Landscaping

Backyard Sneak Peek

Posted by Lindsay C on May 28, 2011 in backyard, DIY, Exterior, Featured Articles, gardening, Landscaping, videos | 0 comments

We’ve been trying to take advantage of the few sunny days we’ve had this Spring and work on the backyard.  Summer 2011 is definitely all about the backyard projects.

Here is a list of what we’ve done so far: rototill up the old grass, plant a Crab-apple tree, put down sod, built a small garden bed, purchased and put together a portable gazebo for some shade and mosquito protection, and fix the graveled areas.

What we still need to do: put down ground covering where the swing-set is (any suggestions…don’t really want wood-chips or gravel so I’m stumped), build a “salad table”, build more garden beds, plant seeds and garden plants/flowers, paint the shop, and build our little deck off the back sliding glass door (we already have most of the lumber for it – woo hoo!).

So here is a video sneak peek at our pretty new lawn! It actually went down a lot easier than we thought it would, and we’ve noticed it’s starting to root (we can’t pull the sod up anymore) so we’re so excited to mow it because it’s getting long!

Instant Lawn from Facebook User on Vimeo.

Instant Lawn from Facebook User on Vimeo.

(Click the link if the video isn’t embedded…ugh, killin’ me! But this is just a sneak peek, I’ll have better pictures in a few short weeks – yay for summer!

{DIY} Septic Tank Box: Part 1

Posted by Lindsay on Nov 10, 2009 in backyard, DIY, Exterior, Featured Articles, Landscaping | 0 comments

Yep.  That’s what we started to build last weekend.  When you live in Likely you have your own well for your water and your own septic tank.  Ours is right there in our back yard, and it’s really not buried that deep.  As you can see from the photos I took this weekend, we have two green tank lids that stick up right out of the dirt.  They’re made of plastic and plastic + sun = brittle plastic.  We didn’t want the tank lids to get sunbaked because that would be downright dangerous if something (or someone – eek!) fell through.  Fortunately the septic tank is only as old as our home ownership journey (which is about 16 months), but we didn’t want it to be left out there in the elements any longer.  So a few weeks ago, Glenn dug some holes, poured some concrete and set some recycled wood posts in, which was the beginning of our new septic tank box.

Although we needed to build a box around the septic tank, we still needed to be able to access the tank for pumping, etc.  So when planning the design we decided to make the box do triple duty: protect the tank, act as extra storage, and built at seat height for a little extra seating outside.  As I said before, Glenn used some scrap posts that we had around and he set them in concrete around the box.  He then purchased some brackets and framed it in with 2×4′s to reinforce the box and add strength.

Here’s a photo, admiring the new window in Harper’s room.

But it reminds me that we still need to paint the trim on the house…..

Harper was a big help, too…and you can see that the green plastic lids are right there, sticking up out of the dirt.  Perfect size for a little girl I know to fall through if they somehow got damaged..  Not good!

This (above) is right after Glenn cut the tops of the posts off with his chain saw.  Good thing that Glenn is married to an interior designer, because I knew right off the top of my head, exactly what height to build the top at for a standard seat.  Or he could have just walked inside with a tape measure and measured a chair…

It’s approximately 18″…in case you were wondering.

Does your man own a chain saw? Mine does. And he uses it…a lot.

Almost done! Doesn’t our new grass look nice? A little patchy still, but at least we have grass now.  We should be able to fix that this winter while there’s snow on the ground.

Finished! With the frame, anyway. Now we just need to put the sides and top on. Hopefully it will be finished this weekend, but you know us…fishing might be a little more important while the weather is good.   Isn’t this a beautiful November so far? Here in Northern California it’s been sunny and in the 70′s!  Love it!  Not looking forward to the gloom and cold.

Happy Veteran’s Day! Go thank one you know tomorrow…or every time you see them.  I’m giving a shout-out to my cousin, Matt, who is stationed in the army in Hawaii (poor guy, right?) but he’s also recently home from his 2nd Iraq tour and he’s only 24.  He’s also my hero and I really hope that I get to see him over the holidays!

xo, L.

PS – My giveaway for 3 Rosebud cards is still going on through this week!  Head over there for the details!!

Watching grass grow…

Posted by Lindsay on Jul 22, 2009 in backyard, Environmental, Exterior, gardening, Landscaping | 1 comment

Update: I’m linking this post to Julia’s Hooked on Fridays blog party at Hooked on Houses, and the Frugal Friday Linky Party at the Shabby Nest!  Thanks, ladies!!!!

We have finally gotten back to the backyard project — although the mountain of gravel is still there, ugh. We do have someone who is going to come get the rest, so hopefully they’ll come do that soon! Anyway, we’ve fenced off the sections that will be grass, planted, fertilized and watered, so now we’re waiting…and watching the grass grow! Yes, we have grass!!!

Here is what we’ve been up to:

I cannot wait to 1) get the gravel out of there, 2) have enough grass to take the fences down, and 3) actually like my backyard. It hasn’t happened yet, which is unfortunate during the summer!! Patience, Lindsay, patience…

Too Tired To Blog…

Posted by Lindsay on Jun 30, 2009 in DIY, Exterior, gardening, Landscaping | 0 comments

Okay, a little dramatic, but it was ridiculously hard work shoveling 7 tons of gravel around in our backyard last weekend!  I’m just now getting the use of my forearms back.    It’s a start to our ugly, ugly backyard, but now all we need to do is 1) get the rest of the gravel out of here (they sent way, way, way too much…grr…) – we’re being creative with what to do with it.  2) plant grass in the dirt areas.  3) build a new fence all around. 4) paint the ugly metal shop/shed and the trim on the house.  5) build a flat deck off the back door.  It will all probably happen in that order.  If we ever get it done this summer!  Now before I cramp up again, here is the backyard transformation…in progress…

This is back in March when Glenn cut the tree down…

And this is recently when a jungle of weeds sprouted out of nowhere!

See – no tree!  But the backyard was very scary for awhile…

Our new best friend, the roto-tiller.  It took 2 entire days to till up the backyard and get all of the rocks/weeds/old grass out of the soil.

Almost done with that step!

Final pile of rocks we pulled out of the yard – not counting the ones we threw over the fence.    That was my job…picking up rocks.  I kept them, because you never know where you could use them!  They’re nice rocks…right?

The 7 tons of “clean rock” the trucking company delivered.  Oh. My. Gosh.  Glancing at this photo I cringe at how ugly the shop is.  But it’s sturdy and a nice workspace inside.  We’re going to paint it black.  Yes, black.  I love black buildings, and since our house is brick I need to get my black building fix in somehow!

The easy part is done…putting down the weed blocker and paver path throughout the backyard.  This breaks it up into 3 sections of grass.  Well, future grass.

This would have been a catastrophe!  The wheelbarrow broke on the 3rd or 4th gravel load of the day – !!!  But Glenn was able to fix it…phew!  That’s what we get for using rusty old tools that came with the house!

The gravel is almost completely spread, and did we even make a dent??  I can’t tell.  And notice that they piled it in front of the shop door.  I had to climb through the window on the left to get the roll of weed blocker out!  It would have been alright if they had sent THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF GRAVEL!  I trusted them.  I gave them the square footage I wanted to cover and he converted it into tons…sweet.  I’d say they sent AT LEAST 2 TONS too much!

What the heck are we supposed to do with it all?!?!?  And where are we supposed to put it!?!?!?  And how will it get there???  I really don’t want to think about it anymore…and I have a lovely pile of rock to sift out of the dirt before we plant.  I need “Curb Appeal” or some other landscaping HGTV show to come to my house with a team.  ASAP!

You might notice in this picture that the path is wider than the original “weed-blocker and paver” shot above…yeah, we widened it to use more gravel.  Nice.  Any tips on where to use it all??  Want to come to my house and take a scoop??  Or a truckload?? Please…??

{Sneak Peek} Flower garden additions!

Posted by Lindsay on Jun 9, 2009 in Exterior, gardening, Landscaping | 8 comments

Okay, so I’m not photographing my whole “garden” for you because it looks a little sad…hopefully next year it will be more full!  Plus I’m just getting started with this and I’m not a master gardener yet.  So for now I took a few pics of my favorites…which are my favorites because they’re doing very well. Some are not!! My fault, though…I couldn’t get them all planted ASAP and a couple didn’t like being in the hot sun 24/7. But I bought all perennials so that I wouldn’t waste money, banking on the fact that they have 9 lives! The planted ones are in the flower bed to the left of the front door, and the pots are sitting on the front porch.  So here we go…my first flower garden!

My pink peony! Specifically the “Karl Rosenfield” peony…which is supposed to be red.  Hmmm…oh well, I like it either way!

These are Caradonna Salvias.  Another one that is doing very well, so I love them.    Plus I love the spiky shape.

My baby blue spruce!  I planted him in the corner, and I thought he was just so cute!  He’s very short now, and luckily he’s a slow grower.  I wish I knew exactly what species he is, I accidentaly threw the tag away and didn’t note it!  Let me know if you know.

I decided to plant the succulents in pots because they look so cute in pots and I can rearrange them as I please!!  We have Hens and Chicks Mix Sempervivums, planted with Blaze of Fulda Sedums (2 pots of these).  In the back is a pot of Dark Dancer White Clover.  I’ve found I’m really attracted to the dark purple or chocolatey leaves and plants.

The pots are made out of recycled materials – I picked those up at the Ace Hardware Memorial Day sale! Nice and lightweight, so I can move them anywhere!  Plus if it says “eco” or “recycled” anywhere, I’ve found I’m kind of a sucker.  This is another pot of the Hens and Chicks Mix on the left, a pot of Autumn Joy Sedums in the middle, and in the back is a Pulp Fiction Dahlia (another one with dark leaves and fiery flowers).

So to break my nursery purchases down, here is what I bought (but I didn’t show all of them):

• White Clover, “Dark Dancer”
• Sedum, “Blaze of Fulda” and “Autumn Joy”
• Semervivum, “Hens and Chicks Mix”
• Armeria, “Dusseldorf Pride” (These are so cute, but the flowers are already browning so I didn’t photography them)
• Dahlias, “Pulp Fiction” and “Gallery Sisley”
• Peony, “Karl Rosenfield”
• Salvia, “Caradonna”
• Iceland Poppy, “Champagne Bubbles”
• Bugleweed, “Black Scallop”
• Mini Blue Spruce tree – I tossed the tag on this one and forgot to write down the name   Any help would be wonderful!

And I’m so excited because my orchid has finally bloomed! 3 blooms so far, but I counted 18 total buds/blooms on it! Wow!

I can’t wait to finish planning and planting my gardens and landscaping.  I have a blank slate to work with, and I’m excited to “decorate” the outside of my house along with the inside.  But we also need to PAINT the outside – desperately!  The work of a homeowner is never done, is it?  So far I’ve really enjoyed it, though!

It's a Start…

Posted by Lindsay on May 18, 2009 in Landscaping | 0 comments

Yay! I made my first real trip to our local nursery as a homeowner! I haven’t bought anything yet…except this pretty hanging basket I couldn’t resist!

We’ve been very busy (on days off!) here at Casa Christensen with lots of weeding and planning, planning and weeding. We pretty much ripped everything out so that we can start from scratch. Here is what the front yard looks like today.  Pretty bare!

Here are the empty flowerbeds, just waiting for some new tenants…I’m loving the funky shapes (as a designer, can you blame me??). I’m thinking some evergreens on the outsides, some dark ground cover in interesting textures, and perennials and annuals in varying shapes and heights. I love the tall, spiky flowers and grasses, and the colorful, globe shaped flowers. I’m not sure of the names yet, but I’m sure the guys at the nursery will be sick of me soon!

Our dog, Molly, can’t wait for her new yard!!

As you can see, we have lots of work to do, but I’m very excited after getting a little horticultural education today. Don’t you just love a little confidence boost? Especially if you have a black thumb like I do!

Do any of you have any favorite plants or flowers to recommend? Have you written a recent post about gardening and/or landscaping! Feel free to comment and link!! Happy gardening!!