching it come together.

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  31. WOW! I am SO impressed! That is going to be awesome!

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  32. What an amazing transformation! Congratulations, all your hard work is really paying off. Such fun to watch a project like this all the way through.

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  33. Just amazing. Two things came to mind when I looked at these pictures. 1)My back hurts just thinking about it and 2)What do your neighbors think?
    Your blog is so wonderful, I really can't wait to see your garden this summer!!

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