Spring To-Do List (Including the Garden)

This spring (and most likely summer) is all about the new raised bed garden. But I also have a a lot of flowers to plant, pots to fill and beds to mulch. I also REALLY want to tackle the outside of the garage once the garden is done too - a lot of the structure ties into it and the peeling paint is a big eyesore. And there's just a lot of yard maintenance that needs to happen. The only saving grace for the raised bed garden project is that everything we want to use is from a kit which will make building that part a lot easier. Not so easy? Hauling dirt, rocks, pavers, etc.

So here's the master list for what we have to miraculously squeeze into our time off between baseball games and practices, swim lessons, tae kwon do classes, and soccer. No big deal right...?

The Basics:
Front Yard:

• Glue caps onto new railing (it was too cold for the glue to do that last October)
• Plant pots and rail boxes
• Trim overgrown bushes, prune out winter damage
• Plant new flowers under tree and in beds
• Mulch all of the beds 
• Reseed the grass that died 

Back Yard:

• Fill in the holes Morgan dug in the lawn
• Cover her favorite digging places with leftover chicken wire as a deterrent because she keeps re-digging the holes we've filled in 
• Reseed all the dead spots from Morgan's digging 
• Use the leftover wood strips from old raised bed garden as railroad ties against the wood fence to prevent Morgan digging along there and remove the ugly barricades we are using now (posts, leftover railing, etc.)
• Plant the patio and deck plant pots and rail boxes
• Plant the seedlings, dahlia bulbs and new flowers in the garden beds
• Mulch all of the beds and around the trees 

The Raised Bed Garden Project in Detail:

This layout below is slightly different than what I posted in the Fall. It's still the same size overall (increased the length and width by about 3.5 feet to the left and back), but I changed the size of the non-rotating herb and strawberry bed in the back. Originally I wanted it to be 16 feet across and 2 feet wide, but then I realized I could reduce the cost by purchasing two L-shaped bed kits which would cover everything with a 2'x12' back bed. Those extra 4 feet were totally worth the cost difference. We can expand them in the future or add in some huge over-sized pots for something. We also have two additional slates that I'm adding in front of the two gates. 

1. Finish Demo: 

• Move the pathway rocks to minimize loss
• Remove the last of the dirt from the beds (fill in lawn and garden holes)
• Dismantle the raised beds (and use any viable leftover wood to block the fence from Morgan)

2. Install the vinyl fence:

• Mark and stake where the fence is going to go with string. Figure out exact post placement for 8 ft fence pieces and gates. 
• Dig holes, mix cement, set base posts into the ground (we aren't messing around this time)
• Attach fence pieces to posts
• Attach folded chicken wire strip to inside of fence at the bottom (to keep out smaller pests)
• Install the two gates

3. Setup the Garden Interior:

• Order new compost/dirt mix for the beds (when I know we're ready for it)
• Mark where the beds will go and adjust weed blocking fabric as needed on paths
• Build the composite raised beds from the kits
• Place raised beds in the marked spots
• Fill with compost/dirt mix once it arrives
• Place big slate pieces at the gates and center where I want them
• Place 12" cement stepping stone squares along the paths
• Fill in pea gravel and see how much more we need
• Order additional pea gravel and fill in the paths that remain

4. Finishing Work:

• Build arbor that is going over the garden gate and install it there
• Plant climbing rose next to the arbor (+ make the bed nice, mulched, etc.)
• Install gray bricks (6" long) around the bottom perimeter of the white vinyl fence (to help prevent encroaching weeds and make it harder for diggers to dig)
• Add solar lights to a few spots in the garden
• Move herbs and strawberries into the non-rotating back beds
• Transplant tomatoes from pots to the tomato bed (or not)
• Cover empty beds to prevent weeds (or plant something, depending on the time of year)

5. Garage (because it's attached to the garden and it's getting uglier): 

• Scrape all the loose paint off (this will be a monster)
• Repaint the garage cinder blocks and wood (also a monster)
• Repaint the garage door white
• Repair garage side door frame and repaint it
• Move the 2 slates back a few feet on the non-pathway side of the garage near the swings
• Make a flower bed here for a climbing rose (and fence it off from the dog)
• Attach trellises to the side
• Build decorative pergola over the door to support a future climbing rose
• Redo old strawberry bed for flowers - line with gray bricks instead of leftover wood and stretch it to the back garden gate. 

And in the Late Summer / Early Fall... (because OMG that is a lot of work listed above)

Round 2:

• Oil porch floor
• Re-stain the deck
• Re-seal the driveway 
• Line the flower beds along the driveway with gray bricks to keep the mulch in place better and hold in the fencing better (so Morgan can't knock it down as easily). 

Feeling overwhelmed yet? No? Good. Me neither. Let's do this.