As many of you know, Jake and I have been spending a lot of time over the last few months working hard in our garden. I don't particularly have green fingers, but Jake does and so I'm learning. While my initial plan was to have my garden done for me, it ended up being too expensive and I had a friend draw up some plans for me instead. Just plant-by-number, easy-peasy. Or not. It's flipping hard manual labour!!
These first few pictures are of our house just before out tenant moved out. They just show the run down state of the garden. Above is the front of the house. The bush in front of the lounge window has been taken out. And the pots are no longer on the step (they weren't mine)
The lawn was in a shocking state, virtually just weeds. Because of the field opposite us, it's almost impossible to keep our lawn weed free and the front is far worse than our enclosed back yard...
This HUGE New Zealand Pepper Tree has been taken out. They're a nightmare to get rid of and I still have seedlings popping up in my lawn. This one was in the way of my fence and it's roots were damaging the drive way, so had to come out...
That spiky thing's also gone now. They get so big...
Not much has change down the back of my house, except that I no longer own a trolly...
My tenant's stuff is all gone now too and that huge tree has been cut back considerably...
This is down the back of the house. Both those plants have been taken out. Where Jake's standing, is now our veggie patch. That's also his bedroom window that he's about to peep in...
One of the first things we did in the back yard, was to plant buffalo grass plugs. It's a very hard lawn, but grows well and doesn't get too long too fast...
We also did some hanging baskets, to put up in the big tree to add some colour. Jake loves snap dragons...
By then, we'd already had the tree cut back and the spiky bush removed...
Our "garden" was getting some water and we were enjoying spending time pottering around in our new home...
Life got busy shortly after that and the garden took a serious knock. I eventually got sick of the mess, not to say embarrassed and so decided to put the plans into action. I used string and then white spray paint to mark out the beds and began to dig out the grass. Digging out grass is hard work...
I got a little further than this, then decided that I just didn't have the physical strength to do an entire garden and employed a gardener to help me...
After just one day of having a gardener, the garden suddenly took shape (Roo, please note my clean table)...
Our next project was to tackle the veggie patch...
We spent the next couple of days sourcing and buying our plants and then laid them out, ready for planting...
Jake was super excited to get going...
He had his very own bed to do, as part of a cubs badge and he was very dilligent about planting his plants properly. His bed is infront of my bedroom window, so every time I open my blinds I am rewarded with his special flowers...
By the time Jake's birthday rolled around in May, the plants were all in and the garden was really starting to look good...
Lots of room for growth...
The next project was our veggie patch. We were determined to get it going by spring time, so wasted no time in ordering our sleepers for raised beds and had the lawn dug out and levelled off...
We put the sleepers into place and ordered more compost. We've dug in over 130 bags...
Jake's wonderful grandparents (Jacques' folks) spent 2 solid weekends helping us pur our irrigation system in, I am so grateful for this...
I laid pavers (mostly on my own, not bad) and put ground cover inbetween...
We moved the big wine barrel kennel that Jacques had made up for our dogs on the farm, to the back corner of the yard...
Looking towards the garden...
And this is my view from my living room, these days...
Outside my kitchen door, I've got an assortment of pots with an assortment of flowering plants and special things. I love looking out when my kitchen door is open...
Out in the front yard, new beds have also been dug in and we're slowly filling up the beds...
I've put in canary creepers and bougenvillas to help hide the ugliness of the fence...
Jake's been super good with helping and is forever pottering along behind me. Here, he's pulling dead heads off flowers in the hope of scattering seeds...
And he's been much better about doing his chores (he's picking up the dog's poop here) around the house lately. We've got a very good routine in place now and he's really doing his bit...
As you can see, now that spring has arrived, everything is blooming and growing and I love seeing all the colours appearing around the garden. At the moment, there's something new happening every day and Jake and I love walking around in the morning before work and school to see what's new...
We love our little garden and our veggie patch is really taking shape. It's far from perfect, but we like it like that. It's so rewarding to see everything take root and grow. It finally feels like home and I'm definitely not shy of our garden any more!!
Enjoy the weekend, I'll be in the garden!
Love,
Sue XXX
PS. My spellcheck's stopped working for some reason, so apologies for any typos, I don't have time to re-read this now... x
PS. My spellcheck's stopped working for some reason, so apologies for any typos, I don't have time to re-read this now... x
8 comments:
Your garden looks great! Our grass took a serious knock this year so we ave a lot of work ahead too
wow, your hard work is paying off as it looks stunning. xx
Phew all caught up again! - I am going to have to be good and read everyone's blog weekly, instead of leaving it as a marathon ;o)
Garden is looking good, and coming along nicely. I did notice the nice clean table and laughed when I saw your comment. we had such a wet summer, that a lot of things like strawbs really didn't do too well, but the rest of the garden is lush and green.
Autumn is on us now, and everything is beginning to turn, and I love this season.
Anyhow, keep going with the garden, you've done loads, and at some point I expect a BBQ and a beer (on that nice clean table) Cheers x
Hey Cat,
I started trying to de-weed my lawn over the weekend (trying to keep up-to-date with the beds), but there are so many, it's a loosing battle. Good luck with yours...
Caz,
Good to hear from you! I miss you!!! When can I come visit? Life is less hectic now and I have time! Jake is fishing crazy, so I'll have to tie that in with a visit. Let me know :)
Roo,
The garden still has a loooong way to go and it'll take ages for everything to fill out properly, but at least we've made a start. Looks way better than when we first moved in anyway. We are putting tons of time into the garden, it's so rewarding. Looking forward to seeing some pics of your autumnal garden soon! Oh and by the way, the braai (BBQ) awaits and I have a cold one ready too - you just need to get here!!
Sue XXX
Serious transformation going on in the garden of Casa de Sue and Jake. The before and after (and not even yet at the end of the after) is like night and day. Your hard work is definitely paying off.
I might have to hijack you and Jake to come work on my garden one day J and book a date for a braai and some very very ice cold aqua J J with some roasted veggies from the veggie patch
We also had some trees cut back a few years ago and it looks like they are in need of cutting again L
Ps: Nice to see some old pics of Jake with his crew cut (makes him look like a mini US Marine J )
Serious transformation going on in the garden of Casa de Sue and Jake. The before and after (and not even yet at the end of the after) is like night and day. Your hard work is definitely paying off.
I might have to hijack you and Jake to come work on my garden one day and book a date for a braai and some very very ice cold aqua :) ;) with some roasted veggies from the veggie patch
We also had some trees cut back a few years ago and it looks like they are in need of cutting again
Ps: Nice to see some old pics of Jake with his crew cut makes him look like a mini US Marine:)
You and Jake have accomplished sooooo much! It looks wonderful!
;o)
Hi Lee,
We have worked hard and continue to do so. Who knew weeds could grow so fast!! We are loving it though and are looking forward to the time when we can afford to put in a little pool!!
Sue X
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