Time to expand !

I always seem to run out of planting room. Maybe I should  discipline my perennials and not  let them take over so much space. I just have  a hard time pulling out any plant.  So it's time to expand. Most of my gardens are in my front yard ,so I am just expanding them toward the road.  This area is low and the soil is sandy. I am preparing the new beds by added compost and top soil. Oh ya, I am  using a layer of heavy card board under the compost. I didn't want to remove the grass, too much work. The compost is about 2 inches and the topsoil is another 8 to 10 inches.                             
                                                                                                      

I was planning on building a garden shed in front of the picket fence .I started a base by added gravel,you can see it in front of the fence. But I have changed my mine and now want it more in the middle of the garden,so I have to move the gravel base.Oh well, a women can change her mind .

This is the first area I finished. I plan on using this area for mostly annuals next summer ,

so I have lots of color in August.

This view is looking back toward the gardens.The munch I am using for the path is from a huge bass tree that blew down this summer .A county crew had to remove the tree from the road in front of our house.They came the next day with a huge chipper .They left the piles of chipped wood, so I have been using it . I love free stuff!

I only use it on the paths ,tho, I don't like to use wood munch in my garden. My dad thought me to use grass clippings. Works really well for me , and of course, it's free.

The tree right after the storm.

This picture shows the front yard after the storm,you can see why I want to raise the new beds . 

We also removed the dead birch tree. 

The country crew cut the tree up then pushed it off the road. 

This picture was taken in July before the birch was removed and before I put up the picket fence. I found the fence while I was at a garage sale.It was cut into pieces about 6 feet long.I asked if it was for sale and was told they were hauling it to the dumps.  Needless to say, I hauled it all home.

I have also use  pieces of the fence in my shade garden. I will same those pictures for another time.

Have to rest up now ,more shoveling after work tomorrow.Hee Hee

 God Bless, Lynda

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Please link to Carol At May Dreams Gardens for September  Garden Bloggers Bloom day.

 I was thinking about taking some pictures earlier this month but thought that might be cheating. Sooooooooo  I grabbed my camera  and went out this morning , (a chilly 38 degrees) .Walking around the garden  there were more flowers that I thought.  First of all is this beautiful annual rudbeckia. Do the blooms count if I just bought the plant last week ? : )  Hope so, cause it's too beautiful not to show.

The white impatiens still looks good, but the first frost is coming soon.

I pulled lots of my Obedience plant out cause it was crowding the Autumn Joy sedum ,but left a few. Of course there will be more than a few next year, sure does spread.

 Autumn Joy sedum

The blue delphinium is blooming again after being cut back. It was over 6 feet tall  in June, the second blooms were only about 2 ft tall.














I love the airy look of gaura. This container had gaura planted in it last year.  It reseeded itself this year. Lucky me, I didn't have to buy more plants this year ,had more than enough for several containers.












New guinea impatiens still looks great.


















The birds planted these sunflowers for me. Guess they appreciated all the seeds I shared with them.

The morning dew on  the fall aster.

I have a few more bloomers, but will post them another time.
Have a great day and a special thanks to Carol for hosting the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.
God bless, Lynda

NEW ADDITION

No it isn't a new addition to my garden , that's coming tho.This is a new addition to my barnyard. A friend bought baby chicks for her kids this spring. Unfortunately 3 out of the 4 were roosters and one got very  aggressive.  Soooo,   now I have a rooster. He seems to like his new home and wanders around with the goats. His name was "Bull's Eye" but I renamed him "Reddy Whip".

My dad had chicken for many years when we were growing up. A large box of baby chickens was delivered in the spring. Dad would keep them in the basement under heat lamps till they were big enough for the chicken coop and yard. I still remember the sound of a hundred baby chicks peeping at once. Of course come fall some the hens were made ready for the freezer, if you get my meaning. That was a day I wasn't  fond of.

There is a small animal swap meet at our local Feed Mill in a couple of weeks ,guess I will be shopping for a few companions for Reddy .

Have a blessed day, Lynda

This and That

This sure is going to be a great weekend to work  play in the garden. At least  according to the weather man.  We had lots of rain the last couple of days,after a very dry August,so the ground is very workable. There are many perennials to trans plant.They have grown to big for my garden, so I am moving them.

I will move the mallow to a new border bed.

I also want to move some wild rosebushes. I keep cutting them back where they are now so I am moving them to new bed where they can grow" the bigger the better". This picture was taken last summer, it's a  lot taller this year.



Now for a little of "that". I want to show you some of my garden decorations.

I made this crane a few years ago.My husbands has a metal fabricating business so I have access to welders. I actually worked for him for a few years 15years ago.So I can weld a little. I wanted to make my sister a special 50th birthday present ,so I had to make one for me too.: )

Everyone  was sells Home Interior candle votives at garage sales for 10 to 25 cents so I bought lots.My husband gave me a coil of copper tubing that he had, so I made some ever blooming tulips.

A garden angel made her appearance last summer from my pile of metal scrape.

 Love blue glass , so of course I have to put in my gardens. The bubbles are drawer pulls.

  A friendly garden spider made from a hay fork  that was in my dad's barn. The body is a metal spring.

Just a couple more pictures. I will have to save the rest for another time ,cause the sun is now shining and I hear my garden calling.

Have a blessed day,  Lynda

For the birds.

For years my husband didn't want me to feed the birds ,  he didn't like the mess. Well all things mellow with age even husbands.So  for the last several years , the birds have been enjoying my many feeders. When I told my husband what I wrote about him ,he said "well they are messy",with a grin, and I guess, I have to agree. : ) But that doesn't stop me from adding more feeders.
I have also been buying berry producing scrubs for my birds. I took  pictures yesterday of  the berries that are ripening .

Dwarf cranberry bush viburmum

Beach Plum

American Elderberry

Blacklace elderberry

This Arrowwood viburnum was loaded with berries until last week when the dark blue berries ripened. In one day the birds cleaned it out.When I got home from work there were only a few berries left ,a couple of birds were flitting through the bush looking for every last one. I didn't get a chance to get my camera. I really wanted a picture because I wasn't able to identify the birds.

Picked clean not a berry to be found.


I  have a Saskatoon service berry called Regent but the berries were eaten buy robins early this summer.

My dogwood (Ivory Halo ) is blooming now so there should be some berries soon. Tried to take a picture but it is too windy today.

 I wanted to show you the downy woodpecker having a drink from the hummingbird feeder.
Notice the red bellied woodpecker at the suet feeder in the background.

Oh ya, guess I've never mentioned that I also have pygmy and fainting goats.: )
Nine in all , started with two pygmys added 2 fainters ,now I have 9. Ugh! Needless to say I now have the one billy goat separated from the rest of the herd.   : )

Beginnings. Ponds

Thought I would show you some pictures of my ponds  in the beginning. I have a hill from my front porch to the  driveway , so I thought it would be a great spot for a water fall.  The  first year I just put a preformed pond that I bought from Menards at the foot of the falls.

But I just couldn't live with that itsy bitsy pond. So I spent the next summer digging out a new one  I did have someone come  with a back hoe in May and dig the holes, ( I also decided I wanted two separate ponds  with a bridge between)  anyway  I thought that once he was done I could put my liners in and they would be finished.  Unfortunately it took me till August to get the hand digging done.  Then another month to line the ponds with sand, install the liners and  to place the rocks, I had gathered.

 It was all worth it, I loved the way it turned out.

Heres some pictures this year, five years later.

It sure looks different now , and I really enjoy the sound of the water.
As an added advantage, the birds love it too.