Before & After Garden, May Edition

My mom has been patient. Very patient. So here are some pictures of what we've been doing for the past three weeks. Actually, here's the progession from the start so you get an idea as to the extent of the overhaul.

When we moved in to our house in Fall 2004, it started out like this:



(note: I planted the grapevine stock just after we moved in; imagine nothing there, but with higher weeds)





Last year, we were busy taking care of things inside the house and spent little time in the garden with the exception of creating two makeshift beds (one next to left fence and the other surrounding the overgrown rosebushes) and planting some veggies. You can read the description of what we did here:








Over the course of the year, I had to reseed the grass multiple times in areas. Apparently Oregon rain + foot traffic = a big mess. Then it hit me, why not put in a path so that I can get around to my beds with ease... and without becoming caked in mud. Ken took measurements earlier this year and put the backyard into AutoCAD, an architectural drawing program. Based on his dimensions, I drew up the garden plan which incorporates a winding path (large enough for a wheelbarrow) that surrounds a jelly bean-shaped lawn. On the outside of the path are beds that will hold flowers, herbs & vegetables. Small footpaths will be worked into the beds at a later date. Also on the plan, but not in the pictures yet, are a fence that will go around the backyard and an arbor that will support the grapevine and provide seating underneath.


Ken has the work-in-progress pictures on his computer, but here are a couple movies showing the backyard as of 6 pm last night. We laid the sod on Friday night, dug the remaining rosebushes on Saturday and then I spent the rest of the weekend running irrigation lines and unloading 3 cubic yards of dirt, mulch & gravel.

Here is a movie from the deck showing the back garden. You can see the bed on the left side is still there, the rose bushes we just planted in the bed between the grass and path (left center), the 1400 lbs of weeds and branches that have been cleared out behind the path, Ken's beloved cherry tree on the right side behind the garage (the arbor will go in the back right corner). You can also see all of our tomato plants in the bed right below the porch; some of tomatoes will be transplanted when the other beds are finished:


And looking from the garden back to the house (kind of from where the arbor will be):



Extra Bonus! It slices! It dices!
Here's a movie of the front yard showing the front parking strip that I planted last fall with perennials. Few things are blooming right now except the catmint and aster, but you get the idea that the strip will be filled with flowers at some point. If you're looking at the house, you can see the front right bed is new (as of last fall) and the front left corner bed is new as of yesterday. I dug out all of the old clay and replaced it with fresh soil. Can't wait to see it in full bloom.


Quite a difference from what things looked like when we first moved in: