Garden Design (Spring 2014)

Hello and welcome to our backyard!  

It has been a very, very cold spring this year, so we are just now getting around to planting anything.  Usually by this time we have some nicely established plants, but this post will have to focus on the little babies.  With a little imagination you can envision how nice things will look in a few weeks ;)

Thanks to Papa, we received all of these lovely plants for our backyard garden.
This year we have tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, zucchini and cucumbers.

 All of the tomatoes and most of the peppers went into deep wooden boxes that Husby constructed a few weeks ago. I used a few flat rocks and a sharpie to make the plant labels.  Our neighborhood is newer, so the trees are tiny and not very good at stopping the crazy winds.  After seeing the idea on Pinterest I thought rock labels were a great idea!

Another Pinterest inspiration is the watering system we created out of used juice containers.  We cut the bottom of the containers off and buried them upside down (without the lids) near where the plants will eventually root.  For now the babies still need to be watered from the top of the soil, but later on this summer watering at the roots will be much better for them.  All we have to do is fill the reservoir and the plants are happy!

The reservoir system also allows more water to be taken in by the plant and prevents waste from runoff or evaporation.  We like that since the water we use for the garden is rain water only.  Husby has a 100 gallon tank that is connected to the gutter system of our house, and while 100 gallons seems like a lot, it can go pretty quickly!

I chose to use brown plastic bottles because they blend in nicely with the soil, but any bottle will do.

 Pumpkins, cucumber and I think  some pretty blue flowers :) 

 I like to decorate my patio pots up a little bit.  First I put down a layer of pretty rocks.  This holds down the soil and keeps it from washing away when watering or during heavy rainfall.  The rocks also keep the soil from drying out as quickly as it would if left in the direct sun.  On top of my rocks I toss a few pretty marbles.  There is no function to these other than I think they are pretty.....and the resident chipmunks think they are a blast to play with ;)

Tucked into the rose bush is Mr. Gnome.  I rescued him from my Granny's house when no one else wanted him :)  His rose bush used to be a lot bigger, but we had a pretty severe winter this year and much of the bush had to be cut away.  Unfortunately my chives (the purple flowering plant) were the only herb to come back as the cold killed off the rest.

 Here is where things start to get fun!  With yet another Pinterest idea, I started making footprint stepping stones each year.  So far we have three for Baby Girl and one for Little Guy.  One day I plan to lay them out in a path through the garden in order by year.  That way when you walk the path you will see the little prints 'grow' over time.  I also alternate which foot I use each year so once laid out it will look as though the children walked through the garden.  Ahhhh, the cuteness!!!

(The pink hand print was a gift from Gramma & Papa)

Last, but not least, is Baby Girls playhouse.  I have one pot of morning glory on the roof, and another large pot below her window.  I have visions of her little house being covered in flowering vines before too long.  You can't see from this picture, but Mr. Gnome is right outside her window as well.  I think it's fun to make childhood a magical experience :)

I'll post an update once everything is blooming a pretty.  Thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2014