Monday, May 18, 2009

Before Pictures

Here is my yard before gardening, complete with yard toys for the kids and a dogs' pen in the back. Over time I will be adding things, so we can all journey back to what it used to look like.


Here are two pictures of the front yard on the right side. The black things are stumps from trees that had to be cut down last year.






Our old driveway that had to be replaced because of a right of way issue. Eventually we want to cover this up, and plant monkey grass on the slope.





This is underneath a Black Walnut tree that I will turn into a flower bed. Thinking hydrangeas here, and lamb's ears, lots of textures.





This is the view of the backyard parallel to our house. Notice the lovely dog pen? And the unsightly shed we have yet to tear down. On the upside, because of the massive oak tree, there are wonderful banks of moss covering the ground.





Here is the view of the front yard on the left side. This is where we have all the kids' yard toys, since it has the most shade and the ground is mostly moss.






This is the area we have to walk across to reach our front stoop. Hopefully this year we will be building a new porch and I can turn this area into a plant bed.





This is the view from our front door. I absolutely hate this view! It has nothing to do with our neighbors you can see in the distance, even if they have donkeys, they are family after all and my kids like spending time with them. Instead I hate the tree! It is a sweetgum tree and it is constantly dropping the sweetgum balls all over the yard. Last year when my son was learning how to walk, he would trip on them or his foot would roll over on them and they hurt him. I would love to cut it down, but once again haven't had the time to.




Just before the fence line of our neighbors in the previous picture is a line of brush. This line marks a drainage ditch that is also our property line in the front. This is what the drainage ditch looks like close up. Beautiful, huh?

Hope you stay tuned to see what comes next!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Welcome!

My name is Rachel and I live in Alabama, between the narrow gap of Zone 7 & 8. Summers here are hot and humid, sometimes dry and sometimes not. But, there are so many things on this good, green earth to enjoy that I have finally gotten around to creating my garden.
I live on two and half acres, perched on the side of a mountain. One and half of those acres is woods, but the other acre is all weeds, grass, and a few trees. Some of those trees are gigantic and speak of ancient wisdom and years, while others annoy me as they drop sweetgum balls all over my yard.
This blog is going to be my journal, as I move step by agonizing step towards the gardens of my dreams. I hope you enjoy the ride!
My intent is to post pictures along with my descriptions so that the journey of my seeds coming to life will not be lost. Soon, I will have several "before" pictures, including the wonderful view I have of donkeys out my front window. At least at my window I can't smell them!
Here is to a hopefully fun and lucrative journey that is satisfying and grows many things (except weeds) without killing them!