{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.

{Backyard} Raised Beds

Hello Friends! I hope you are all doing well and staying happy and healthy.

Awhile back, my dad and I made raised beds for my back patio. After a lot of discussion, we chose to set them on the concrete as there's plenty of patio space and it allowed for an easier build. We still had to deal with slanting concrete and a few other issues, but nothing that wasn't dealt with. Lots of pictures so enjoy. If we're friends on Facebook, you've seen most or all of these!

So you can see the photos are from a few different days as things have grown. Even our grass is now growing better, which is crazy because the chickens are confined to one area and the dogs to another. But the garden is doing great. There's a tomato, cucumbers, tomatillos, a few random plants from seeds, and a bunch of flowers. I added the blue bird bath after realizing it wasn't being used in Lily's Garden. I mad continue to add a few pots to the backyard but it won't be right now.

The next "phase" is to buy a few 1/2 whiskey barrels and put 4x4 posts in them with hooks. The bottoms will be planted with flowers and the tops will have strings of lights connecting them, making a big square around the patio. It'll be a great addition and I can't wait to see it all finished.

Another thing on my to do list (and it's been there for awhile), is that stupid shed and hopefully the bushes in front too. I'll finish painting the shed at some point but those bushes need to go! They don't flower or produce anything. They are big and ugly and currently also growing poison ivy. I'll either replace with something flowering and pretty or functional like blueberry bushes. But it's in the chicken yard, so I'll have to be careful with what I choose.

{Back Yard} Bug Hotel

Hello again friends!

I posted about my Back Yard Garden Refresh and how I moved some things around. In the middle of moving the actual garden bed areas, I wanted an area to set up a bug hotel. For the past couple years, as they are becoming more popular, I'd see them all over the place and knew that I wanted one. Well, I had this old metal dog crate that was missing the top (or bottom, whatever), and so I decided to repurpose it. It's definitely a work in progress as I need a lot of the "extras" but I was using what I had on hand. 

I started by placing a divider, which some random thing in my shed. I don't think it went to this dog crate, but it was something I've always had at the house. 

I added the terracotta pots as they both have cracks in them and I don't use them for actual planters. I figured that if they continued to break down more, the small pieces could fall through the bottom of the crate. The metal piece leaning next to the planters is something weird from my shed. I honestly have no clue what is is but I thought I'd throw that in there too. 

I moved the two plastic terracotta pots from the South Side Garden as the plants inside had died so I can redo that this summer. They may have flowers, they may have raspberries or herbs, who knows!?

The thing sitting on top of the crate are dried loofahs that stayed outside all winter. I figured that their little holes would be good for bugs. I shoved a small one in the small terracotta pot. 

I stole the U shaped log from my parents' farm and added some random wood pieces from my shed. The little bricks in the back are old stepping stones that broke, and I'd like to add a shelf tower on top using small pieces of wood. 

And above is what I've stopped at. I'll add more twigs and wood from my yard, plus I need to grab things like pine cones and other natural elements. Mulch and broken pots are underneath to fill the space as I put the crate on bricks to create a space under it. 

What do you think? Have you made a bug hotel? If so, what have you put in it? I have a little bee hotel that was bought and hung on a fence in another part of the yard. I wonder if I should move it above this area and make a little collection, or leave it where it is? 

{Back Yard} Garden Refresh

Hello Friends!

Way before Corona hit the world, I've been planning on doing a little makeover to my backyard garden. It was expanded last year after finding a ton of free rocks on the curb nearby the house. After three trips home with them, two beds were created. The garden soon took over and it was out of control, especially the loofah plants. But it always looked bad. The grass died, luckily, and it was just needing some help.

Before, looking towards the garage. I had everything but the mulch on hand, so it was just a day's worth of labor and $20 worth of mulch. The day was on the chillier side but look at that bright, blue sky! 

Before, looking towards the shed (kind of). The galvanized container got shifted to the far right and I had moved the cattle panel, not pictured, away from the fence to put somewhere else. All the rocks near the fence were also moved by yours truly. It was a nice arm workout. 

And because I hate working with gloves, although I probably need to get some, my hands got dirty. 

 And after, looking at the garage. Some day maybe the garage will be fixed up with different siding. The front and sides are brick but this extension was wrapped in this weird fake brick junk that looks like shingles. It works for the time being and may just be covered up with a trellis or something. Suggestions welcomed! It's West facing but gets a lot of South afternoon light. 

So, with the help of about 10 bags of mulch (the $2 kind from Walmart), and reusing all the stepping stones that I had been piling up as other parts of the yard were being changed, I created the above photos. I moved the galvanized rectangular raised bed form and loaded it up with compost and dirt that had settled from the first time it was back there. It now houses a blackberry or raspberry plant (it was new last year and never produced so I can't remember). It's spiky as can be though, so who knows if it'll stay here or get some trellis help or something. Gardens are always changing here. I may still move the rocks that run parallel to the fence to a different area of my yard, but time will tell.

I then moved two terracotta pots back next to my new bug hotel that I'm working on as the plants that were in them on the South Side Garden died. I thought they looked nice by the fence. I then moved a terracotta succulent (or strawberry?) planter to the bug hotel as it's never grows anything on one side and would be a nice way to block some chunky chickens from devouring all the bugs. 

I'll be back to post about the bug hotel as it's a work in progress. I think it's a good start and after some more additions, it'll be a great space for our buggy friends.