Pruning Our Maple

Tags

arboriculturist, arborist, gardening, landscaping, maple, pruning, tree

Two years ago, Hubster over pruned the pin oak in our backyard resulting in a sun-scorched trunk (and at our first house, he over pruned an ancient oak). Although summer pruning is frowned upon, I had to trim up the bottom of our maple tree before my resident arborist got to it. Our maple is located in the front of our house, right where our front plateau slopes down to the lower plateau. It is the only tree in the front on the same plateau as our house. and was never trained or pruned so it was a bushy sphere of a tree. You couldn’t actually sit under the tree to enjoy the shade.

After checking to make sure there we no nests in the targeted branches/limbs, I trimmed off the branches that hung too low. I cleaned up the dead branches within the canopy. There were a few limbs that needed to be cut (which I trimmed, but our chainsaw was left at the cabin) to clean up the final appearance.

Now, Hubster will be able to get under the tree to mow and weed whack. We can sit under the tree and enjoy the shade. With a few more years of growth, this maple will be the perfect climbing tree.

On another note, we just discovered these four hatchlings in one of the hanging baskets on our front porch! They may be making a home in our maple tree sometime soon!

XOXO,
Young Wifey

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Berry Business

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blueberries, gardening, landscaping, raspberries

I love berries. Hubster & I decided it was finally time to work on incorporating berries into our garden.

Friends of ours have golden raspberry bushes in their garden that we’ve coveted for so long, and they’re given us a few canes to transplant. My parents have red raspberry bushes and spared a few canes to add to our garden. We have some black raspberry bushes growing on the steep bank along the road so Hubster dug them from the hill. All these raspberries were transplanted into our far raised garden bed.

We also purchased 3 dwarf blueberry bushes; 1 jelly bean blueberry bush and 2 peach sorbet blueberry bushes. While I’ve been resting my sprained ankle, Hubster planted them in the front of the middle raised garden bed.

We should figure out some netting or caging to keep the plethora of birds away from our new crops, but we’re just not that far yet. Hubster loves strawberries, but we haven’t built a proper strawberry box yet, so they might need to wait another year…

What type of berry is your favorite?

XOXO,
Yong Wifey

You Belong Among The Wildflowers…

Tags

bloom, flowers, gardening, landscaping, wildflowers

During the summer months, the sloping parts of our front banks are covered in wildflowers. Here’s a peek at what’s currently in bloom.

What is blooming where you live?

XOXO,
Young Wifey

Our New Herb Garden- Le Château de Chenonceau Style

Tags

cooking, France, French, gardening, grilling, herb garden, herbs, landscaping, potager

Since our potager isn’t located close to our kitchen at all (it’s further away from our house down on the first bank), it wasn’t an ideal location for my herbs. I can’t just run out quickly when making dinner to add a spring of something or another.

Four years ago, The Town Mouse posted a picture of the herb garden at le château de Chenonceau (Chenonceaux, France) that I have coveted ever since. The recessed pots are adorable and would help deter mints and other herbs from taking over the entire garden.

Town Mouse’s picture of an herb garden at le château de Chenonceau (Chenonceaux, France)

The perfect spot for the herb garden was just off the back deck. It is the perfect location for both kitchen and grill access. At the beginning of last year, we turned a tight v- shaped corner (between the deck, pool deck, and pool) into a garden bed. We removed the grass, lined it with black plastic, mulched, edged it with mountain stone, while lining the pool side with small river rock. The only plant in the area was a spiraea we transplanted (and rescued) from next to the AC unit.

Last night, I purchased terra-cotta pots and herbs for my new garden. On the upper lip of the pots, I brushed on 2 coats of a terra-cotta sealant, 2 coats of paint (formulated for terra-cotta), and finished with two more coats of the sealant. I had these supplies left over from a previous project.

This morning, we were ready to create our new herb garden. I’m actually surprised Hubster was so agreeable to this design, when I first showed him the picture years ago, he didn’t care for it. First, I laid out the pots to determine their arrangement. Then, I pushed aside the old mulch and cut a hole in the plastic, and Hubster loosened holes in the clay soil. Once I recessed the pots into the new holes, I back-filled any exterior gaps with the clay soil and filled the pots with potting soil. I smoothed the old mulch back around the pots and planted the herbs.

I planted thyme, rosemary, oregano, sage, fennel, chives, peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, and bee balm. I actually think we’re going to add two more pots and create a fourth row in the back. I already have two types of basil and a lavender that I’d like to add there. Most of the herbs are perennials and will come back each year, so it’ll be easy to supplement the annual varieties.

Our New Herb Garden – Front View

Our New Herb Garden – Deck View

Our New Herb Garden – Poolside View

I can’t wait to update this post when the herbs have filled out and been topped off with fresh mulch!

UPDATE:
We added two more pots in the back!

Another Row Added

What do you think of our new herb garden?
What herbs do you keep in your garden?

XOXO,
Young Wifey 

Our Own Mini Orchard

Tags

apple, cherry, fruit trees, gardening, landscaping, orchard, peach, pear, plum, potager, redbud, trees

Last year, Hubster & I planted four weeping cherry trees and a Japanese maple. One weeping cherry didn’t make it through the first year, but we had a one-year warranty and replaced it. While we were at the garden center, we decided to finally start our own mini orchard.

The past few weeks we’ve been busy planting, mulching, and watering our 12 new trees. Two were ornamental; the weeping cherry and an Eastern redbud.

Own Own Mini Orchard

We planted 10 fruit trees in a line wrapping around from the top of the hill behind our house and curving down the hill to the left side of our house. The new mini orchard perfectly frames our pool, fire-pit, and hammock. Starting from the back to the front we planted one of each: Golden Delicious Semi-Dwarf Apple, Red Delicious Semi-Dwarf Apple, Methley Semi-Dwarf Plum, Bruce Semi-Dwarf Plum, Keiffer Semi-Dwarf Pear, Bartlet Semi-Dwarf Pear, Elberta Semi-Dwarf Peach, Hale Haven Semi-Dwarf Peach, Black Tartarian Cherry, and Bing Semi-Dwarf Cherry.

Foliage is Filling In

The foliage is already filling in nicely, and some small blooms have appeared. I’ll post an update once they’re a little more established.

XOXO,
Young Wifey

Sign of Hope, Sign of Love

Tags

alliums, gardening, landscaping

Even though my one sister lives over 3,000 miles away, our lives often mirror each other. It is incredibly joyous when it’s something positive, and incredibly heart-breaking when it’s something sad. This week our alliums synchronized the timing of their blooms.

Small Allium Bloom

A sign of love…
A sign of hope…
3,000 miles away.

XOXO,
Young Wifey

Lucky Pennies

Tags

birdbath, gardening, landscaping, penny

We have a nature preserve 1/2 a block down the road, and the trees (and porch lights) around our house are home to many birds. For ultimate pest control, we have to make sure we keep our feathered friends as happy as possible.

Algae has been a major issue for our bird bath, and let’s face it, I don’t want to scrub the bird bath often. Last Spring, I found a link on Pinterest that mentioned pennies (minted before 1982) would help keep our birdbath clean by preventing algae from growing. Although we saw immediate results, we wanted to see how it worked over the course of a year.

Pennies in Birdbath

I am curious if this also works with UK pennies (and other countries) since I’d love to add a 2p coin to the mix. Riotflower, care to give it a try and send feedback (BTW Happy Birthday!)?

The only slight set back was when our sweet niece thought she found the “Find a Penny, Take a Penny” jackpot (she was so thrilled!), and I had to search for more pre-1982 pennies for the birdbath. You’d be surprised how many pennies you may have to go through to find them!

XOXO,
Young Wifey