Just Add Water

Summer Garden

Summer garden has been a challange for me so far. We are in stage 3 water restrictions and it has been well over 100 degrees every day. Some of my plants are thriving such as my Vinca (Perrywinkle), Lantana, Climbing Roses and Zennias. I just about cried when I had to rip out my glorious Snapdragons. I put some inexpensive plants in those raised beds just to get through the heat of summer,  then I am going to till up the soil and plant some show stoppers again. Here are some pictures of my summer garden.

More Photos.....

Pictures...

Phases

The garden was started December 2010. First we removed all the large overgrown bushes. I started at the right of the house. I decided the best way to go was with raised beds. I started with 2 raised beds. We used natural wood landscape timbers to make two 8' x 8' and 8'x6' beds. I used paveing stones staggered and filled in with pea gravel to make and area to house potted plants. After that was phase 2. I created a walk way using the same paving stones filled in with pea gavel that led to both the driveway and the sidewalk. I added 2 more raised beds connected by a wooden cedar arbor. These beds are positioned at the front of the yard by the sidewalk. Looking at the house on the right is an 8'x8' bed and on the left a 16'x4' bed.  After that it was on to phase 3. I removed the rock garden filled with bushes and cacti that were on the left side of my house by the door and the kitchen window. In their place I added two more raised beds. Another 16'x4' and a 8'x8'. To date I have 6 raised bed gardens each with about 64 sq ft in them. Next step is phase 4 which involves replacing my existing mail box and doing a raised bed around it and the clean up my right entry gate and pave the whole area in front of it with paver stones. I also want to build a potting bench to keep under my covered front patio to story my gardening tool in. If it were up to me completely I would have no lawn and just gardens. But since I will someday sell this house, I figured it best to leave about half the lawn. I'm really not a big grass fan, I would much prefer to xeriscape the whole yard. Instead I will just enjoy the gardens I am able to put in.

Slideshow

http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc215/cw1054/?action=view&current=8c526510.pbw

The Foundation

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=5807+liberty+bell+st&sll=37.160317,-95.712891&sspn=29.883596,86.220703&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=5807+Liberty+Bell+St,+San+Antonio,+Bexar,+Texas+78233&ll=29.55068,-98.375737&spn=0,0.002631&z=19&layer=c&cbll=29.550733,-98.37555&panoid=ZgpLZSTbY3Bt7u9Ku11GGw&cbp=12,346.03,,0,2.71


When we bought the house it was just a normal yard. Grass, bushes and no trees. Boring. Boring. Boring.

Why a blog about gardening?

Growing up my mother always had the most beautiful gardens. I can remember clearly when we lived off Hunter Rd. in Gruene Tx, how tourists would walk up to our house just to compliment her yard. I was always so proud of her for this accomplishment, and thought someday I want to have the same thing. My father is also an amazing gardener. I would say he got this from his father's side of the family, although I hear his mother's mother alway kept a garden herself. There are plants that are in his possession that were planted 50 years ago or are at least cuttings from some ancient plant. I think this love for gardening is a blood thing.

There are many things I love about gardening. I love the way the dirt feels in your hand when you are planting new plants. I love the satisfaction of taking something small planting it, taking care of it and watching it turn into something really big and beautiful. I love the way the neighbors slow down when they drive past my house. I love to just be able to sit back and say "I created that."

I plan on using this blog to share with family, friends and fellow gardeners my garden. I am a newcomber to the world of gardening. You can learn what I learn as I learn it. My garden is a living experiment. To me gardening is very much a form of visual art. I hope you enjoy as I share my art with you.