The Upper Meadow.

Last fall, shortly after building the large raised bed, the leaves turned and color filled the trees out back. In the 2.5 years I've been in this house, I've cleared out a lot of undergrowth and opened up the backyard for sunlight and plantings. Yesterday, I realized, I have a lot more space to plant than I thought.

The new makeshift stepping stone path winds its way around the upper potager and down into the orchard. In a few years, the fruit trees should fill out and take up a lot of space. Plantings will change as more shade is reintroduced into this area.



The ground drops and slopes falling about 8' in elevation from the highest point to the lowest. Two truck loads of leaf mulch were spread here last spring. The landfill no longer gives the stuff away. Something about state regulations and permits they don't have. Drainage here is sharp.



Looking back, there's a lot of empty soil right now. The leaves will slowly turn to black dirt over the summer with the rain and heat. I stuck most of my hardwood cuttings around the edge of the woods here. Until they grow into sizeable shrubs, I'll use drought tolerant plants to fill the spaces. Many wintersown containers will be planted out in this area, coneflowers, black eyed susans, coreopsis, yucca. The perennial bed is nearly full and self-sown seedlings are popping up like crazy. I've got to switch my focus to another area of the yard.



Spring is advancing rapidly. The pollen index is very high.





It's 45 degrees and sunny. The high today should be in the mid 80s again. I've started consuming massive amounts of water during the day.

The two owls just swooped through the backyard. The birds are going nuts. No sign of any squirrels.