Strawberries

Look at those flowers! Are we going to feast on Strawberries soon?

In October 2006 I planted one plant (or was it 2?) and look how the raised bed is filled now. I'll post after some luscious berries are harvested.

2nd Time Lucky?

Carex: This ornamental grass was planted 2 years ago. Only the one on the left remains. I bought 2 replacements as I liked them but it remains to be seen if they survive. Keeping them well watered until they are established may have been the problem. The label says they can grow in part shade and the position of the fence does mean the the left hand one gets more sun.

• Carex buchananii; orange-brown leaves with curled tips; sun; 20" high; from Hayes nursery
  

Composts: all equal?

Are all composts equal. The right one cost $3 from The Home Depot. The left was purchased at Hayes Nursery.

More and more I am reading that you do not need fancy fertilizers for a healthy garden so I am relying on that and not using anything but compost. I haven't started making my own yet but do put all my food scraps in the Yard Waste.

I liked the Gardener & Bloomer compost better but I may be biased in favor of the little nursery. It was not lumpy with hard spots and was dried. It also came in a bigger size so lasted.

Side Yard

A barren, fairly newly hardscaped side yard. There is a lowly Coastal Leucothoe that I had nothing to lose so planted it there. This soil is not very fertile but "well drained" and shade. I'd like to have a plan before I really start planting. There is a park on the other side so it is a very private little oasis.

Perennial Flower Garden

Like everyone, I have admired certain flowers every year so have yearned to have them in my garden. This is the start of my perennial garden. From left to right you can see a little of the Leucothoe that was left. The small plant in the lower left started from a seed that my son received from a friend. I'll have to check on it's name.

Next against the fence is Trollius "Gold Queen"; left to right is a Blanket Flower; Coreopsis and Salvia "Cardonna" against the fence. The last thing is a mum that was in a container last year. I cut it back and it sprouted. I'll have to read up on how to ensure it has flowers in the fall. I think you might have to do lots of "pinching back" or something.

See the bullet points below to read the features of each plant. I plan to follow up with a photo in late summer. See how much things spread and survive or NOT!

• Trollius Gold Queen; yellow flowers; sun; 24-36" high; blooms spring; from NW Perennials
• Salvia Cardonna; blue/violet florets; sun; 24-36" high; blooms summer t0 mid-fall: from NW Perennials
• Blanket flower; yellow/orange flowers; sun; 12-30" high; blooms summer; from Home Depot
• Coreopsis Early Sunrise; yellow flowers; sun - part sun; 18" high; blooms summer; from Home Depot

Paid help

Last week I decided that the garden had gotten away from me so I hired a company Lee's Landscaping to clean it up. I am convinced that once it is clean I CAN maintain. I also, had them trim and edge.

As well, they moved two Coastal Leucothoes of which we had 9. I read on the label that these bushes were shade tolerant and honestly I won't miss them if they fail. They are just blobs. The label also suggested that they would look good among azaleas so that is where I attempted to have them planted. Lesson: BE very specific when giving directions to these guys. Draw a line on the ground where to plant and mark which plants you want moved!

Same for edging.

Anyway, I am happy overall as the garden doesn't seem so overwhelming now.

Carrots

Today I planted these carrots. I just made a row in the raised bed and covered and watered. We will see IF in 70 days we have carrots.

Pacific Landscaping Disaster

In 2006 I had my garden landscaped by Pacific Landscaping in Seattle. What a painful process. This company was so non-responsive that I would highly recommend not using them. Gordon of Pacific Landscaping and I started talking in December. Everytime I wondered what was happening it was me who had to initiate the phone call. Finally the project started but again it stalled several times. One time Gordon went on vacation so left Mike in charge. He didn't give Mike a set of plans so I had to lend Mike my plans (which if I hadn't used their service would have cost me $250). These plans were never returned and when I requested another copy I did not get one.

Another insult was that they planted all the trees and some of the bushes on the hottest day in July. Needless to say they didn't make it. It took until October to finally get them replanted. Of course, that took more than one phone call. The trees mostly survived but when the trees were planted I wondered as it was October and the leaves had started to change color. By spring I knew one of the trees was half dead.

One of the reasons that the half dead tree was not replaced and the plans were not returned was the invoice. We had a quote of about $7,000. The invoice arrived and it was for $8600. The additional $1,600 was for wood chips under the play structure! A square about 15' by 10'.

From this horrible experience I have decided to do my own gardening. I have a side yard that is only hardscaped. There are large rocks arranged as steps down a steep path. My goal is to plant this side yard with NW plants that do well in shady, well drained, stony soil. Since I am just starting out I thought I would keep this blog with pictures of before and after; links of useful sites and comments of things that I have learned.