It's beautiful! It's useful! It's not actually totally done... but I didn't want to wait the entire summer to share it as if we haven't been doing anything. It's missing the back row of hostas I'm planning on transplanting back here as I mentioned in the plan... it just too hot to do it. There's also some extra wood stacked back here that needs to be burned, but it's too hot for fires in the fire pit. So instead of waiting until we have some weather that's not constantly in the 90's, I thought I'd share it now, since we are enjoying it and using it now.
And it's nice to have this garden and pathway back here. Until now this space isn't even walkable most of the year - it's been a swampy, wild bog full of weeds.
Rolling back to the process... Mike immediately transitioned from the drainage project trenches to building the pathways, since the right side path is right on top of the 4th trench. Piles of dirt were smoothed out and spread to grade everything and once the walkway was smooth.
From there we put down weed blocking fabric and the pavers we were given for free from the neighbors. We lined the garden side of the pathway with gray pavers (like the raised bed garden) to keep the gravel from shifting. Pea gravel (from the second load we ordered) was spread around the pavers and voila! A beautiful new pathway.
The pavers our neighbors gave us before they moved away are a great size (16" square) but they are ugly. Like 1991 Jersey Shore house patio chic. Not my style at all. BUT. The bottom? With a faded sun pattern (that probably was meant to divert water underneath or something) and the worn side makes them look like they belonged at a Tuscan villa or something once upon a time. This side blends beautifully with the pea gravel and the rest of our yard much better.
Next step was for Mike to rebuild the composter with the pallets (+2 we had in the garage). We had a single composter before, but this time we wanted a double composter so we have more composting room for yard debris. It's made from 5 pallets, simply nailed together, with the opening towards the pathways. This worked well for us previously - easy to dump into and stir and the pallets keep everything together.
The composter is ugly though. We have these big gray lattice pieces in our garage that are the perfect size to help hide it. Mike nailed one to the back of it facing the house and it really helps. I transplanted some Virginia creeper in front of it in hopes that it will cover the composter even more with a screen of green.
On the opposite side of the pathway from the composter, along the back of the yard along the fence, is where we moved the log pile. We mostly use our propane fire pit over our wood burning one (especially since we have 3 asthmatics living here), but sometimes nothing beats a wood fire. The placement of the log pile rack here is completely intentional so it's hidden from the house (because I think it's kind of messy looking). Right now we have more wood than we have space, but a few more fires in the near future will knock it out.
We built a low retaining wall with old wall pavers (also free from our neighbors) and it provides a nice transition from the grassy area to the garden.
After the big pieces were in place, it was time for planting! I put all the plants in from the diagram from the garden plan I posted previously. Around the irises are a mix of transplants (hostas, creeping thyme, astilbe, boxwood and virginia creeper to hide the composter, lillies) and new things (a willow tree sapling, Japanese willow shrubs, woodruff, ferns, a new moon, etc.).
But when that was done... there was still a lot of space. Yes I planned on putting a few more hostas back here from the side yard transplants, but there were still some huge gaps. The garden space was just bigger than I thought. I could absolutely fill it in with just more of the hostas... but I wanted more variety if there was space. The whole plan was to do this right - utilizing existing plants, but not to the point where I'd have to dig them up later because I didn't plan well to begin with. Plus I wanted to have enough hostas to do the entire back of the yard now across the fence. I ended up back at the discount nursery where I grabbed a few things that will like shade or dampness - veronica, another Japanese willow shrub, another lime verigated hosta, more woodruff and creeping plants)
Also... I know that weeping willows can get really big and are sometimes a controversial tree to plant, but they are excellent trees for wet areas. I've been reading up on how to keep them trimmed if need be. We already have several river birches along the fence and they just haven't been aggressive enough in the water department. The willow tree is planted near the drywell and will literally have its own personal reservoir to soak up.
One important thing I want to also mention is that the drainage project is a success. It's WORKING. We've had two massive rainstorms - a thunderstorm that dumped over 12" of water in 45 minutes (the terrible hail storm I mentioned in my June Garden post) and then a tropical storm that dumped over 3" of water in a day. After the flash flood storm there was water everywhere, but it drained away by the next day. In the past it never would have done that back here, it would have sat and bred mosquitoes in a ground clay bathtub. The tropical storm was less water and slower, so we never had standing water back here at all - it drained away! Yes things were wet and mushy the next day, but after that it dried out! Just like a normal yard! It feels AMAZING to have it officially be a success.
The composters are already being well used. The trellis and boxwood hides the reclaimed pallets really well from the rest of the yard.
This shot sums up what's left really well - the extra firewood pile of old materials, the unplanted back area awaiting transplants, and we were short a few gray pavers and need to go back and get a few more, in the meantime we've used leftover bricks to line the pathway. But these things will happen and I figure it's more fun to share now than await perfection in a spot that might never get there (since this is in the back corner for a reason).
From the front with the low wall, you don't see much of the garden but this grassy area will mostly be used for play once it's reseeded. Most important is that it's no longer a wild mass of weeds and swamp.
Upcoming plans for the rest of the space back here - the aforementioned hostas along the back fence between the river birches. Reseeding the grass. Cleaning things up just so the whole area (not just the back corner) is neat and usable for the whole family.
I will be the first to rave about how great it is to have a pathway for the wheel barrow to empty into the composter. It's easy and DRY back here.
I LOVE how the back garden area came out. No longer a sad, forgotten area of our yard - it's pretty and usable. When the grass regrows from the drainage project, we'll be regaining a third of our backyard back. We are thrilled with this. It's been a long process to get here - starting with the massive drainage project from last fall - but it feels so good to have reclaimed this space for our family.
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