OT: Terracing our Backyard

Hi Guys, Well, we finally bit the bullet and had our backyard terraced. I have just spent the last hour uploading photos of the whole process to my Webshots site; the album is Backyard "Renovations". We used a portion of the money my Dad left me -- the *only* way we would have been able to pay for something of this scope. There are four levels -- three terraces and a lovely flagstone patio at the bottom. The top terrace is a concrete extension of the driveway with a planting area at the end. The second and third terraces will have grass (in the autumn) and the bottom level is the patio which is just of the lower deck. There are stairs from the upper level to the lower level with landings at each intermediate terrace. We are in the process of putting in the plants. We will have a pathway and a covered double swing off of the third level landing. I have put in all of the plants at the upper level and down the stairway to where the pathway will go. Later today I will try to put in the juniper on the little hill between our property and the neighbors. Not sure how successful I will be. The angle at which I have to stan on the hill really aggravates my arthritis. I told Dh he might have to plant them and he just gave me that "trout" look! Oh well -- it's been cool and raining every 3 or 4 days so the plants are doing OK. They might just get planted 2 or 3 at a time but at that rate it will take me another week to get everything done!!! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

Looks really nice - I'm sure you'll enjoy it lots. Hire the nursery to plant the major stuff- if you can deal with that. We did that with some of our things - worth the doubled warranty, and DH & my back, etc. Just a thought.

Also - nice additions in the quilt stuff! You're so good about finishing - for real.

Ellice

Oh Tia Mary! It looks great. I wish I could come do your planting for you. My garden in under 6 inches of snow AGAIN. Is there some industrious young soul that might like to earn some extra cash planting for you?

Cheryl

There's the rub -- DH is pretty much in denial as to the impact my arthritis and back problems have had on my level of activity of this sort. I mentioned the fact that we might want to see if one of the kids in the 'hood would like to work with me in the garden this past week (Spring Break here) and he immediately said I shouldn't bother because HE would do what I couldn't do. VBS -- that would mean it would take 2 to 3 weeks to get all the plants in the ground and the poor things would likely be more dead than not by then! Too bad I can't "beam you up" so you could have helped me -- you would have loved the work and the weather even tho' it has rained several times this week :-)! He phoned me yesterday -- after I was finished for the day in the yard -- and said he has today off (he normally doesn't have Good Friday off). He said he would finish up the planting today. How nice of him

-- there are only 9 juniper left to be put in the ground LOL. Good thing too, because I am so sore and stiff and crotchety this morning that it will take me most of the morning to limber up enough to make my way out to the back yard! But it's really looking pretty. I'll have to get some photos today once he has the last of the juniper planted. CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

LOLOL -- GMTA -- I only managed to spend two hours in the yard yesterday and that was because I had a ThermaCare Heat Wrap on my neck & shoulders, one on my lower back and another one on my worst knee :-)! We managed to get the last of the juniper planted. DH dug the holes and I put the plants in and backfilled the holes. He kvetched the whole time about the steep angle he had to work at. Well, DUH -- what did he think I was complaining about for the last week, LOL!!! He stayed out there the rest of the day cleaning stuff up and leveling the area for the path for the swing. He was going to surprise me by putting the path in without telling me so that I wouldn't think I had to help. Problem is, he laid the pavers out in the wrong pattern so now has to redo the last portion of it. I'll stop my story there -- you DO NOT want to know what happened when I saw that -- LOLOL! Off to Lowe's yet again. He needs more stuff for the watering system. CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

Tia Mary -

It looks wonderful. I'm hoping to do something similar, though much smaller scale, on my "hillside" yard. I bought DH some "stone walls and patios" books for Christmas -- he hasn't quite taken the hint, or else he's deliberately ignoring it -- and told DD that for his BD (coming soon) and Father's Day some Lowe's/Home Despot gift cards would be appreciated...at least by ME!! Poor man. Not even allowed to pick out his own BD gift .

You've inspired me. Now I'll have to tie DH to the chair and show him your photos...

Sue

If you that those photos looked nice, wait until you see the ones with the flowers, etc. planted :-). We're no where near being finished but just having the beginnings of the landscaping part started makes a whole world of difference. As soon as I finish on the 'puter, I'm going outside to take some photos and get them loaded onto the Webshots album. We've had the cold front move through here and it's bitter cold today. I don't even want to know what the wind chill is! If you're out in the sun (it's a lovely, clear day) and away from the wind, it's cold but not horrid. Add the wind and it's got to be down near freezing! My poor little plants :-(. Fortunately, they are all perennials from growers in this part of the country. That will help them deal with this sudden blast of unusual winter weather. I'm just glad there is not a speck of moisture in the air. If there was we would have either snow or an ice storm!!! My newly planted little beauties certainly don't need

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

I've added more photos to the Backyard "Renovation" album at Webshots. These are of the plants I have put in so far and the path that Dh put in that isn't quite right. We transplanted three gum trees that had just sort of started themselves a few years ago. They are about three years old now. the shortest one is about 6 feet tall and the biggest one is about ten feet tall. I hope they do OK! They had rooted themselves in amongst the wild roses and azaleas we had planted over by Saki the Weeping Cherry. It was just too much stuff over there so we moved the trees and the azaleas (they went to the front yard). The wild roses got moved around a bit too so let's all say a prayer that everyone settles down and grows nicely again! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

You guys have worked SO hard. I am ashamed to say I would have hired somone to do the planting, with me standing there, pointing. I did that with a small front bed; JIm used to laugh at me and my slaves ( college students).His idea of a yard is green concrete, with ham radio antennas everywhere. We DO have the antennas, but old farmland grass, cut by the community contractor.

I think I could learn to like your part of the country, but I still hanker after the real north!!

Please keep pictures coming. Do daffodils and crocus do well there? I can envision them blanketing the ground after a few years of naturalising.

Gillian

Gill Murray wrote:

Well, HOTlanta is the furthest thing from *any* sort of north so you would certainly have to keep on hankerin' :-). I think the term for this part of the country is more like The Deep South -- capital letters required -- LOL! And yes, those are dogwoods you see abloom in what I fondly term "the gully". They are wild and there are four or five of them on my property -- maybe one or two more. They started to come into bloom about a week ago and will likely last another week or two, just depends on what part of the area you are in. As for crocus & daffy-dills, they do nicely here. Well, the daffodils do, not sure about the crocus but I would imagine so. I got energetic about 1 1/2 yr ago and stuck a plethora of daffodil bulbs in the ground -- sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving Day -- along the street side edge of the gully. A bunch of them came up last spring and it was quite lovely. This spring there were a few more and even some white ones! I also planted several hyacinth bulbs and they come up at the same time and make the rest of the scruffy, winter blown yard look almost presentable. I was quite thrilled this spring to find ready to plant bulbs, of all sorts -- already in leaf, too -- for sale at Wally World of all places! They had daffodils (which I bought), hyacinth (I passed on them) and some wonderful tulips which I also bought. The best part is that most of them were in really heavy duty peat planter pots so I just dug the appropriate sized hole and plopped them in the ground with some transplant water. They bloomed beautifully and I didn't have to be out in the cold autumn weather planting the bulbs! I will try to remember to take some photos of the front and side yards next spring when all of the bulbs are up and in bloom. Daffodils grow like weeds here and there are often whole yards covered with them. Such a beautiful sight to see :-)! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

TiaMary, I'll do a little research and find which bulbs do well in the south. There is a daffodil breeder that specializes in your neck of the woods. They don't need as much winter cold to set buds.

Thanks Cheryl, that would be great. I'm going to be putting in some summer blooming bulbs in the backyard and I would love to add some spring bulbs to the mix later this year. It's been cold enough the last two days that the daffodils are likely to think it's time to bloom again!! OH, and my day lilies are doing nicely, too -- thank you very much :-). VBS, just about the time I have everything just the way I want it, it all will have really settled in and started to grow and bloom nicely and DH will be retiring and we'll be moving back to the Lizard Land mountains! Guess I will just have to start over again -- LOL. I'm going to be getting my wisteria soon also. We have other stuff to take care of first and then we will put in the wisteria. Wisteria, hydrangea and gardenia are my absolute *favourite* flowers and I have the gardenia and hydrangea already. I've been hocking DH about the wisteria ever since we moved in here over 7 years ago and I am finally getting some :-))))). THAT will require more photos, of course -- LOL! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

Ooooooooh, I need that brand, too!

Gill Murray wrote: > That is SOOO nice. It looks as if there is a dogwood in bloom? I so miss

Sadly, most of the dogwoods have died due to a virus that went through about ten years ago. It was spread by birds, and really decimated the dogwoods in MD/PA. I think there's a new hybrid dogwood out, but it's kind of pricey still. We replaced our dogwood with a serviceberry tree, which I love. Pink flowers in spring turn to berries for the birds and leaves turn red in fall. It's not near as commonly found here in Baltimore as dogwoods (formerly, anyway), redbuds, Japanese cherries, and magnolias.

sue

I've replied off list, but both John Sheepers and Zimmerman and McClure has "southern" daffodil mixess.

Always fun!

I think and I have emailed my "daffodil expert", but daffodils do need some serious cold time....

Cheryl

I had wisteria when I lived in Lizard Land and it was like a crazy plant

-- LOL! The stuff you see down here that goes crazy is usually the Asian variety. It's considered just a step up from kudzu because it grows so fast. The stuff I am going to buy is bred for this part of the country and doesn't grow as fast as the Asian varieties. We have a double deck (upstairs & downstairs) and we will plant the wisteria at the downstairs level on the outside of the stairway landing. That will keep it well away from the house but put it in a place where it will be visible from the street and easy for me to take care of. Because it is slower growing, I will need to buy the biggest plant I can find so that I get to enjoy it before we have to leave. Thanks for the daffodil info. I have saved it for future use :-). CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

You're more of an expert than MOI but I think you are likely correct. I have noticed that the daffodils here are much showier after we have had a fairly cold winter. If there are ice storms or snow, we will have an awesome daffodil crop the following spring. CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at