It was a dry, hot summer with few mosquitoes, which made me very happy, but the wasps, ants and spiders finished strong. We had excellent weather through September, October and into mid-November; flowers bloomed well into autumn as the first frost wasn’t until October. As of November 15th, winter has undoubtedly made her presence known.
I visited more greenhouses this year than last. I always enjoy that. We completed a few yard projects that we had wanted to do, although the increase in the price of lumber curtailed our enthusiasm a bit. The sale of yard and garden items were brisk; it seemed like every time I found something I liked for the yard, there was only one or two left.
This area was in direct view of our deck, and I was unsure what to use the space for. We had to do something with it as it was an empty, attractive area. We decided to go with another seating area, and it has turned out to be one of our favourite spots.
Part of the area was low and needed to be built up, so we added sand and pea gravel. We spread the rock on the driveway using a bobcat and rakes, but the rest of the yard had to be done by wheel barrel and shovel. We purchased a fire table that we placed on cement blocks and added new chairs and small side tables. We now have seating areas for all temperatures; if it’s sweltering, we sit in the shade where the fire table is; if it’s chilly, we sit on the main deck, and if it’s somewhere in between, we sit in the backyard. All we need to do now is stop finding things to do and take the time to sit and relax.
We added the pea gravel to the flower beds around the yard but left the large corner garden as natural ground. I felt I still needed some dirt to dig in.
We have large old spruce trees in the yard, and I find that the area underneath the trees it’s the most attractive. I decided to try an under tree flower garden. The one I did this year is right by the deck, so it is a focal point. It seems to be coming along quite well, and I like the look of it so far. I still want to put some type of edging and lights, but the large, shallow tree roots make installing edging difficult, so I have to ponder that more.
I want to add colour to the bed as I have quite a bit of greenery, such as hostas. I’m not sure what I’ll put as it is poor soil that is very dry and, of course, shady. I don’t want anything too invasive as I’ve had my fill of trying to eradicate plants like that. Any suggestions?
Instead of replacing our deck, we changed out some of the deteriorating boards and repainted it and the wooden deck table, which refreshed the space. Freshly painted wood looks good, but it sure doesn’t last in our climate.
I have purchased many different garden lights over the years; rope lights for the fence and the deck, various ground lights and floodlights but everything I had seemed to have run its life cycle, so I started over.
I went with a clear crackle ball light theme for the backyard as well as shepherd-style lights and ground spike lights. It takes a lot of lights to illuminate an area that size so that people can safely walk around at night.
I struggle over what type of decor to put in my yard. I find that birdhouses and birdbaths are aesthetically pleasing and enhance the peaceful atmosphere. I made a little place for the birds to drink in the shade using flat rocks and the saucer from a flower pot. If birds were drinking when I came outside, they would take off as soon as they spotted me. One hot day though, there was a bird right in the water bowl taking a bath. He was rolling around in there, living the dream, totally ignoring my presence; there was no way he was not finishing his bath!
Feeling dejected that no birds had moved into the new birdhouse we put up I sent The Hubs up to take a look. He got a step ladder, climbed up and stuck his face right up to the birdhouse and peered in. A bird inside poked its head out and looked at him as if to say, “what do you want”. Luckily he didn’t fall off the ladder when the wren startled him. For the rest of the summer, that little bird came out of her house and flitted around whenever we were sitting outside. She seemed to have forgiven us for that rude intrusion on her privacy.
I’ve had a pink geranium for several years, and it bloomed profusely again, even in the heat on the deck. I had a citronella geranium downstairs from last year, and it regrew large outside this year.
The pansies, daisies and verbena were pretty in the pots. My yellow begonias were also lovely. The spikes that I’ve been overwintering the last few years survived another year, and some of them are as big as a little palm tree.
The Hubs went to the greenhouse to get strawberries and returned with peppers, tomatoes and two random varieties of mint. This year we had the best tomato crop I think we’ve ever had. Other years our tomatoes got end rot, and we only got a couple. I guess we were overwatering them. The mint went crazy; it grew like a weed. Too bad I don’t like mint!Our peppers grew well in the heat; they were meatier than in previous years when the skin was about all that was on them. It’s funny because we grew up on the farm, and our parents’ had huge gardens, but we are still so proud of ourselves when we actually succeed at growing something. It never gets old.
My strawberry pots produced berries last year, and I carefully bedded them down for the winter, hoping they would survive, but sadly they did not. This spring, I replaced the plants, but in August, I moved them into the ground with the hopes that they will survive the winter. I’m not sure if it was the extreme heat or what, but my plants barely produce any berries this summer. It was slim picking for our granddaughter.
I’ve been replacing shrubs the last couple of years, so they are still relatively small, but they’re coming along. The neon flash spirea I bought last year was in the shade and was almost dead, but once I moved her to a sunny spot, she was much happier and even bloomed. My Grandma’s lilac that has been here for over forty years, was not blooming anymore and had a lot of deadwood. Last fall, I decided to cut it down to the ground. It was looking pretty bleak this spring, and I thought maybe we had done it in. The old girl came back better than ever, though, with huge leaves; she didn’t bloom this year, but I am hoping for blossoms in June.
My clematis vine seems to have crossed with something, and now it has two types of leaves, its original ones plus variegated ones. It didn’t bloom a ton either, although, in her defence, she was cut right back last year when we built the new fence. The fence is bigger, so now the clematis is on the opposite side of the fence in a shadier spot, which may have contributed to her lack of blooms. I’m not sure how long it will take her to fully recover from being cut down or if her leaves will return to normal next spring. There is variegated goutweed growing close to the vine, so I wonder if those two plants could have crossed?
My yellow roses were nice this year, but the red rose loaded with flowers last year looked puny. Old Rose bloomed, but she didn’t break any branches putting on a show, either.
This year, I planted some new perennials, including English daisies, Japanese lanterns, coreopsis, and more asters. They were small, and some didn’t bloom. I sure hope they make the winter and bloom their second season.
The hostas, ferns, painted daisies, poppies, lady’s mantle, and bellflowers did well. These are tough perennials that can survive pretty much anything.
The lilies were happy, but their show was short because of the intense heat; they sure were beautiful while they lasted.
We had a bad windstorm that whipped the plants around pretty bad, blew the barbeque off the deck, broke the lid and smashed an ample light into a zillion little pieces on the back patio. Extreme heat and lack of moisture do a number on plants and trees; no matter how much you water, it’s just not the same as rainwater.
There is always some critter in the yard or flying over; robins and woodpeckers enjoyed the sprinkler, geese were plentiful and noisy, and of course, a random cat showed up to hang out for the summer.
We enjoyed many barbeques in the yard and sat around our fire table a lot. There were some lovely evenings; I love it when it is still warm after dark.
I am already thinking of next year. I want to add more height and colours in the backyard. I’m thinking that some large pots overflowing with brightly coloured flowers interspersed amongst the shrubs and perennials would do the trick.
Keeping your yard looking nice is not easy. There always seems to be forces working against you. I should learn not to say anything as I always jinx it. Last year we were admiring our hostas along with the house, and then that night, hail pounded them to the ground.
This year we worked hard to get our lawn thicker and less weedy. We sprayed it, dug weeds out by hand, reseeded parts and watered it regularly. The grass in the backyard was looking better than it had in years. My mother-in-law commented that it looked like a golf course.
My daughter and her husband had an incident a couple of years back at their place. One of their shrubs had an insect infestation, so her husband grabbed a can of Raid and quickly sprayed the shrub before he could be reprimanded. It died back but eventually recovered, and forever after, it has been known as the deet bush.
One weekend The Hubs and our son-in-law set the television up outside to watch a Rider game, but the aphids were annoyingly swarming about. He grabbed a can of insect repellent and quickly sprayed the grass where he was sitting before he was apprehended. Needless to say, there was a dead area across the lawn two days later; it looked like Zorro had left his mark. The spray, fortunately, did not kill the grass down to the roots, and it did make a comeback by the end of summer. Men with a can of spray sure can move fast when in pursuit of prey.
I have often commented on what a privilege it is to have a yard of our own. A yard is where a family gathers, children roam free, milestones are celebrated, the best meals are made, stories are shared, where life is good, and worries seem far away.
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