Hahahaha (sorry!)...this is so the kind of thing that would happen to me!

I am just amazed at all the projects you undertake. I am very intimidated by yard stuff. I am intimidated by lots of things, haha. I am terrible at keeping plants alive.

We are trying to plan our flower bed for the front of the house and I just want to buy plants and stick them in there. Adrian wants to research, carefully plan, dig up the old stuff, do whatever needs to be done before planting, etc, etc, etc. I just want to see pretty flowers. Why does everything have to be so complicated?

That really sucks, Tova. Stressful. What did Gavin think about the big trucks?

PS - I got your package!! Thank you soooo much! You are incredible. I loved the drawings on the box too. I will post pics when I start getting curtains up. BTW, the gold ones will go GREAT in our bedroom! THANK YOU!!

Wow, you're property looks really lovely, just the sort of verdant spaces we're hoping to have one day. Sorry to hear about the driveway woes, although it sounds like you will have them under control soon.

While you're seeing the results of all your planting and getting ready for warm weather, Toni and I are planning what we'll be doing over the winter period, which cool weather vegetables we'll grow and making some changes and improvements to our gardens beds over winter.

You just convinced me my 1/2 acre is big enough for me!

Good luck with the drainage. Around here, you get 1-2 inches of top soil on top of clay! Red Clay.

I love the  green grass!  Wow, what a job you guys have, but it's so worth it when it's done. The yellow flowers look beautiful. Are they lillies?

I know you had every man in the nearby neighborhood there with those trucks. It was the same here when we had the concrete poured for our driveway. We ended up having a big pizza party for the neighborhood.

I hope the work goes by fast for you, at least the heavy labor.

Yeah, its better to research and get perennials....with tall ones in back, medium in the middle and small in front..then they come back every year and all you have to do is throw mulch on them, maybe trim them a bit.

Soil preparation is pretty easy.  Your local Lowes will know what type soil predominates the area and will have the additives if you need them.  I always recommend manure though...it makes flowers bloom like mad.

If you want quick color, buy a few hanging baskets (or make them yourself) and hang them on a hook and chain on the front porch...I say a chain because lots of people hang them ceiling high at the hook level, that looks so goofy imo.  But a bit of cheap chain (talking pennies here) and bring it down to GASP!  EYE LEVEL. 

Just an idea.

YAY!  I'm so glad it got there....it was heavy wasn't it?  Heh.

Do the curtains with the extensions fit your big window?  Are they close at all?  (Don't look at the seams too close, heh)  Let me know, if you don't want to respond here just shoot me an email...

He thought the trucks were great, but the big pile of dirt WOO HOO!  He played on it the rest of the night as I shoveled...he wore dirt everywhere even in his ears and butt crack!

He was livin large.

He says he can't wait for the next load....hahahaha.

 

Thanks Dyno.  We like it.  Lots of trees, and yard.  We are the very last house on our street in the subdivision.  So we have the convenience of a subdivision, friends,etc...but our side yard goes into a 250 wooded and fielded property, with a nice stream and pond the kids fish in.

It's perfect for me, but still too "city" for hubby.  We have 75 acres of pure woodland in Mississippi though.  Once we get done with everything round here we plan on building a two bedroom cabin there.....so he can have a place to "get away."  (Read: fish, hunt, ride four wheelers).

He's a country boy.

We have a shed, a large trampoline and a big redwood swingset...so we needed the space.   heh

That's exactly the soil we have here Doc.  Clay, clay, clay.  We are bringing in fill dirt, that is a combo of clay and sand, then top soil for the sod/seed.  The top soil is a really rich black blend.

I found with my food garden the best way to beat the soil is to garden in a raised bed.  So we brought in lots of garden dirt and built up our garden so when we till it, we don't even get to the clay.  Now if I could do something about those Kamikaze Beetles!

We live in an "older" subdivision.  We chose it because the new houses are great, but the yards....ugh.  Way too small, at least the ones in our price range.  So we found an open layout in this house, wonderful mature trees, we even have several apple trees, and of course what really sold me was the yard, and the fact we are next to 250 acres.

It has some drawbacks.  Once people get old they can't maintain their homes.   But once they die, or go to nursing homes, young couples with kids buy up their houses and start remodeling.

Our house was in great shape and owned by a young family.  So we didn't have much to do inside, except projects we want to do....

Ok enough about that.

Maybe some day you can visit....hint hint hint!

Yeah, that's my experimental flower bed...meaning I have so much stuff in there to see if it will do well in soil on that side of the house.....See my little wind mill?  Call me white trash but I do like some sculpture or accent pieces mixed in with the foliage.  A big clematis vine grows up it...and by mid summer...very nice.

 

Heh, I live on a hill...so all the water drain into my neighbor's yard.

~Zoo

Well....ya know in the state of Ohio you are responsible for the rain run off coming from your property...via your roof, your gutters, whatever.

If they wanted to be ugly about it, they could have the city fine the owners of your place, then make them fix all the run off, AND pay to fix any damage on their property. 

It isn't cheap either.

If someone told me ten years ago I'd PAY for dirt...pfft, I'd have laughed and said they were crazy.