Before and after Garden pics.....

This is just a few months after it was finished.

Donna

This pic was taken a month after the previous pic, and this time notice that all the Ficus trees from my back neighbor are finally gone. Since I had planted lots of shade plants along that back wall, I had to hurry and build me that arbor along the back wall to protect my shade plants.

I have no grass in the front or back yards any more. The back has two berms with a stone walkway all around them. There is also a pond in the very front of the pic.

I have totally enjoyed creating this new space for myself. It has been fun, although challenging trying to put the right plant in the right place. I have moved several of my original plants around many times trying to find it's perfect spot. Both gardens are pretty small, they keep me very busy.

Cici, I have enjoyed watching this thread and all the wonderful work you have done to your new gardens. Thank you for sharing it with all of us.

Donna

SouthCal-Donna. You have certainly done a lot of work and improving around your house. Glad you took pictures so you could share. Very welcoming and nice now. Donna

cici77, yeah I do have to fight gophers. I dig down and find their tunnels and put gopher poison in hole then plug and cover so nothing else can get at it. Yes our before pictures are quite similar.

lizbar, nice after picture, bet you are really enjoying all that green . Donna

Donna, your yard looks very professional! In a good way though,lol. Before and After pictures are so much fun!

cici - your thread has grown almost into a forum all on it's own - obviously we all like sharing our before/after pics. I've been enjoying all the pics. As soon as I figure out my scanner I'll try for some before pics out of my 35mm albums

Here's my front yard in August 2003, right before we finished building the house. I did some work last fall on the landscaping, and again this year. It's going to take many years to get this yard into a presentable form again.

Here's the front yard in July 2004, just a little over a year later. Lots of work yet to do and this is only the front.

We are also working on the sides and the 4 acre backyard at the same time. I'll try to get some photos of those also. I have the before ones, just don't have any current ones.

P.S. I'm not sure why my camera is picking up a red and blue reflection of something on the bottom of the house. Those colors are definitely not there for real. Looks pretty funky in the pictures though. :)

This message was edited Jul 14, 2004 12:13 AM

Oh ...looking good JoanJ..
Nice design of your raised bed..

We are finally starting to have grass and have to cut. Makes the yard look so much bigger. Can't wait to put color back there. All yalls pictures really show how much heart and work went into the work. I love it. They look great. Liz

hi socal, thanx and love ur before and after pics.. its like one of those "swan" make-over shows ...lol.. i havent replied tot his thread in a bit , i read it one day on my way out the door and closed it thinking, i had to reply when i got home, but forgot to ... been working outside and some more on the cobbletone... i havent filled it with dirt yet but my plans have changed from the original and i think its gonna be even cooler... (: oh i havent posted those seedling picz yet have i.. i'll have to do that... oh liz i almost forgot... what a difference greenery makes huh? wow.. i cant wait to have an area where there is grass.. (:

rutholive, i hate gophers.. infact one just ate two of my oriental lily bulbs... !!!! i have cats and they have been keeping them waaaay down this year... but i may have to find this ones hole and poisen the @$$#@!* but i am sooo afraid they will somehow get ahold of him and eat him , what do u think? how deep do u dig down? i mean do u go thru to their tunnles or do u try to find the den?

blooms, i know! i still think it would an awesome forum.. people could do the before and after pics of their homes or certain garden areas or even trees and shrubs, seed beds, whatever... heck even their kids too if they wanted.. (: right?! i think it would be a great forum! wheres dave!!!!! DAAAAVVVEEEE!!!! YOOOO-HOOOOOO!!!! (: LOLOL

This message was edited Jul 15, 2004 11:22 AM

oh i forgot to mention joans before and after pics... WONDERFUL!!! love that raised bed.. are u able to make it bigger if u want.. those stones interlock dont they? great pics thanx for sharing!!!! (:

ok no u guys saw that pic of the bulb bed that i had to move all those flowers out of right? well here it is after those seedling sprouted and grew, i had noooo idea these were gonna get this tall.. it looks like a jungle standing on the side where i didnt plant these.. i thought they were the low growing ones that had the loooong tassles.. not the nearly tall trees they have become.. still they are beautiful and the kitties loooooove to play in them... i am suprised they are still standing the way they chase each other thru there... (:

this is the other side... i know i NEEEEDDD to weed , but it has been 103 with waaaay too much humidity..

This message was edited Jul 15, 2004 1:50 PM

can u believe how much this garden has grown in just its first season...(:

CiCi- that last picture is so nice! Like a magazine. :)

Cici, it's coming out just gorgeous. your box disappeared in the garden it contains... LOL More cobbles? can't wait to see.

Joan that's a major change in yur yard in a short time. Hard work but worth it. Keep it up.

It takes awhile to get things growing, but the wait is worth it! Can't wait to get color..

Cici..keep up the great work.
I love your pink lillies and purple Liatris together. At least I think that is liatris. :)

This message was edited Jul 16, 2004 8:59 AM

yes starzz... purple Liatris... i love them they look great with glads, daylilies, stalice.. pretty much everything i have in there.. i love tall spiney flowers... i have not been in here forever.... we have been really busy on the house.... and company who comes to see the house... .. i havent been in the garden for a month or so, it was just too hot to be out in the sun.. plus i really dont have anythiong new blooming.. so i guess my task this year is to make sure i have something blooming during this time of year..any suggestions??? well i do have one thing blooming which EVERYONE always makes comments about them ,.. is it love lies bleeding??? is that the name of them? u would think i know since i grew them from seed... here is a pic of them.. now do u reconize this garden???? (:
chrissy

oh my goodness.. i didnt realize the weeds below!!! opps! well i do have a TON of weeding to do but it has been SOOOOO hot the last two months.. now the last three days it has been beautiful out!!! and i did do some weeding out in my old big garden only to find two baby weeping willows growing there.. which i'll leave'em there.. the gophers live there anyway .. sooooo i'd rather have a tree or two there... anyway here is another pic... any ideas of which of the gardens above this is??? (:

Ok guys.... ready for some updated house pics???? if u look up this thread on july 7th... i believe that was the last time i posted the latest pic of the house... so here is a little progression pics... (: this is the house after the joists went up and i "think " half the sheeting.... dont mind the setic parts up out of the ground we arent alound to cover them yet till this next inspection... also the joists arent "attatched" everywhere it needed to be...also the doors and windows are in now in this pic! (:

and here is the house as it sits today, the shell of the roof and facia on ... i love it!!!! it looks so different now... it doesnt look like a saloon now! (:

I took a gander at this thread, a month or so ago .. and have just now gotten around to taking another look-peek! Sure glad I did ...

That house is coming along .. and is looking really fine and dandy !!!!

I know you've just gotta be getting anxious, 'ey!?! ..
Do ya think you guys may be able to be in, for Thanksgiving .. or, byChristmas?

HI Magpye, oh yes we are soooo excited... i'm trying to find a way to be able to sleep in it without taking a bed up there... we did put one of our hammocks up there, its a two seater but i would have ended up on the concrete floor i am affraid, it wouldnt be bad for maybe a nap but not a full nights sleep.. at least not with both of us in it... i also have my stereo system in there and big tv.... so last night i was watching dvd's while hubby worked in there... we spend most all of our days out there... and come back in here around 10pm to 12am , i just love our house.. we have waited sooo long.. we think we the house will be done by turkeyday, but the final may not be done, but HOPEFULLY we will be in before Christmas!!! we still have roofing to do , but thats being done after this next inspection, and before we can get that inspection hubby has to hook up the tub and then the framers are framing in the last wall, they wanted to get that tub in, before they framed the last wall inside, which they are doing today, then after that inspection comes the roofing , inside plumbing, electric, then the drywall goes up , then the rest of the bathroom , the kitchen , paint and flooring,.. the fun stuff is right around the corner... (: heres what the house looked like two days ago.. there is more done since this pic, but i havent taken the pics yet.,...(:

It's looking wonderful !!! A beautiful home ... !!
I know you guys have just gotta be SO proud of all of your accomplishments!!

(hee hee .. I've not broke a sweat or lifted narey a finger to 'hep' ya - - but am just some mitey proud .. for you guys.. !!

In reading all of your posts and updates, one can most easily tell that you guys have strived and waited long and hard, and have worked even harder .. to get where you are now! Anyone should be extremely proud of such labors! You are entitled to !!

All your banged fingers, squeezin' nickels and penny pinchin', gumption and exhaustion .. will pay out soon! And, most rewardingly so .. !!

Please do, shoot a few more pics, and post them, soon ... to bring us all more current .. in yalls 'handi-work'.

I know I'm enjoying 'seeing' it all take place, and coming ever closer .. to being completed.

And from the looks of things .. your yard, lawn and gardens - will be mostly mature, and just be bloomin' to 'beat-the-band' .. in full joyous celebration .. come next Spring!!!

awwww magpye ur so sweet! i'm glad u "feel our pain" in this , what seems to be, LOOONG journey...(: the worst part of this whole thing was the first two years of NOTHING, no gardens, no house plans , no money , no electric... i am suprised DH and i hadn't killed each other at that time... those two years put ALOT of stress on our marriage , a few times right on the line of divorce... this march will be 9 years together, and those two years were clearly the worst...we would get so frustrated and worn down we would both just sit here and cry.... our problem was, we were trying to save the money all at once to build, and it just wasnt happening.... something would always happen to drain the saved cash, the generator would break, then a water line would break in this trailer and flood the enitre place... or the fridge would go out ( a trailer fridge by the way is $1,200.00 alone) then the battle of field mice, or the air conditioner would break and it would get up to 118 degrees in this here for weeks on end , the constant sound of the generorator would drive anyone insane... so in our delirium (sp?) we decided to make it a game , and see how far we could get ...just by taking baby steps... and so far this is how far we have gotten...(: and now, we are on cloud nine... getting electric took ALOT of stress off of us... the generator would cost us 600.00 a month just to run... it was killing us... i started my gardens last year right after we got electric... and that has really helped my nerves... my gardens are pretty far from the house so is the trailer... infact my gardens are out around the back-side of the trailer, and everyone always says.. why would u put all that work into gardens over here... ur just gonna have to move them.. and i tell them ... no i plan on having gardens out here anyway... i prob wont be able to do any gardens around the house till late spring.. but thats ok... that gives me plenty of time to think of what i want.. i have a pretty good idea what i want... but just working out the details in my mind.. (: i think hubby said the framing inspection is sometime this week... then the worker we have doing the roofing is gonna paint the facia boards around the house and put my roof on... the house is gonna be ship-lap siding... white, with barn red trim... (: and we have to still put on the front porch but hubby said that will be one of the last things we are gonna do... once the siding and porch are on , then i can start the gardens.. but by then it will be winter so all i will really be able to do is maybe move some of my bulbs over there, and get the soil prepaired... when i have more time maybe i'll post pics of the inside of the house...(: but thanx for ur support! its is greatly appritiated!!! (:
chrissy

ok here is a pic of the house now that the sheeting is on the top peaks...(:
chrissy

and from the otherside.....(:

Chrissy, I'm so happy for you & hubby. I know it is a lot of hard work. We lived in a trailor while building our house ( stone house) and it took us 2 years. The one job I hated, was washing the stones before using them. It was a looong 2 years. Good luck to you and DH. Waiting for more pictures.

Grab hold, and hang on to that optimism - Heck, seems like (it) .. and a much higher authority .. is lookin' and watchin' over you guys .. and very well! Incidentally, doesn't 'cloud 9' have some spectacular vews and is supersoft and comfy?!? ... Hee hee ((hugs))

Building a home (let alone, just adding a wee room on) can .. and is .. THE ultimate test of two folks' love, friendship, and survivor-ship skills (marriage, that is!) .. hee hee

Many of us can certainly relate to the typical trials and tribulations of marriage .. The marriage is the simplest part! Getting along and learning to compromise, gets difficult at times ..VERY difficult - and the hurdles vary at any number of given 'stages' in a relationship .. But, actually getting in there, and doing the construction of something that two folks desire and are striving for .. is utter chaos, no matter how much you think you're prepared. Patience is tried, nerves stressed and raveled, pocket books wiped out. Ya wonder how you make it from payday-to-payday, and realize that it's been by the skin of your teeth! .. Been sliding in to home plate by your proverbial britches hem, I tell ya .. Your biggest hurdle is over with. The beginning, is long behind you now ..

And obviously - you guys have surpassed your expectations! The both of you have some super experience under your belts now .. and have tested each other, and well. And of course, there will be new tests .. just getting moved in, when the time comes .. will be a whole nuther batch of hurdles. Ha! Yall have the same goals .. and the both of you have hung in, are still there - together!

I won't go off on any of my personal experiences .. with love, life and 'building' .. hee hee .. only to say, that I (as well as several others) can most easily relate to most any of the problems you guys have had. Altho' it doesn't necessily aid us much for some one esle to say so ... when you're going thru with it yourself!

We lived in our 30' RV (the two of us, our two youngest daughters, and a hubby of one - I kid you not!) .. in an RV Park/campground thru our first winter here in NW Arkansas. Then moved the RV onto our unimproved/raw land .. as soon as our 4/10's of a mile long driveway completion enabled us to - and continued to live in the RV, from mid May to mid October .. when the house was finally completed. Altho' we hired a couple of folks to build our log home .. we contributed to a good 50% + of the hard labor!! We used and depended upon our generator, until the electricity poles and lines were finally run ... Had/have our natural spring for our water, that somehow managed to carry the five us thru .. And are still doing so presently, for that matter! hee hee .. But, fortunately, are just the two of us now! .. heehee

The house 'speaks' grandly of yours & hubbys wonderful successes .. And the yet to come gardens .. are merely awaiting your amazing touch of magic! Those two last pics .. are a tell-all of yalls hard labor and fortitude! Keep your chins up ...

PS .. The Weeds will wait .. they'll definitely greet you next year also! .. You'll get 'em tho' !!!

magpye i am so sorry i remember now after reading this last post of urs wanting to reply and simply forgot... so please excuse me... ): wow and i thought i had it bad with just me and hubby in a trailer.. lol.. its so nice to meet people who "can relate" to my situation.. i can laugh about most of it now ,,... i dont know if thats the insanity it has caused or just the light at the end of this long tunnel i am seeing that is allowing me to laugh...its getting to the point now that i spend all my time outside and in that house till thelate evening... , and when i come into this trailer i turn mean,...lol. poor hubby , but he does understand how i hate comming back into this tight crammed space tripping over cats and too much stuff that just doesnt really fit in here.. i really hate this trailer.. lol.. although i do appritiate how it has allowed us to even live here like we have.. but still have a lothing for it.. lol

as for the house... we now have electric in it, with dimmers mind u, and i dont know if earlier i mentioned i now have a REAL fridge... (: that actually gets things COLD in it.. and freezer space.. ahhhh freezer space.. now i can actually have ice AND food in it.. lol.. we have half the plumbing in and the roof on... hubby is talking about moving our bed out there and hooking up the toilet to the septic temp. so we can at least have that...

i have recently moved a bunch of my irises out infront of the house (well kinda out front) and have aquired a BUNCH of irises from a friend who has an iris farm, and have planted about half of the them.. (they are the intermediates in front of the large fans... (: and this is how we are looking so far.. (:

cici,

So glad to see you posting this morning. I was actually thinking of you yesterday and wondering how things were progressing.

I have really enjoyed reading this whole transformation of your new land and house. It has come a long way and you and your DH should be very proud of what you have accomplised.

I think it's time to put in some trees to give you some shade and to give some definition to your house. It's going to be so lovely when your done. Since the weather out there is finally cooling down a bit, you should be able to get a lot more done outside.

Keep us updated and hope you can really sleep in your new home soon.

Donna

Don't know how you could get a lot more done. It appears you must have a secret twin who keeps working when you fall down from exhaustion. The bones of the front bed [the iris] are already in can hardly wait to see what next - shade trees?

I haven't checked here in ages. Everybody's yardens and homes are all so inspiring. I've nothing to show off, the things the heat stalled this summer have't been concluded. Been suffering from laziness lately. My get up and go got up and went. The cooler days are helping with inspiration.

I love your porch, can imagine sitting in a rocker next to your churn watching the sunset and sipping a cool drink. ~Blooms
Wonderful how it's coming together

Cici,
Your new home is coming along beautifully. I can just picture that front yard full of blooming iris! Keep us posted.
Terrie

hi socal, we have had alot happen so fast on this house... i let poor hubby off the hook on getting the house done, we hired alot out to our subs, they gave a great deal for putting on the structure of the roof and the roofing, electric and the plumbing.. and actually the plumbing was done by my brother in-law from san diego... he and my sister drove all the way up here to help put the plumbing in... they only got half in but still it was alot of work and a long drive... lol.. we need to gather the money for the siding next that is a rather large chunk... so it may be longer then i would like to get it on, but since the weather has cooled down so quickly its a good reminder fall is right at our door... and we need that siding onbefore the rains... hubby is doing a custom jaquzzi tub in the bathroom because he used to do that for a living when he was 20, so it wont cost us barely anything for him to do it... i have been having our friends and the men working on the house to sign my walls and what they did on the house.,. the friends are signing whatever they want,... they mostly sign well wishes and how much they love the house... we have already thrown some "some-what" parties at the house... with the kareoke machine, and drinks in the fridge... its alot of fun times... as far as the trees , i cant put any trees in yet ...sigh... because the septic area is still open waiting for the last inspection and the tractor needs to be able to get in there to fill the trench up , also it needs to get in there to rip the dirt out where the porch is going... so we can have a 'raised' porch, i know we are doing it backwards... but hubby orig. didnt want to put the money out for the raised porch, we just wanted to get in the house,.. and then of course after the slab was poured he decided that it would look much better with the raised porch,... so i cant put the trees in yet... ): but i imagine sometime in the late winter early spring we will be able to put some trees in.. i want to put in three weeping birch together somewhere near the house... and two huge raised beds on either side of the front porch steps (once they are in) the bottom and walls being made out of mill creek rock... with a cobblestone path (of course) down the middle of the two leading to the iris garden , which has winding paths already in it ... but the more that gets done u guys will be sure to see it....lol.. promise...(:

ahhh blooms , no , no secret twin....just the drive from not having any gardens or ideas of how or where to start.... lol... i dont know how many of the iris will bloom by spring, i was told when u move them they may not bloom the first season.. but surely i should be able to get some blooms.. maybe 25% of them...(: i am gonna put the purple spikey flowers in witht he iris (liatrus?) and maybe babies breath .. yes i will move my swings on the front porch , prob watching sunrise tho, the sunsets behind the house... lol.. i know the feeling with the hot weather and the laziness, when it was really hot u couldnt get me out there for nothin,... tooo hot... and so the weeds grew nice and big in some areas ... i still have to rip'em out... sigh.. garden work is never done!!!! (:

Thanx Terrie.... i sure will make sure i post pics, trust me i am a camera clicking freak.. i take pics of all my new blooms, and the slightest change in landscape... lol.. (: i daydream of that front in full bloom.. it will be great! gotta make sure i have something else in there that will bloom also .. maybe some glads.... oh who knows... i just have toooo much on my brain ...lol...
chrissy

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh........
What great progress you are making.
I can hardly wait to see your Iris in bloom next spring.
You have quite a collection there!

Way to Go.............

Cheers,
Carol

ok sooooo who wants to see the inside of the house? we have been 'living' in it, (shhhhhh.. dont tell anyone) lets hope these pics go thru... ok here is part of the living room... the doors are all wood, and i stained them a red mohagany ....

Oh boy, can't wait to see more!! I so excited that you've been able to live in it too....shhh...I promise not to tell.

Donna