More Plants for the Backyard

The landscaper arrived with some of the trees for the yard- they are the two Kousa Dogwoods that go in each corner behind the patio/pavilion.

We also have a cute bird residing in the birdhouse hanging on the fence!

With those trees planted (and a few other small bushes), the landscaper said we are at the top of the estimate he had given us- there had been more stonework/steps than he had originally anticipated.  

This was a bit disappointing- so much empty space that we thought would be filled with plants! But we decided that we can do the rest of the plantings ourselves and headed over to the garden center.

Spirea Bushes filled the back of the car!

We got herbs to make an herb garden inside the circle of boxwoods:

Spearmint, Italian Parsley, Foxley Thyme, Sweet Marjoram, Upright (pink flower) Rosemary, Berggarten Variegated Sage, Raspberry Dressing Rumex, Lemon Thyme, and Basil. 

Some additional plants that we picked up are:

10 Double Play Pink Spirea Bushes, 5 Japanese Andromeda bushes, Pincushion Flower, Garden Phlox, Digitalis, Astilbe, Balloon Flower, Blue Mirror Delphinium, Balmy Lilac Bee Balm, Pachysandra, and Variegated Weigela.

Other plants that we moved from other parts of the yard were Hostas, Lily of theValley, Coreopsis, Climbing Hydrangea, Azalea, Peonies, Lavender Bushes (some of these might not make it- they were a bit bedraggled).  There are a few others from our other gardens that we moved but can't remember the names of!

Next step is the landscaper bringing in a lot of mulch!

Plants!

Right after we picked up the pedestal, a truck with plants arrived!

60 boxwoods!!!!

Our requirement on the boxwoods was that we didn't want the ones that smell like cat pee!

The landscaper suggested that we also need ones that are small and don't require too much trimming.

Here is the final selection:

Can't wait to see them placed & planted!

Garden Focal Point

It was a gloomy Sunday and the kids' sports events were cancelled due to thunderstorms, so we decided to take a ride to a garden center that has statues, fountains, and things like that for the garden.

We decided that we want a sundial to go in the middle of the brick, and have a few favorites picked out online.  We will need a pedestal to place it on.

After looking at a bunch, we selected this one for it's size & style (we needed something that would somewhat go with the colonial house!)

This photo also reminded me that I forgot to mention the big debate when moving the privacy fence... 

Due to the slope of the land, the privacy would need to be stepped down (even with the fill that the landscaper was going to be adding).  

The fence guys wanted to start to the right of the gate, then have it step down three times in sections of two panels each time.

Thank goodness Mike called me out to discuss! 

We decided we wanted three panels to be level with the three to the left of the gate.  Since the pavilion will eventually be centered there, we want the same number of panels level on each side of the gate.  That then left 4 panels that could be stepped down at the back end of the fence... two steps down, two panels each time.

I'm happy with the decision!  

But now back to the pedestal!

We're happy with the size, and now feel comfortable ordering the sundial for the top.

I'm not quite sure how we're going to finish around the bottom of it.

Here's the view looking from the house back to the well house...

And yes, we're still waiting on the roofer to show up.  I get worried about it leaking with every rain storm, but the tarp is holding tight so far. 

New Fence!

While all of the pathway stone & brick work was being completed, we were busy picking out our new fence for the inside of the yard (to replace the white picket fence that runs along the driveway).

We picked a square picket that goes with the Colonial style of the house.  Of course, the one we picked had to be custom made, so it took a while to get it.

They arrived on a Friday and installed most of it...

We LOVE it!  

Here's a shot of the corner post with the cap in place:

I was really impressed with the fence company's attention to detail... look at how they even cut the length of the pickets on an angle! They answered a ton of questions we had about putting in the gates, and gave us a selection of gate pulls to choose from.  

The fence guys will be back in a week to do the gates and the last panels of pickets in the back (we still need to be able to get the tractors in there for moving dirt right now).

Patio Started

They have finished the stone wall and put in the gravel for the patio!  I ran upstairs to get a photo looking down at it all... excuse the shot through the window screen!

The wheelbarrows and boards are covering up the holes for the footings (for the pavilion).

We hit a bit of a standstill for about a week after this because we were still waiting on permits for building the pavilion and the inspector had to come to approve the footing holes before the concrete could be poured.  

It figures that the following days were very rainy, and our poor landscaper had to run over each day and use a sump pump to make sure the footing holes stayed dry & the cardboard holding the holes didn't collapse in.  Happily, everything passed inspection and we're moving right along again!

Brick Work & Stone Wall Progress

I absolutely LOVE the way the brick came out!

Now we just have to order the sundial and pedestal so that the middle can be finished.

The stone wall is almost completed- the left side is done...

And dirt is starting to be moved around to level out the garden areas now...

 Here is the view from the driveway entrance... you can see the right side of the wall still needs to be finished up.

The view from the Well House...

Brick Work

We went back & forth for a few days about the circle where the paths met, and our garden feature/sun dial was going to be placed.  Should we have the blue stone of the pathways continue through the circle, or make it stand out with some brickwork?

We decided to do a herringbone pattern of brick, with a boarder around it...

Pathway Progress

The stone work moved along nicely...

We realized that we need another of the stepping blocks to put to go into the Well House... that had to be ordered.

Blue Stone Walkways

Another day and a lot of progress was made!  These photos were taken March 28th- we were happy that the threat of snow seemed to be gone and things were moving right along!

More stone was delivered...

Progress is also being made on the stone wall that will be in front of the pavilion...

Heading down the Garden Path

As I was leaving for work the next morning, the landscapers were arriving to mark out the pathways.  A big truck was also parked on the side of the road to deliver the stone for the steps!

When I got home from work, the stone was unloaded and it was exciting to see that a lot of the gravel was in place for the pathways...

We still have the old fence up so the dog can still run free.  Soon we're going to have to start walking him on the leash until the new fence is in place.

Stumped

Day 1 of the landscapers' work... they dropped off a tractor to get the big stump out of the backyard from the tree we cut down.

We now get to move on to getting the walkways put in!