{The House} Front and Side Yard Clean Up

Who doesn't love a good before and after? This one is mostly a time and weather issue but I did have to go in and clean up a bunch of the overgrowth I allow to stay for the winter months. Why do I do it? Because it provides food (flower seeds), shelter, and nutrition for the ground. Once I see bugs moving around, I'll clean it up and send some off to the local landfill (yard waste only). Some goes into my own compost. 

Among the pretty growth of my perennial flowers, you'll notice the switch of pots. I took all my blue pots and grouped them on my back patio. These two matching pots look nice here with the arbor and then I added some new white and black pots for my front porch. I'll do a separate post for it as it still needs some work. 

Unfortunately after I took this photo, we had a hard freeze so I'm not sure how my sweet potato vines are doing. I may replace them this weekend if they don't perk back up tody and toorrow with the warmer weather. I cut off the brown leaves and they aren't completely dead yet. The rest is looking great though! I plan on updating this photo often as the plants continue to grow and bloom. I need to take out a lot of my purple coneflower and replace my butterfly bush I lost a few years ago, but that'll maybe happen this summer. 

Check on my Instagram account - thebrickbungalow - for more photos as I work on the yard and show off what's in bloom. 

 

{Lily's Garden} June Update, #2

The hydrangea (first picture) is huge! It's an oak leaf hydrangea and starts off with white flowers but they age to pink. It's roughly 9' feet tall. The privacy fence is 6' and the trellis above is another 3'. Here is the same hydrangea in 2016 - in this post. And here it is in 2014 when it was just a little thing! And in 2013 when it was just a baby!!! 

The second photo is looking back towards the street, the opposite of what I normally take, but I liked the look. I'm tempted to figure out how to spray paint the fish a glossy black, but I can't take the stuff off/out, so I'm not sure. I may still try and hope for the best! Everything else in the garden is black (fence, shephard's hooks, etc.) and the big arbor trellis will be going back some day too. I want a nice, cohesive look with black accents. Black is also used throughout the inside of my house (hallway, living room ceiling, and basement stairwell) and backyard (mostly with black patio furniture). 

And yes, I know I'm posting a June update when it's nearly August but it's been a crazy summer. I need to get back out there and weed like crazy and then I'll post more pictures. 

{Lily's Garden} June Flowers

Lily's Garden has been in full bloom for a few weeks now and I love it all! The coneflowers are a bit out of control but it's a nice, semi controlled chaos of a cottage garden. The weeds may be getting out of control but I'll get out there soon and take care of everything ... once the heat decides to chill out and/or we get a nice rain to cool things down (and soften the soil!). 

But for now, lets enjoy the pretty lilies and coneflowers, ok? I'm going to do another post of my annuals, but these are all perennials here in Missouri.

{South Side Garden} June Update

Hello! Happy Tuesday!

I took these photos today as I realized it's time for an update. You can see that everything is growing in quite well and the mint may need to be removed, or at least cut back! 

The Bee Balm (bottom right in the above picture) is doing great. 

The Russian Sage, which I have here on our South Side Garden, and in Lily's Garden, is doing great in both locations. Almost a little too good as it's a beast in height and width, but it's beautiful and the pollinators love it! You can see in the above photo that it's behind the containers but definitely towers over things now. 

And new to me this year is Nasturtium. I bought seeds earlier this year and literally pushed them into the ground all over the yard. I had no idea if that would work but it did! It's about the only thing I've successfully grown from seeds as my poppies didn't grow this year (which I'm bummed about). I guess sunflowers have worked but those things act more as volunteers than anything else. 

The Golden Raspberries (one of the bushes in the top photo) did amazing this year. The plant grew many off shoots and I will be moving some this fall or next Spring. The fruit from the original plant was great and the kids loved it! Definitely a keeper and one to try if you haven't experimented with it. 

In the photo above, we have a blueberry (which did produce this year but it's just a baby), the golden raspberries, and tomatoes in the containers. I ate my first tomato today, a little baby cherry tomato. Behind the containers are strawberries and they are doing great. We ate two large berries last night that rivaled those you buy in the store! The lettuce and kale have been given to the chickens as their time is up in the garden. 

What are you growing? We also have blueberries in our front yard, more (regular) raspberries in the back, sunflowers, more tomatoes, loofahs (trying for the first time), and maybe a pepper plant if the chickens didn't eat it. 

{Lily's Garden} Back Half Update

Last week, I finally tackled the back half of Lily's Garden when it came to the weeds. Guys, it was bad! I had tackled the front portion over Spring Break or earlier in the year before I laid down mulch. But the back part? Nope. And then it rained, got hot, and repeated because it's Missouri and the weather likes to do that. But then, thankfully, it cooled off after some storms and so the ground was soft and the weather was good and I got my butt outside to weed. 

Three hours later, it went from a giant eyesore of green weeds, grass, and overgrown dill to where you can see my rock paths, recycled brick pavers, and my plants again. And then it sat there, exposed dirt and all, until I finally added mulch to it a week later. 

See? I mean the landscaping fabric doesn't care about stuff anymore as this was all between it and the rocks. And oh so much grass. Thankfully there was no poison ivy in the mix, as that's all in the backyard (where are my poison ivy eating goats?!). 

Stopped to enjoy the flowers I can see again. I added the above purple Scabiosa (I believe) earlier in the year and then ignored it, knowing it had enough rain to survive. 

You can see the bricks! And the rocks! It's not 100% free of weeds (probably never will be) but it's there and I can walk around and enjoy the back half as easily as I do the front. And now, I can take 30 minutes to an hour in the mornings to do light weeding, when necessary. 

I need to figure out what to do with the fireplace insert. My dad got it from an old job site of his and I used to put flower pots in it. I think it needs to be moved to a better spot, more of a focal point, but the thing is a beast and I don't really have a better spot. Suggestions? 

And to save you from scrolling back up to the top for a good before and after... here it is ...  

And then I added mulch, which needs more than one picture taken, but you can kind of see it below. You'll see it more on Instagram - follow me at thebrickbungalow 

And just so you don't have to scroll back up. Doesn't it look amazing? 

I also chopped off some of the oak leaf hydrangea as it made it hard to see the hostas, the hidden baby hydrangea back there (baby in size, not years, that needs moved) and some astilbe I planted last year. 

Want to see more garden photos? 

Lily's Garden - what you see above and more of the same space

Side Yard - our little area that is well used with containers and herbs

Back Yard - a mix of everything in our backyard including gardens no longer there

{South Side Garden} Update

Hello again friends! Have you checked out my other recent posts about the "Dog House Garden" or a look into our inside plants with a bathroom update featuring my orchids? I'll be posting some Lily's Garden updates soon! 

This is an update for our South Side Garden, and it already needs another update as summer time in the garden has plants growing fast! 

Starting from the right and going left (since that's how I took the next few photos), we have a blueberry plant inside the cage and what I believe is a bee balm in the corner. I may have to remove that as it's about the only plant that will bother my allergies. Next, and looking great, is a golden raspberry. Strawberries, which are planted in the back behind the pots, and are sneaking around front. In the first container there is lettuce but now it's a tomato. 

The containers with kale and lettuce are now homes to tomatoes. The mint has taken over the front portion of the garden and may be thinned, or removed, this fall. If you need some mint, let me know! There are a ton of beautiful strawberry plants and a Russian Sage in the back. 

On the fence is a clematis, which I love, but it's not looking great. 

I revamped the AC and meter area with more colorful rocks, a larger area, and a plant to help hide the AC. Nothing too fancy as I don't want it to be fully blocked, but a good way to add some more color and use out of an area I don't want weeds, grass or a lot of plants in. 

I'd love to continue the garden from the AC to the front of the house with the addition of more large containers and more herbs and flowers. Time will tell on that one. 

{Back Yard} Dog House Garden

Hello! I'm back again with another garden update - this time with the backyard area, that I'll call "the dog house garden" although we never really call it that. Do you name your garden spaces? We have Lily's Garden, the "South Side Garden" (which I only use as it's on the south side of the house, we sometimes call it "the garden outside the TV room window"), and then there is the backyard, which includes a bunch of other spaces. It can get confusing. 

Anyway... the doghouse, which is definitely used more by chickens in the rain than any of my dogs, was the original piece in this area. It went to a large tree years ago (to the right of the picture above) but it came down years ago after a bad ice storm. I then sent out a plea for large galvanized containers and my parents found them all (minus the little square one) from a farmer they knew. If I could have more of them, they'd be used as raised beds in a veggie garden. Some day... The little square one was my grandmother's. 

I made this space years ago and it fell into "needs work" category but not high on our lists as the backyard gets ignored. But I bought more bags of mulch than I needed for Lily's Garden so I decided to spruce it up. I had already started by weeding it pretty extensively. Truth be told, it needs more help but you can't see it in this picture. I'm also thinking of adding a tall Japanese maple in the back corner where we haven't had luck growing other things. 

See those containers on the stairs to nowhere? The painted ones are from a friend (hi Candace!) and they finally have some transplanted plants in them. The other two are just random ones we've collected and put up here. 

Most of the supplies for this garden were free - from the galvanized containers to the rocks (taken from my parent's farm) to the gravel (from our front yard before we redid our sidewalks) to the plants (mostly from other plants and some from the farm). I did buy some lavender as my chickens won't touch it. The doghouse was made by my dad and his students when he taught construction. The stone borders were leftovers from a project at my parents' house. Not too bad for a mostly free area, right? 

Now you can view all "Dog House Garden" posts here. 

{South Side Garden} Garden Update

If you are following me on Instagram (at thebrickbungalow), you might remember that I had one of the original five buckets stolen. Yes, someone actually dug it up (the last one, closest to the fence) and left me some of the stuff that was inside of it. Luckily, we had one more than I was saving for something else that never happened so I replaced it. I then filled all of them with more dirt, compost, and extras to make them nice and healthy for the plants. 

I then added the stone border, put rocks around the meter, planted a few new plants in the ground, and planted tomatoes (and the marigolds) in the buckets. I also put a trellis and a transplanted clematis on the fence. I figured it'd be nice to help pollinators as well as provide food for us. 

Since then, the Missouri heat and our watering (plus some of nature's, but we could use more!), made it all go crazy. Weeds, especially. I'm planning on clearing out the crack between the sidewalk and the foundation (seen above in the shadow) and using the sand that turns into concrete. I figured it's worth a try and some effort, right? 

Ignore the weeds in the back. I desperately need to clean up the sidewalk back there and compost a bunch of the weeds. 

{Gardening} South Side, Update

It's amazing how well a garden can grow, isn't it? This one may be growing a bit too much (especially the weeds!). This was taken yesterday. 

The above photo was taken on June 6, so exactly two weeks before the top photo. I pulled the two plants near the trellis (more "gourds" - see below), and staked the pepper plants. 

What do you think of painting the basement window frames gray? The sides and top are wood and the bottom is the concrete, but has been painted white. I'm thinking gray will help it hide in. And then I want to frost the windows with spray paint so it'll let in light but keep it more private. We currently have them covered. 

The above two photos of gourds were a trial run of planting seeds with my coworker before the season was ready. We did a few others too but the gourds really took off. The problem is that I'm pretty sure the package just said "gourds" and nothing else. So I'm thinking they'll be more like bird house gourds rather than something else. Any help? Suggestions? The plant may be taken out and it'll definitely be cut back soon as it's taking over everything. 

This baby praying mantis was fun to see. We had seen a few others in our back yard but not in the garden area. Let's hope they stay away from the chickens! I mentioned on Instagram (follow @thebrickbungalow) that I haven't seen an adult in awhile but I always see the babies. So obviously the adults are better at hiding! 

And another generic package, our "garden beans" that I picked last night. I didn't cook them well or I'd be describing their delicious (hopefully) flavor. Better luck next time!

Do you garden? What do you plant? This is this garden's first year so we'll keep it around for now. I may add to it if I can get more buckets. And by may, it'll definitely happen. I did this all, minus a few trees that needed chopped by Doug, so he can't get too mad at me!