Kyla's Garden Pictures

I love rescue dogs. I have had both purchased pedigreed and much less expensive rescued. I really think the rescued make better pets. For one thing they do seem to feel gratitude and friendship because they have lived without the latter and they do appreciate regular meals.
Pedigreed dogs are nice, too, but I really like rescue dogs. I have had pure bred rescued dogs, but they have been a mixed bag. The question to ask oneself. Why did the owner give it up?

O Kelsey is gorgeous and Raja too! They are going to have way too much fun together!

I'm sure you won't lack for entertainment!

They are really fun to watch as they tumble around the house and yard. The first night they tumbled around the bedroom for half the night and kept waking me up by bumping into things. By the second night, the new had worn out and they slept, thank goodness.

Oh my. Pups going bump in the dark.

I'm ok with bumping puppies but the cold nose on your cheek when you're asleep makes me jump.

Mine only do the cold nose when I wake up, thank goodness. It would bother me to in the night. I have had some that will do that when they want to wake me up. We are still having adjustment issues with the dogs. Raja has mixed feelings about not being the only dog. But she loves the rough housing and chasing each other all over the place.
I think Raja will adjust in time. She can't have her cake and it it too! Darn, she says.

Is the chasing & romping hard on the garden?

No, they mostly do it in the house! Is it hard on the house? Well all our rugs are always messed up because they are always jumping and sliding on them. I suppose that could be a problem in time, but so far they haven't hurt anything. They seem to play mostly on the grass and decks outside, because they are level. They also like to hide in a patch of scrub oak that I have in the back yard. In fact, sometimes the rough housing is because Kelsey has the nerve to use the scrub oak doggie hiding place which Raja considers to be her own. Same with the nest in the vinca. That stuff grows so fast that they can rough house in them all they want.
I do have a problem if I get into one of the beds. They want to come to and Raja will dig if I do. But luckily most of my work is in the front yard and vacant lot.

Kelsey is beautiful, and I love her different eye colors!

Thanks, I do, too and she is very sweet tempered. Now we are working on sit which Raja seems to have mastered, to my amazement. and walking on a leash.

Sound like a happy family.

One angel, one imp. Sounds delightful.

It is very cute. Kelsey is finding and bringing in all the old bones that Raja buried and forgot. Yetch!

Here we go.

So, I was going to the store but was struck by how the sunflowers looked in the late afternoon sun, from top of my stairs, so went back in for the camera.

I will try to get some better ones tomorrow...... Pajarito, do you see those dry stalky things in the right foreground? Those are those lovely Lauren's grape poppies you sent me all in that teeny pot! they are finished now but I am collecting enough seeds to share, want some? ;-)

This is my first gladiola bloom.... close to finished now, another of that variety is open up on the deck and many more to come, any day now.

And, the cucumber and tomatoes, from below.........

Yes, I would love some seeds from Lauren's Grape. I see the dried stalks on the side. I am so glad they performed well for you.

So impressed with all you have accomplished in such a short time! We have been here for 3 years, and I only wish my yard and gardens looked that good! AWESOME JOB! I am definately going to have to check out the lasagna planting, as our clay and rocks and lack of topsoil, sure make it a tough job in my yard. It does grow great dandelions, sweet clover and crab grass though. LOL!

The Rocky Mt. region rarely provides us with deep rich soil so in order to grow any non-native plants, we have to learn to build soil which is basically a matter of vastly enhancing what is here natively. Typically, our soil has lots of minerals but virtually no organic matter.
Lasagna gardening provides a quick and easy way to enrich soil and is highly recommended, but so are many other ways to add organic matter.
Love your pictures, Kyla. I certainly understand why you want to live in Weed, CA.

Thank you. One thing that helps is I am working with a very limited area so far.

The "layering" approach I can vouch for bigtime. I would never have even had the heart and stamina to deal with the rocky infertile burr infested material that was there to start.

Lay a nice blanket over it (cardboard, manure/compost, mulch) water it well, let it all do its thing over a winter, and you will be amazed. You will still have uneven soil health and it will still need a few years of compost applications to become its most fertile potential, but you will have something you can work with the very next spring. Without breaking your back over it.

It does take a vast quantity of soil amendment to cover even a small area, which is one of the reasons to start with a manageable section.

Yes, I agree Kyla, it is incredible how much organic matter it takes to make anything grow in most Rocky Mt. soil. When I first started out I would plant each plant in a large hole with an entire bucket of compost. It was a good start but never enough. After that it was , mulch, mulch, mulch. The organic matter feeds the plants and frees up minerals chemically locked into the native soil and helps mitigate alkalinity. It also provides helpful bacteria and fungi and other microbes which are necessary to keep plants and soil healthy. I can't say enough about well rotted organic matter of any source.

So, in your opinions, do I need the cardboard or layers of newspapers? I have the outer boundary marked for a bed I will be putting in next year, and I have access to all the aged sheep, horse, and cow manure that I would want (sister ranches). Can I just cover the ground with manure and let it set all winter, or do I need to put it on top of the cardboard or newspaper? What do I do about the weeds and grass that are there now?

Put layers of newspaper (four sheets thick will do fine) or cardboard (faster easier) then water to start breaking down and to hold in place. Then as many inches of manure as you can get on there. I'd be careful with the sheep as one of our friends had an experience of it being way too rich (I think that was the prob.) Horse and cow are perfect. Then water again, then layer mulch. Dried leaves, straw, whatever, but I would recommend against anything with big bark chips as they will just not break down for ages.

Do all this right over top of the grass and weeds. You may need to flatten them..... part of the idea though is that organic material will also meld into the soil over the winter. ;-)

Okay, more pictures.

Sunflowers first, as that seemed to get people excited. ;-) This morning is cloudy and even rainy a bit! wow!

Macro with rain spatters:

Profile shot:

Noid mauve-ish daylily:

Noid creamy daylily. This one sadly has a bit of damage.... so does the mauveish one too, the first bloom was not mottled. There is a third kind blooming but it is not open today or yet this morning...... this is this creamy one's first appearance:

bench and daylilies:

daylilies and coreopsis. You can seen the bud of the one I am waiting for, it is a stunner, sort of pumpkin gold with a maroon center:

Onions and Zinnias update:

Rock garden detail:

Many hummers but only caught three. A better picture of one of them is going in the Hummers thread. ;-)

woops, maybe there are four in this, or even, five?

This message was edited Aug 2, 2009 7:59 AM

Lovely! It looks to me like you have 4 humming birds. Isn't there one near the gladiola a little over halfway down? I see the other more obvious 3.

Nice pics, and everything is looking great!

Hooray on your camera purchase, Kyla! Keep showing us your garden.

I have a friend who directed me to where I could get newsprint endrolls. I get them from the print shop for the local paper. Endrolls are far easier to use than newspapers, because they're on a roll. Just roll out the length you want. Four layers isn't much-- it might work if it's just grass underneath. But if you have anything real vigorous, use more layers or use cardboard.
And by the way, there is one invasive here that will squeeze its way through, even if you use cardboard and duct tape the overlaps: Bindweed.

Someone I know killed bindweed where he wanted to garden by getting old wall to wall carpeting that was headed for the dump and putting it on top of the plot and keeping it there for 2 years. Now there's an invasive for you!

I planted snow-in-summer where I had bind weed and it smothered it.

Yes, I think the best way to fight bindweed is with other plants. You have to cover the soil with other plants. I think having open soil is an invitation to bindweed in areas where it grows. The wall to wall carpeting cure was for a place intended for vegetables where there would always be some bare soil. Every bit needed to be killed.