The Backyard

I've been bad, but busy. So here is a bit of an update on the backyard transformation and the garden. Because we have so much shade, grass is hard to grow, except in patches. For 6 years we have seeded, fed and watered the backyard, to no avail. Even those patches of grass that did grow, weren't barefoot friendly because of the needles from the Engleman spruce Trees!

Having tons of subscriptions to decorating, cottage and garden magazines, I found an article in one that talked about the National Wildlife Federations goal on wildlife habitat. Below is an excerpt from the the website, and a link to the website if you are interested.

"Whether you have an apartment balcony or a 20-acre farm, you can create a garden that attracts beautiful wildlife and helps restore habitat in commercial and residential areas.
By providing food, water, cover and a place for wildlife to raise their young, you not only help wildlife, but you also qualify to become an official Certified Wildlife Habitat™ and join the nearly 140,000 sites across the country."

 http://www.nwf.org/In-Your-Backyard.aspx

 So, after reading the article, I thought; why not? We can do this!

We divided the backyard into 2 different areas, which was easy because the walkway cuts the yard in two! On the south side we have turned the yard into a vegetable garden in raised beds. We also have asparagus growing, 2 blueberry bushes, and of course we still use the earth boxes. We finally obtained a composter that actually works as advertised, so we are on our third batch of compost!
The ground around the garden is still being freed of grass and mulch from the chipper is going to cover the ground. Below are 2 pictures of the vegetable garden.

 Our garden this year has: 4 different tomatoes, carrots, 3 types lettuce, beans, peas, tomatillos, bell peppers, jalapeno's, delicata squash, green onions, chives,cucumbers, and spinach. We are also growing, 2 types of thyme (french and english), rosemary, parsley, cilantro, dwarf basil, sage and spearmint!

Now for the north side of the garden, this is the area I am turning into a 'wildlife' habitat. I have 2 birdseed feeders, 2 thistle feeders and a bird bath. I still need more birdbaths and I want to hang some bird houses, but one thing at a  time. The grass has been ripped out, so now the fight is with the weeds which seem to flourish now. I have planted some groundcovers, and a lot of hosta, but this will be an ongoing evolution for at least the next year or so. But here are some pics of the north side of the garden.

So I created a wide path that is mulch (to cut down on watering), and hope to put one of those loveseat benches or gliders under the tree at the end of the path.

Although we live in an area that hasn't put out water restrictions yet. We know that over the next years water is going to become more precious than it is even now. So, rather than keep dumping gallons and gallons of water on grass that won't grow, we are using more drought tolerant plants and definitely more perennials. The birds and butterflies that come to the yard, spend a lot of time visiting, which is fun in itself just watching them. If all goes well, next year I will apply to have our yard certified by the NWF. Of course nothing is free, but it goes to a good cause.

Will write more soon.