garden « mod remod

Archive for the ‘garden’ Category

patios for the holidays!

Monday, November 29th, 2010

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday. Ours was appropriately gravy-covered and cheerful. So now let’s get back to patios, shall we?

We decided a few weeks back that our partner in crime will be Jim Egan of Land Design Associates in Walpole, MA. He’s psyched to launch into a project with a modern sensibility and has the design chops to withstand our quirkiness. When we shared our patio vision with him, he almost immediately turned around and handed us four patio layouts as a place to start. Impressive. He really took my Andrea Cochran obsession and ran with it! Take a peek…

* click to biggify *

THREE BANDS

This layout features three bands of stone pavers divided by strips of grass. Rectangles of black Mexican beach pebbles and plantings bound the lawn side of the patio. The fish pond is about where we pictured it but a little smaller, with steps across it to the patio…

PAC MAN

In this layout, the patio breaks from a singular rectangle to include some functional areas — ex., our Phoenix Grill/firepit is the triangle on the left edge of the patio. Again, the pool is about where we pictured it. Strategic lines of plantings move you through the garden (a la Pac Man)…

THE ISLAND OF PATIO

Wow. There’s almost too much to look at in this layout to take it all in. How about I simplify things?

If we zoom in on the patio you can see that the pond wraps around two edges, with steps across the pond to the patio in two places. Essentially, the patio is an island. I so want to get stranded there…

CIRCLE UP!

Ooh, this layout has it all. Excitement. Drama. Curves to offset our linear house. Nice. So the rectangular patio is intercepted by a circle, the diameter of which is made up of plantings, pond and (at the far corner of the yard) a curved stone bench…

The center of the circle is lawn with a rill of water through it. Love that…

Man, a lot to choose from, right? David and I narrowed it to our favorites — the last two. We met with Jim and came up with a few tweaks. We hemmed. We hawed. Then we had to pull the trigger on one final choice last Wednesday. Can you guess which?

I’ll tell you in my next post. Jim and crew are outside setting the markers for the upper patio right now!

————————–

UPDATE: At least one of you knows how militantly anti-hedge I am. Don’t worry, I’ll not be budged into hedging. Screening, yes. Hedging, never. I thank Jim for his ideas, though. He knew not of my bias. :)

Tags: garden, hardscape, koi pond, modern
Posted in garden, projects | 2 Comments »

now leaving

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

My neighbor just told me he drags about 120 bags of leaves to the curb every fall.

Wish I could compost them all. *sadface*

Tags: garden
Posted in garden | No Comments »

granite it is!

Friday, November 19th, 2010

One huge step for mankind: we’ve chosen our patio material. WOO HOO! I know, I know — honestly, who cares? We deliberated over which kind of stone would work best for our ongoing patio drama. Bluestone, eliminated. Three granite samples, under review…

CALEDONIA GRANITE

Browns and greys, flecks of black. Appearance overall is a warm grey. Probably from Canadia. That’s right, I said Canadia. Humor me. The darkest of the options. Large flecks of … mica? You know, the shiny bits. The roughest, crunchiest grooviest of textures among the options. I like it. David’s least fave.

GREY GRANITE

Very light grey with flecks of black. Looks like the stuff every curb in New England is made of — may be called Chelmsford? From the U.S., probably quarried not too far from here. The lightest, most uniform and smoothest finish of the bunch. Classic. David’s favorite. Not as expected as bluestone but of the granites, it’s pretty familiar.

SANDY POINT GRANITE

Beige to tan with gold and grey flecks. Very warm, almost Mediterranean. Couldn’t find out where it’s from. Fairly porous. Not as smooth as grey granite, not as rough as Caledonia. We think it’s pretty but too yellowy for what will eventually be our grey house exterior and grey concrete retaining wall.

THE DECISION

In any other case, I’d likely say Caledonia. But in the interest of keeping things minimal and modern, I’m going to agree with David on this one and say basic grey granite will work fine for this project. Pairs well with the light concrete we already have in the backyard. And after all, the patio material shouldn’t be the star in this case, just a supporting character. Make that affordable supporting character.

Would just like to add that I never would have considered granite as a contender — am completely anti-granite when it comes to the inside of the house. Granite countertops? Blech. Oh the irony.

Next step: firming up the layout and pool details. And to play us out, Louis Jordan and his swingin’ band!

Tags: garden, hardscape, patio, stone
Posted in garden, projects | 2 Comments »

blam! crimsony goodness

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

Just had to share our Crimson Queen Japanese Maple at its peak of fall color. It’s a pow in the eye socket!

All hail the Crimson Queen!

Tags: garden, plants
Posted in garden | No Comments »

neverending patio story

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

Talk about dragging things out. November and we’re still talking patios! Here’s where we left off: on the fence about poured concrete, our ideal scenario, so we’ve been considering other options.

Our poured concrete layout looked like this (click to biggify)…

Finished, those concrete sections would have looked kinda like this (but running parallel to the house)…

by shades of green landscape architecture | houzz.com

Too bad that’s not gonna work out moneywise. Waah.

Option 1 : concrete pavers

So if poured concrete is out, what’s the next best thing? Concrete pavers? We looked into a few sources after eliminating Lowe’s and Home Depot. Stepstone, Inc. makes what I think are the best-looking concrete pavers by far…

narrow modular pavers | stepstoneinc.com

The October Dwell features an article on the remod of the mag founder’s first home. Lots of great images of Stepstone pavers on their back patio. Beautiful. They’re made in Cali. On the phone, their people were very helpful. Drawbacks: Several week lead-time. Shipping. Not cheap. And honestly, I’m still hooked on having pavers set into gravel or grass, in which case these wouldn’t work — they’re designed with a mortarless spacer system that requires them to be butted up against each other.

Looking for a concrete paver alternative closer to home, David came across Bolduc in Canada. We liked the look of Avenue…

avenue in a commercial application | bolduc.ca

Commercial rather than residential, which didn’t deter us. Cheaper than Stepstone. Comes in several shades of grey. The folks at Southridge Farm and Nursery in Walpole ordered some samples for us. They look like this…

They come in larger sizes. Good. Beveled edges. Icky. Overall, too, um, municipal looking? The top side of the dark option looks like poured asphalt. Not a look we’re going for. Shazam.

Option 2: stone

Okay, so if those pavers are out, what next? Stone? We automatically ruled out stone because it has to cost more. Doesn’t it? Turns out that bluestone or granite run about the same cost or even cheaper than the Bolduc pavers. Wow. Okay, so that sounds encouraging.

New layout options: squares

So what about layout now that the trapezoid look is a no-go? The square grid layout looks great but it’s a no for us, whether they’re set in pea gravel…

by daniel nolan design | houzz.com

or set in grass…

by huettil landscape archictecture | houzz.com

Squares are perfect when the architecture is boxy like that. Not so much for our situation. David and I don’t always agree about everything but we do agree that a long, linear layout goes better with our long, linear house. Strips set parallel to the house would lead the eye out toward the low pool at the end.

New layout options: rectangular strips

Imagine strips of stone set in pea gravel. Either uniform strips…

maisonry winery, yountville | remodelista.com

Or staggered strips…

by environmental concepts | houzz.com

I can also picture strips of stone set in grass…

by feldman architecture | houzz.com

from seattle dream gardens | sunset.com

Decisions, decisions. We’ll be working out patio configurations this week so that we can get this party started.

Pool options

Then there’s also the matter of the pool. David was set on an above-ground water feature so that people could sit on the edge. Something akin to this…

by carolyn chadwick | houzz.com

Not impossible to create such a thing but it’s a little more expensive. I’m not budging on my desire for steps across the pool to the patio, either way. Luckily, David is now open to an in-ground pond…

desert botanic garden pool by ten eyck landscape architects | teneyeckla.com

montcalm street by rossington architecture | houzz.com

The stones in the pond are kind of nice. Of course, both of those examples are concrete edge and not stone, so the look would probably be more like this…

blue mountain by phillips farveaag smallenberg | pfs.ca

Sounds like poured concrete may not be in the pond picture now. Pool liner? Oy. Our neverending story… everybody sing!

Want even more?

Reference previous patio and pool obsessiveness at total yard-on for hardscape.

Tags: concrete, garden, hardscape, koi pond, patio
Posted in garden, projects | 5 Comments »

don’t curb it!

Monday, November 1st, 2010

“Never again will we put our leaves out to the curb.” I swore it last year and I meant it. Adding fall leaves to the landfill is just plain wasteful. If your city composts them, great. But why give away free organic materials your garden needs? I’m composting my leaves from now on — to save money and for a more sustainable garden.

First of all, let me say that my urban garden has 11 oak trees and one spindly little dogwood. “Oak trees?!” you shriek in disbelief. “But the acid!” Oy. The idea that oak leaves will “burn” your plants or make your soil acidic is a myth. My leaves are going to compost over the next half a year or so and will break down into lovely dark brown organic matter that’s high in nutrients. Let’s move on, shall we?

Temperatures are dropping. So are my leaves. That means it’s time to rake…

And rake I do…

Only now every pile I make I then mow over using our new Fiskars Momentum reel mower. It works great to chop up the oak leaves into little bits, which will then make them break down much, much quicker. Obviously, whatever kind of mower you own will work just fine…

To get the leaves small enough, I run them over a few times, rake the pile together, then run them over again. I never even break a sweat…

The result: fall confetti!

I then pile it all, including grass clippings, into leaf bags — not destined for the curb. I have a spot at the top of our yard that’s unplanted but still needs to be cleared of weeds and undesirable overgrown shrubs. I’m talking about you, forsythia! So my leaf bits will become a brand-new compost pile in the next few weeks.

“Oh noes! Oak leaf bits on your lawn will kill the grass!” you say? No. Chopped up leaf bits will fall between the blades of grass and, if they don’t blow away during one of our Nor’easters, will break down and essentially compost where they fall…

Don’t worry, I’ve researched the life out of this. It’s actually good for your grass!

My ultimate goal is not to have to buy compost or even mulch in the seasons ahead. I’ve already begun collecting leaves from my neighbors’s yards as well — I figure why not throw in some maple leaves, right? There’s no such thing as too much compost!

One tip: if you try this yourself, which I hope you will, don’t forget to jump in the pile first!

More reading:

Composting Grass and Leaves Why is it better for your soil? Because “Pound for pound, the leaves of most trees contain twice the mineral content of manure.”

Composting Leaves How to whip up a no-sweat lasagna garden using fall leaves and have a new planting bed by next spring. Think of it as composting in place!

Fall Leaves Make a Great Natural Mulch Why buy mulch when it’s right there in your trees?

Lasagna Gardening More on the no-till, no-dig method of gardening.

How to Make Oak Leaf Compost Surprise! Oak leaves make excellent compost.

A Guide for Composting at Home Lots of great composting info here. Leaf composting is near the end of the article.

Making and Using Leaf Mold An alternative to composting your leaves — make leaf mold. It’s ridiculously easy. Bag it. Forget it. It turns to gardening gold in 6 months to a year! A good option if you don’t have room for a compost pile.

Tags: bookmarks, garden, green, sustainable
Posted in garden, green | 4 Comments »

not the last straw

Friday, October 29th, 2010

Yes, I’m still out back mulching the garden over for winter. The count: 36 bales of straw. Will 36 cover our urban back 40? nuh-uh. I’ll let you know the final tally. I’m sure this is completely fascinating to you. *eye roll*

Tags: garden
Posted in garden, green | No Comments »

making hay

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

Well, technically, not hay. Straw. I’ve been putting truckloads of the stuff on my garden beds in preparation for winter. Last year I used it to winterize my pots (at that point, all my plants were still pot-bound). It worked so well — and for so little money — I’m blanketing the entire garden with straw!

Straw is perfect to protect my new plants, keep weeds down and keep my 92 yards of new topsoil from meandering any further. It stops the water from rushing downhill. I need that.

Here’s a big seller: a bale costs just $5…

Once you trim the cords that bind it…

… it separates easily into sections like so. Each section is about 4″ to 5″ thick (that compresses over the winter)…

Then you can lay it out in rectangles or break it up, whichever you prefer. So now my beds look something like this…

Not exactly pretty but who cares? It’s organic! It’s for winter! The elements will darken it and break it down some before spring. If there are any errant weed seeds in the bales, the freezing temps kill them. And from what I’ve seen so far, straw is the ideal worm farm — the worms are mad for the stuff. Did I mention straw is considerably cheaper than the buckwheat hull mulch I get from Seven Arrows Farm? Love me some buckwheat hulls but I need to cut costs.

Laugh at me now but come next spring it will all be food for the soil and help keep the ground moist as temps rise again. My plants will be thrilled.

P.S. I may not be crazy. I’m not the only one pro-straw as mulch: read this or this or this article on Ruth Stout, the queen of straw bale vegetable gardening.

Tags: garden
Posted in garden, green | 1 Comment »

baby garden’s first fall

Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

Whoa. My baby’s growing up! Leave home for a week or so and things really change around here. Here’s a look at the first signs of autumn brilliance in our own backyard.

Our spindly little dogwood, which would probably look better if previous owners had planted it in a less shady spot, glows a lovely, warm red now…

My trio of Callicarpa bodinieri ‘Profusion Beautyberry’ are loaded with Barney-colored berries…

Just across the path, my new golden spruce, picea orientalis ‘skylands,’ really shines behind the dark euphorbia ‘blackbird’…

Just look at those crazy euphorbia. They stay a dark eggplant shade with hits of blue and chartreuse from spring through fall. I hope they make it through the winter…

Further up the hill I have another euphorbia, this one is ‘Bonfire’. It complements the other fall shades around the yard quite nicely, I think. Especially since I set it in front of sumacs and penesetums…

Speaking of which, the Rhus typhina ‘Tiger Eyes sumacs’ and ornamental grass border looks like it’s on fire…

That’s ricinis communis (castor bean) in the front there next to miscanthus sinensis ‘silberfeder’ (Japanese Silver Grass). ‘Tiger Eyes’ sumac are the fiery bits in back. The sumac colors are amazing…

The castor bean’s leaves and alien-looking seedpods are a nice complement…

Further back, my new Rhus aromatica ‘Gro Low sumacs’ are not only securing the slope but bursting with color. Someday they’ll mature into a real eye-catcher every fall…

My Japanese Forest Grass is finally starting to fill in and has taken on some nice fall color. These should look much more impressive next year — they’re not even half the size they should reach. Hakonechloa macra ‘Beni Kaze’ is is turning burgundy at the tips…

Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold’ is starting to go from chartreuse to brilliant gold, as the name promises…

And Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ is beginning to take on shades of purple and pink…

Last but hardly least, Panicum virgatum ‘Ruby Ribbons’ (Ruby Ribbons Switch Grass) has gone from seafoam blue and purple to a deep, deep red, which looks fab next to the sage-y green of the euphorbia myrsinites ‘donkey tail spurge’…

And to make fall all the more glorious, it’s 73 degrees out today! Wait… what the hell am I doing indoors?

Tags: garden, landscaping, plants
Posted in garden, plants | No Comments »

fall at denver botanic

Monday, October 25th, 2010

In Denver last week, our very first stop (after our favorite noshery) was Denver Botanic. This is high country, so you see a lot of drought-tolerant ornamental grasses, native plants and conifers here. I get great compositional ideas from DenBot.

As luck would have it, this time Henry Moore’s sculptures were on display. Take a look…