Rome Wasn't Built in a Day...Or Even a Few!

As profound as you think this journal entry might end up being, it really has all to do with my garden and yard.  As those of you who have been following my blog know, I moved into what I lovingly call "The Family House".  It's property that has been in the family since the house was built by my great-grandmother in 1938.  The back house, which I live in, was built some time in the '60s.  It's a great parcel located in a very old part of town just outside downtown.  I've lived here before and also in the front house as well, so I know this yard fairly well.

Over the years tenants have basically destroyed and/or degraded the land, breaking sprinkler heads, letting plants die, that sort of thing.  A long time ago there was a fish pond in the back that had fish in it when I was a kid.  One day that will be restored as well.  Needless to say that the yard needs some serious work, and my dad and I have been working tirelessly to bring it back into splendor.

I came home last week to find that Dad was having some trees felled.  One was right against the front house which was wreaking havoc on the sewage system which is older than the hills.  Tree roots get into things and well, it's just a pain and very expensive to replace, sooo... away it went.  He also had the peach tree cut down.  Most of the branches were dead and not producing anything anyway.  Dad had some second thoughts AFTER it was cut down, but that's okay.  The new trees going in will be a large improvement over the old ones.  And healthier, too!

I've been out to dig holes for the trees, and so far we've gotten the cherry tree planted.  For those who are thinking that I need TWO cherry trees in order to produce cherries, fear not, we got a self-pollinating tree which will produce cherries on its own. The other three trees are a peach, a Gala apple and a Honeycrisp apple.  I tasted a Honeycrisp apple the other day and wow! they taste like sweet tarts.  Yum!  Galas are excellent, too.

So, I was out digging the second hole, for possibly the Gala tree and I hit a huge rock.  The trouble with this yard, and all of the surrounding areas was that they were under the river hundreds of years ago, so there are hundreds of rocks around the yard. Some of them are HUGE and some of them are microscopic. Such examples of the larger rocks are the ones around the fish pond and bamboo. Other examples include the others that line the yard, but suffice it to say that not one single rock was brought in from an outside source. So, the rock that I hit while digging the hole for the tree is probably one of the medium sized ones that we use to line things with. Hopefully I can get it out of the hole.

I got tired of trying to dig the rock out, so I went on to other things.  Like staining the tea house.  Dad built it several years ago after the one that was there previously had degraded to the point of needing replacement. That's the way things go though.  The tea house has certainly seen better days, and it wobbly in some parts, but the nice coat of stain that I have been applying for the last few days is looking really nice.  It won't solve the wobble, but as long as people don't try to sit on the sides, then there's nothing to worry about.  It will look really nice, though.

In addition to trees and staining the tea house, I have set about planting seeds in the seed greenhouse starter kit. Most of the seeds have sprouted and I am looking forward to planting them in various parts of the yard.  This year's list of seeds includes pansies, orange and yellow marigolds, balloon flowers, strawberries, canteloupe, green onions, petunias and a few others that escapes my mind right about now.  They won't be ready to transplant for a few more weeks at least, but when I do, the yard will look a lot better.

My dad likes to cheat a little when it comes to some plants. He bought a flat of strawberries and rototilled a patch to plant them in.  I planted them and the strawberry patch looks good.  The strawberry seeds that I have planted will go elsewhere in the yard.  He also purchased three blackberry plants that I haven't gotten around to planting yet.  The area where they are going needs to be worked over and the plastic under the dirt needs to be moved. Anyway, that area is going to be known as the Berry Patch.  Definitely into berries, my dad.

I have designated an area to be designed as a more "romantic" spot. I have planted beautiful bulbs in a nice pattern.  They are not slated to pop up and bloom until the summer, so hopefully they do. I also have plans to put in a nice wrought iron bench and a lamp of some sort. It will be really pretty once it's done.

Oh, and let's not forget about the grapes.  I planted them a while ago and so far, nothing, but I have faith and they will do something soon.  I have been staining the tea house so that they will have a beautiful place to trellis.  Yeah.. that will be nice!

So, that is just some of the updates as to the goingson  regarding my garden of 2014.  More updates as more things pop up.  Hopefully the yard will get more beautiful as time goes on and all the hard work will pay off.