Plans for spring 2010

Most of these are from 2008, not good... there will be more added to the list soon I'm sure.

• Fix the raspberries
• Build bathouses
• Build birdhouses, an owl one too
• Build a compost
• Build a birdbath
• Cut the boxwood
• Cut the buddleia
• Clean up the backyard

I take a picture of these crocuses every spring and the first time it was like one flower and now…

Just some random picture that I found and liked

Herbs surrounded by boxwood, photo by Debra Brash found picture here.

More boxwood, picture found here.

Current Obsession

Hedges, especially yew and boxwood. With the building project across the street a need a big hedge so I don’t have to look at it, yew sounds great.

Apparently it’s the oldest and biggest yew hedge in Britain, more here.

Yew hands! How more Edward Scissorhands can it get? I wonder if it’s hard to make… probably out of my league. Must get a book on topiary. More here.

Archways, I want this, this would be cute as a hedge on the back towards the neighbors. Picture found here.

I can do this for hours (and I have), just looking at garden pictures. I wonder how much space all my garden pictures use on the hard drive?

Today

I started cleaning up, making the garden ready for winter. Got all the dahlias I grew some seed this spring and cutting all the leaves off and putting them in labeled paper bags, hopefully some of them will live through the winter. Some are really big and it’s not THAT cold during the nights yet so they can stay in their pots or flowerbed but the babies got bagged. My favorite is an Oxford baby with really dark foliage; I hope the flowers are just as nice. And I hope I'll have some seeds of my own to sew next spring. (If I get any seeds I'm willing to share)

The raspberries are absolutely everywhere, must find something to prevent them from spreading but so far no luck. A plastic rain barrel is the best thing so far but it was way too expensive, especially since I plan to cut it. Anyway, trimmed them and some of the lavender, planted cuttings in individual pots and dug them down under the rhododendron (which I hope to edge with boxwood, love edging).

And took a picture of the last poppies for the season, I think...

Some kind of Papaver rhoeas but which I don’t know, I do have to get all the seeds since I want only blue and pink in The Backyard. Red is best up close so The Front Yard and/or The Slope