My New Shade Path

Well its taken 3 years to do all the hardscaping but I think it was worth it. This is the path and the wood shed

This is a small planting that hopefully will mature on the east side of the the woodshed (full shade under the green ash)

There is another planting on the west side but I'm waiting for the lilies to bloom before I show you. This is my reading nook with my Alice-in-Wonderland bench which I just finished painting and installing today. Note the very important feature for easy access to your beverage. I have to put something tall behind it though I think.

Gorgeous Dahlianut!! If you were closer, I'd come share a glass of vino with you and sit in your beautiful garden. :)
Looks so tranquil--good job!

That is too sweet! I would like to drop by, too!

and lookie Bob the Blacksmith finished my new gate today. Whew it took my a long time to find a blacksmith who could do it. So few left that do things by hand sigh. We did all the cedar fencing ourselves so that I could justify the gate but DH says now it was worth it for sure.

o forgot to mention the dried flowers are hiding the gas meter and now I have to find a tall urn or something to hide it better. This is the inset Bob made for the back gate.

Those are some really nice touches to your beautiful garden. I bet you are proud of it!

Thankyou plutodrive. There are some major projects still to go but I feel its really starting to look like I want. I started with a weed patch 6 years ago so I think its coming along pretty good.

Love the reading nook! What a creative use of space. The archway is nice because it seems to introduce the backyard.

Love those beautiful gates!

Wow! What a great landscaping job. I love your little reading and sipping nook, complete with drink holder. I also love the lilies of the valley and am a bit jealous of them. And your gate and grille for the other gate are really works of art. You found an excellent blacksmith.
Your yard is enchanting -- and after only 6 years. That isn't so long, all things considered.

Thanks paj. I luv doing it. Once the big jobs are done I'll probably start re-doing it. KLUNK! (That was the sound of my DH keeling over ^_^)

After only 6 years! You are good. My garden has been described recently as "eclectic " and " third world "! Hmmm.

roybird hence the term 'funky weirdness' which describes a few of my 'designs'. Wait til you see my 'whimsical herb garden'. Took it apart and put it together again about 10 times and its still not level LOL. I'll post a pic.

Show it!

the 'whimsical herb garden'. It actually works pretty fabby as its divided into 9 different beds which have different soil for different herbs. Ignore the 'tulips between the lettuce rows' experiment which went awry because the lettuce didn't come up fast enough LOL

Your whimsical herb garden looks pretty carefully thought out to me -- 9 sections each with the kind of soil that particular herb likes -- great planning, I would say. The fact that you had to do it over 10 times just tells us how carefully you improved the design.
I recognize lettuce, chives, tulips and maybe some sage, What else do you have growing there?

LOL paj you're so kind not to mention the huge swoop ^_^ Well our entire property is one big swoop so that's why it's whimsical
Upper bed - sage, monarda (bee balm)
Lower beds
1 facing you front mesciline but methinks I wrote that down wrong (oops forgot to say I do greens here to) fronted by direct sown allysum which will show up later
2. going counter clockwise summer savory (can't see it in the picture) backed by cerinthe kiwi blue, fronted by some hot red marigolds that a friend gave me seed for
3. chives
4. (back beds you can't see in the picture) butter crunch lettuce with some funky annual behind it that a friend gave me
5. Italian parsley (my fav). I lost it in the May freeze this year for the first time EVER so reseeded and coming on strong. I stuck a couple of cannas (gift) behind it. I think it will look cool (cool=certainly different)
6. oregano (you can see this tall green on the left), cat mint in front
7. tall unknown mint that a friend gave me, lavender, rosemary (well lets face it after 3 years I finally admit I'll never winter it over so its dead like a doornail) so of course I stuck in some border dahlias ^_^)
8. romaine with the tulips gone awry experiment
I have more herbs in other spots in my garden because they work well in their spots and my basils in the greenhouse cuz they hate outside here.
Yupper I'm a herbie ^_^

Some of those are new to me, but I have been letting Italian parsley reseed in my lily bed for years. That way, as long as it is not hard winter, I can have all the parsley I want. My herbs are scattered all over my various flower beds. I have lots, too. Sure makes my cooking taste better! But mine aren't so attractively arranged as yours. They are here and there and everywhere. Especially lovage -- I will write an essay on that later.

That is very nice! And well organized, I'd say. My herbs travel to where they want to be and if that bothers me I dig them up! That is my "grand plan"! I like the tulips and lettuce idea but I think most of my tulips would be earlier.

These are 'Shirley' lates which are June bloomers for me so I thought it might work LOL. anyhoo have to find a new spot for the Shirleys this fall.

Thanks roybird for the tips. I had actually tried both of those and these two are the best pictures I have managed to take of that lily in the two years it has been blooming in my garden. I have several fuzzy ones. For some reason the yellow one is much easier to photograph, but it hasn't started blooming this year. I will try again on the orange one after a few more flowers open, though I am not sure how having more flowers open will help.
Are you learning all this in your digital photography class?

Nah. A photographer friend told me that one time! The class is intense and technical. What it is doing for me, so far, is to get me to fool around more with settings and to be better at reading the manual that came with the camera. It also makes me want a better camera. I don't have an SLR. Mine is kind of an intermediate hybrid. Way off topic. I'd probably have more skill as a blacksmith than I do as a photographer. I love those gates, Dahlia! Back on topic, again.

I really would like to have an opening in my gate like yours, Dalhia. I actually will need a new gate before too long -- the current one is rotting. I probably need to start now looking for a blacksmith to create it. Yours is lovely.

The blacksmith work is wonderful, your nooks are great!

What did you use on your path? is it mulch or crushed rock or???

Thanks psychw2. Fine red shale. It is a porous rock so will break down over time. It's laid over landscape fabric. Both a green ash and sutherland carragana have roots in this area so I needed to allow moisture to get through the path and not smother the roots. The woodshed is raised on a big skid for this reason too.

Thanks for the info. I have a path I'm trying to decide WHAT to fill it with. MONEY is a huge issue and so is safety for my husband. Not sure what we'll do yet.

Okay, now that I'm becoming more secure in the knowledge that I have an anti-garden, here's what MY yard looks like. (DN, your pics are gorgeous, and I am so impressed!!)

OMG OMG LOOK AT YOUR VIEW!!!!!!! LOOK UP NOT DOWN! I wish I had a digital when I started so I could show you a pic. of the weed patch (backyard) and my old falling down fences everywhere and the falling down deck which is half ripped out now (current project). Take lots of pics so you can see the changes as you progress. Sometimes when I get discouraged I look at the befores to remind myself how far I've come and I hug my big trees cuz I don't have a view. Good girl, I see you have already put in the all-important beverage holder for when you relax AND LOOK AT YOUR VIEW!!!!

LOL DN... thanks for reminding me why we bought the house!

My husband invented a new party concept for our housewarming party when we bought this house, based on scheduling the party to exactly coincide with the sun setting directly over Pikes Peak as seen from our backyard. We missed it by about a week last year; we're hoping to schedule our Second Annual Peakquinox Party dead on this fall... :D

I was going to take more pictures last night, but thought I'd better do some weeding first. Next thing I knew it was too dark to take pictures! I'll try again tonight after work.

You do have a beautiful view! With that kind of view I'd say the garden is secondary! Go for native plants and don't work too hard. Have a good party!

Dahlia... your shade garden is gorgeous and inspirational! Love the gate and iron work!

kmargrave... it seems to me that most of us start with a patch of dirt, and then make it look good! You do have beautiful views!

Brenda

kmargrave,
Your view is incredible! I would add a bunch of not too tall stuff and let it frame Pike's Peak. You have a fabulous view. Plant things in the front yard! The back yard doesn't need much except the table for drinks and/or meals. You bought a fabulous place!