As The Clearing Begins....

In honor of the long running "As the World Turns" which will soon be ending it's daytime soap opera tv run, I give you this blog entry.

The garden is complete. The line has been drawn in the Nebraskan soil and I have started clearing out everything. The goal is to have this part of the yard, as well as the outer beds between the sidewalk and street, cleared by the end of next week. We had a cold front and storms come through last night, so the weather will be perfect for Derrek and I to head outside.

The proof is in the picture, right? Here you go!

Before we get to the garden design, just a moment to enjoy the magic that happens already. Here are current blooming bellflower (blue), yellow coreopsis that resembles small rudbeckia, and white late blooming hostas.

Here you can see where the new border is. These stones were bordering the yard and sidewalk. They have been moved to make the new garden border and so I have easier access to the part of the yard that is being cleared. So far I have about ten feet cleared.

Another view of the new garden/lawn border.

On the patio area, I moved the table and chairs a bit to make room for Derrek's pack and play. Since his babysitter is back to school, Derrek will have to hang out in the yard with me. Glad the hot weather finally broke.

What a difference, eh? So much more work to do, but I'm enjoying it. There is just something about working outside and seeing the fruits of your labor so quickly that kicks me in the rear to keep going. I have already ordered some bulbs and perennials for fall planting. Oddly enough, with the exception of some very small paper whites, there are no daffodils nor tulips in the yard. There were no mums either, but I have already changed that. The yard should keep me busy though the fall and into winter.

I have some other big plans for the yard, but I'll wait until we clear our way to those parts of the yard before explaining them. Buying this house has been an interesting undertaking just in yard work alone. But it has been so worth it. Now, I need to hop off here, set up lil' D's pack an play outside, and get working!

On to the next project!

Well, I suppose I mean the continued project of this mess of a yard. I'm not going to lie, I'm embarrassed at how much of a mess I have allowed it to become. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel!


We live on a corner lot and have a decent sized yard for living in town. And, the only lawn we have borders the street. The rest of the entire yard is garden; about 60% of which right now is actually Nebraskan jungle.


Here is the game plan:

1. Identify which parts of the yard will remain garden and what will be converted back to a lawn. DONE


2. Clear out weeds and other vegetation that should not be there from the garden areas. Mulch it and spray with herbicide all areas that NOTHING should grow. COMPLETED TOMORROW

3. Transplant plants that I want to keep from areas that are going to be grass and mowed.

4. Once the garden areas are complete, totally clear out, till and plant grass seed.


Now, there is a large portion of the back yard that is nothing but river rock. I believe there used to be a pond there at some point. That area will simply be sprayed with the strongest plant killer I can buy in order to keep it weedless. I'll deal with all of that next year.

Here is the front and side sitting area that is done so far:

Note.....There was very few fall flowering plants in the yard. So, I have planted mums that you can see here in the foreground. I did finally decide on shrubs and planted three spring flowering rhododendron in the back. Oddly enough, they have buds on them now. I'm not complaning.

If you look in the back part of the picture, you will see the area that will be planted as grass in the next month or so.

Now that the heat warning is over and the Baltimore like humidity has floated away with the cool front that stormed through earlier today, it is time to really get moving! Tomorrow, the area beyond the sitting area and it's bordering stone walkway will be cleared and a new stone border through the yard will be done. With that, I may even have time to start transplanting some of the flowers that will remain in the yard.

I promise to post before and after pictures. This yard has humbled me, but I am determined to keep part of the garden and make the rest more manageable. Besides, Derrek and Ebony need some grass to play on and I need a garden to get my hands dirty in.