Planting

We have been meaning to plant some flowers in our backyard for a long time. Lately with all my purging and projects, I decide there is no time like the present! Mike is the muscle in this operation, so I set him to work. Ben helped collect the dirt, get the plants out of the pots, water them, etc.

At one point, he came up to me, hugged me and told me he loved me. I said thanks and asked why. He told me because I bought beautiful plants for the backyard. He was totally sincere. It was so cute. I told him he should thank daddy for doing all the hard work. He sat down in my lap, laughed, and said that he and I are lazy and are just going to watch daddy. (He did hug and thank him too though.) LOL.

I picked out some azaleas, knock out roses, and spirea from Costco, Lowes, and Home Depot. Then we waited for JULIE to come mark the power and gas lines. And of course, the fence perimeter where we'd had the mulch dug out years ago to plant is littered with all our lines. Doh.

That meant that only this side of the yard was safe to plant in. So we moved all the plants over here and Mike got busy.

You'll notice since they will grow 3-4 feet, I had him plant them outside the mulch area. There was some miscommunication when the workers came to dig the mulch years ago, and they dug out only a few feet. I'd wanted it at least double that. So we planted these bushes where I want them and we'll hire someone to come in and extend the mulch bed either this fall or next spring.

There were two rose bushes that wouldn't fit in the one safe side of the yard, so I asked Mike to plant them under our windows, flanking where the fireplace sticks out. I plan to fill the area around them with some smaller plants like daylilies.

This is a very bad pic of the finished work. I bought smaller bushes in the 10-15 dollar range so as not to break the bank but that means they don't make much of a statement yet. They should grow to be 3-4 feet each. Which means they will fill in nicely and look better eventually.

We also have plans to extend the mulch out on the two other sides of the yard, plant large lilac bushes in each of the corners, plant a row of evergreens to block some of the street view, and add smaller daylilies and other plants to our "garden" area over the years. This way I can see what does well, how much room I really have, and spread the cost.

And just because it is so darn cute, here are Ben and Liv holding hands at Home Depot.