Monday, November 9, 2009

Problem Child

Under the dining room window, on the front of the house, there's a bed that gets little sun. Any rain that falls runs off the soil and into the "lawn" area in the front yard. This bed is a very dry, shady spot where little grows well. Not even the privet seedlings can take hold here.

Last winter, I amended the soil with leaf mulch and wood bark from the landfill. This morning, I mulched around my two rooted gardenias, the single rooted Aucuba, and the tea olive I planted. Nandinas have always (and will forever) be here. The camellia was one I chopped down in the spring of 2008, as I didn't know what it was then. It's been recovering since then, but it's being slow. It's a sasanqua, I believe.



I still need to do something with the front steps.



The coleus and impatiens were getting ragged. The cold mornings have taken their toll. They came out. I need two more bags of mulch for this bed. The tiny hostas I wintersowed and planted out in July are still very small. I don't expect them to come back next year, but I have been wrong before, once.





With rain in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, I raked and collected another sack of leaves for the upper potager. I'll spread horse manure over this bed on Thursday if the rain stops by then. If not, it will be another week or more before I have a chance to get out there.



I've already started spreading wood ashes on the lower potager. There'll be lots more over the winter for all the beds. I noticed last year that I had fewer slugs where I had spread ashes too.



I resprayed the periwinkle on the front slope.



Much of it seems to be dying.



Not a foot away, other plants are rebounding happily.



In the basement, the confederate rose cuttings are doing well. The brugs are doing better. I'll pot the brugs sometime this week. The CR will remain in water a bit longer.



Lots of leaves still to fall in the backyard. I think I want the fence to be purple, like the shutters and doors.



It's 63 degrees and overcast. The high today should be in the mid 70s again. Wednesday, we'll be lucky to break the 50s. Three more wheelbarrows of wood have been moved into the basement. I need to spend some time very soon splitting more of the cut pieces for the rest of the winter. The low last night was 39 according to AccuWeather.com.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Man, do you ever take a break? I wish I had the room to do more in our yard. I've gotten some nice ideas from your yard.

Nell Jean said...

We made the usual preparations for the impending tropical storm; latched down things and turned off the dripping bird bath faucet.

We don't bring in extra supplies. There's always something we could eat and water is available. Flashlights have new batteries.

TV is talking now about preparedness at the Electric Company. Trees blowing down are their biggest headache here.

Unknown said...

What did you ultimately decide to do with the front slope where you've sprayed the periwinkle?

Tom - 7th Street Cottage said...

LOL. I do this stuff to relax, I don't need a break from it. :)

Nell, I was wondering what you guys were doing down there. Stay safe and inside. Buffy's never seen one of these, has she?

Tim, I'm still deciding. It's probably going to still be groundcover, but something less invasive and unruly. I have sedum, creeping thyme seeds, and other ideas. I bought a cotoneaster today. I'm thinking it's an easy one to propagate.

Jill-O said...

You've got nice ledges along the sides of your steps. Have you ever thought of window boxes? I have similar ledges up my steps and built some large window boxes along each side. It fills in the actual drab of the steps.

Tom - 7th Street Cottage said...

Jill, I've got plans for the front steps. I just have to do them. I had considered planters, but with little sun, it's tough to get much to survive. I'm hoping to collect enough small stone to cover the brick completely. I'll cover the steps with a good tile, or stone. The bricks are slippery. I don't want to repeat that mistake.

Betty819 said...

Hang in there! I think you are a lot like me, want everything to grow up and bloom overnight and we all know it doesn't happen like that. You've only been there a few short years and look what you've accomplished already. Start thinking of those indoor projects.

L. D. said...

It looks like your staying ahead of it all. Our time is running out also. I got daffodils planted but wanted to put in more tulips. I may just stop everything and just go do it. Your beds look like they are all ready to go for the next season. Hang in there.