quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Have you thought about some kind of screening/backdrop behind the fountain, like between the fountain and the fence? Something to set off the fountain and also provide some privacy from all the adjoining homes? Could be something evergreen, or a trellis that you grow a vine on....

I like this idea a lot!

Here's a photo from farther back.



And the other side of the little hill:



Sorry about the crummy pictures - the sun isn't in the right place just now.

The whole yard is done in curves like this - something new for me. My current thought is to loosen the final curve and turn it the other way to create a 3' planting area along the fence, or possibly as deep as six feet - no one needs this much grass. Possibly curved to go with the flow, possibly curved well in to the lawn to block some of the view of the city yard.

I suppose it could be flat, but I'd prefer raised; either mounded (which creates issues on the back side) or sloped away from the fence with something like railroad ties at the back to contain the back side of the slope.

As for plant material, I want something that looks good in four seasons as this is the view out my dining room patio door where I eat breakfast every morning. Sharon wants flowers, which sound like a PITA. I'm thinking evergreens of some sort, particularly as I am going to have to hand water all of it. Possibly just extend the line of dwarf conifers I have now, although I don't think I want anything that tall.

I could also save myself a lot of maintenance by building some sort of slatted wooden wall screen like I built in CA.

Ideas, anyone?

Another pic that might help is to go to the far end of the yard and face the patio/house....I think it might provide a helpful perspective.

Maybe also a pic from the dining room window so we know what you're looking at now?

Meanwhile, I ordered a couple of these for my yard:



https://www.homedepot.com/p/So...HDR-076650/314936060

I've really gotten into vertical and raised bed gardening. The downside is that you do have to keep a close eye on moisture levels, and in hot weather you may be watering daily. The upside is you don't have to bend over to maintain the plants and if you're growing veggies it's easier to protect against critters.

I'm thinking I'm going to plant my alpine strawberries in these. We'll see.

We planted a whole package of mixed sunflower seeds. We put a big piece of hardware cloth over the seeded area to keep the squirrels from digging them up. Last weekend, Mrs. pj saw they were sprouting and took the hardware cloth off. Now, all the sprouts have been eaten. We suspect bunnies.

I'm trying tomatoes this year. Sweet 100s, Mister Stripey, Lemon Boy, and one I'd never seen called Seattle's Best or something like that.

Planters came yesterday. Not sure where they'll end up, but for now they're on the deck just outside the screen room. Those are some of my strawberries hanging on the post in the background; have lots of others to plant somewhere.




Not terribly fancy or elegant, but they get points for flexible design and decent size. Would be great for herbs near the back door.

I like that you can disassemble and collapse them for winter storage. Or just move the individual planter boxes around if you decide they need different light conditions.

I really like those! Where did you get them?

Ordered them online from Home Depot. Link a couple of posts above.

Wayfair has them, too, and they were on sale during their WayDay sale a couple of days ago at a price slightly lower than HD. Nice thing about HD is being able to return them to the store and not pay for return shipping so I ordered them from HD.

(edit: It galls me to pay these kinds of prices for something that's plastic.... )

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Another pic that might help is to go to the far end of the yard and face the patio/house....I think it might provide a helpful perspective.

Maybe also a pic from the dining room window so we know what you're looking at now?

Here is the view from the dining room window:


And the view from the back corner of the lot:

Harumph. I'm going to have to ponder this for a while. Couple of other questions...

Are there any restrictions you're aware of regarding man-made structures like a large trellis or an arbor? Setbacks, heights, materials....

Also, do you like the feeling of being sheltered by something nearby, especially on the patio? Or do you want the wide open spaces feeling?

Any preferred or objectionable views you want to take into consideration (besides the view from the dining room)?

I'm wondering what variety those arborvitae are. There's one cultivar called "Green Giant" that is a very rapid grower that gets quite large and if you don't prune them every year....well, let's just say the word "giant" says it all.

Meanwhile, I've decided to try feeding the hummingbirds. I looked on a couple of the websites that track migration and looks like they were sighted a week or more ago around here. Avian flu doesn't seem to be much of a concern because only the hummingbirds would be the only ones at the nectar feeder.

Hummingbird feeder has been taken down. Couldn't get the damn thing to stop dripping so all I got were a bunch of ants.

May try a different kind of feeder....

Don’t hang it in the sun. I have the best luck with those cheap plastics ones with the red bases and yellow flowers that you turn upside down and unscrew to fill.

Totally overcast today. And temps in the low 50s.

I've had this thing for years but never put it up.



I think I'm going for one more like what you describe. They're cheap enough at Menards or Home Depot.

Look what I found on my walk yesterday:





There was one on the lawn that was broken off; the stem was hollow so I'm pretty sure it's an edible morel. However, I'm no mycologist and don't know any, so I'm not taking any chances.

But I'm gazing longingly whenever I pass by them....

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Harumph. I'm going to have to ponder this for a while. Couple of other questions...

Are there any restrictions you're aware of regarding man-made structures like a large trellis or an arbor? Setbacks, heights, materials....

The CCRs don’t say a lot, just that fences have to be open slat and sheds have to match the house

quote:

Also, do you like the feeling of being sheltered by something nearby, especially on the patio? Or do you want the wide open spaces feeling?

I’d rather not see my neighbor’s swingset and yard equipment but in order to block that I have to block the view of the pond. A more too intimate feeling would be good as well.

[qoute]I'm wondering what variety those arborvitae are. There's one cultivar called "Green Giant" that is a very rapid grower that gets quite large and if you don't prune them every year....well, let's just say the word "giant" says it all.[/quote]

Good grief. My neighbor says they are Green Giants and if that’s the case they should never have been planted there. My neighbors on the other side have several of them as well. I’ll see how well they react to being topped but they’ll probably have to come out. Maybe I’ll keep my chipper after all.

I wrote earlier that there is a hardy weed here that looks like an onion. Turns out that it really is an onion - this property used to be an onion field. My neighbor told me that for the first two years his yard smelled like onions every time he cut the grass.

They’re tough little buggers - Roundup doesn’t kill them. Maybe they’re a GMO “Roundup ready” variety.

Frankenonions!

I started to look at some of my landscape design books for ideas for your patio and yard but my own garden beckoned with better weather here over the last few days. However.. temps and dewpoints are shooting up and we're going from March to July weather starting today, and I only have so much endurance to work outside in those conditions. I'll be sipping lemonade in the afternoons so I'll look through my landscape design books then.

I don't have pics to illustrate these, but some random ideas....

Think of your yard in terms of "rooms". Right now it's pretty much one big room, though your patio is becoming a living/sitting room of its own. You might also have the outdoor equivalent of a kitchen room where your grill is.

Do an overall plan for the yard, but implement your "room" designs one at a time. It lets you evolve the space as you figure out how you're going to use it. Be sure to consider views from various angles, including looking from the inside of the house to the outside. Also from the back of the yard towards the house and patio.

Surrounding the patio with mid-height shrubs or evergreens. Privacy when you're sitting down, but not a huge wall of stuff that towers over you and blocks everything. You can focus color and plants of interest in this room where you sit. Of course you can also really enclose the space if you want that really intimate feeling or to block unwanted views .

Some kind of arbor/arch at the spot where you leave the patio to go out into the yard. If your patio is "surrounded" as I described (either half-height or completely), then the arbor points you to the place to go out into another "room", the rest of your backyard.

quote:

Good grief. My neighbor says they are Green Giants and if that’s the case they should never have been planted there. My neighbors on the other side have several of them as well. I’ll see how well they react to being topped but they’ll probably have to come out. Maybe I’ll keep my chipper after all.

I take it you read up on Green Giants. Their aggressive growth rate means you'll have a lot of pruning to do to keep them in check. But it can be done. The trick is to prune them when they're smaller/size you want rather than trying to prune them back after they're too big.

I put some Techny arborvitae in the wrong spot and I prune them to keep them in check. I waited too long to top them and they looked a little odd when I did because I was cutting branches that had gotten quite large. I did strategic pruning, cutting back to a bud. When they resprouted, the new smaller shoots filled in the top nicely. I don't like shearing with hedge trimmers, instead hand pruning everything for a natural look.

I'd hate to take out a bunch of healthy plants but I have to admit my energies may better be directed to other yard tasks than pruning those puppies every year....that said, my neighbor shears his arborvitae with an electric hedge trimmer and they look ugly for a while but resprout and get a more natural look over time. At least till he does it again....