Unintentional Assets
When planning yard work sometimes you have to evaluate what the previous owner left behind before you can move forward.  In our last house we scored big with a pile of granite blocks stacked up against the side of our house.  At first, we were a bit miffed that they didn't clean up after themselves as we had expected (they also had a dog who "used" the yard all winter and spring and they apparently felt no compulsion to pick that up either, so, in essence, we earned those blocks!) but then we found there were many uses for granite.  I used the blocks to edge a couple of gardens and with those left over we put in a "patio" where we  placed our outdoor table and chairs since we had no deck.

In our current home we were not the benefactors of granite, but there was an odd square patio by the sunroom made out of concrete pavers.  I'm not certain why they were there (I don't imagine they had a grill or other item on this makeshift patio), but once we picked them up I realized how lovely they would be as stepping stones in a gravel path especially as moss grows over them.

Above is a photo of just a section of the path from outside the sunroom.  Below you can see that it also wraps around a side garden (where the pavers used to be).  This area is heavily shaded but we planted a hosta, bleeding heart and cedar seedling (it was only 2 inches tall when I first brought it home from the woods) and I have room to add an astilbe or two.

The path was originally all asphalt and extended from the driveway, all around the back yard deck, and to the bulk head (I suspect there was a sale on asphalt when the house was built).  I wouldn't have thought to replace the asphalt until I envisioned the concrete pavers as stepping stones so it was lucky they were left behind.

Now we've discussed what you can do with stuff that is there, let's discuss what to do with stuff that isn't there.  The lack of privacy, fences, and grass can all be motivating factors in planning your yard.

For privacy, evergreen trees can be useful and also provide the benefits of a fence without the fence (two birds as it were).  We decided to close off the back yard fencing with real fencing as we had small children and a dog and didn't want to have to be on "high alert" all the time we spent outdoors.  Our dog has passed and our kids have grown, but I still like the fence as a mode of privacy and for creating an outdoor space that feels like a room.

Where the grass won't grow I've put in plants as discussed in earlier posts.  But I also started a memorial garden in the back where my dog spent a lot of time.  There is no grass in the area I've selected, so planning a garden there seems both functional and appropriate.  I'm taking my time moving shade tolerant plants to that section as I've planned to place my dog's ashes in the garden when it's completed and I'm in no hurry to part with them even though it's been a couple of years since he passed.  See below for heart tugging photo.

Get Thee to a Nursery
Yesterday I headed to the local nursery in hopes of bringing back a flat of pachysandra to put in the back yard under a tree where grass has given up all hope.  I wouldn't usually buy pachysandra as it can be invasive when left to it's own devices, but when I imagine the corner filled in with a sea of green I'm willing to chance it.  The nursery, as it turns out, will not have pachysandra for a couple of weeks, so I will have to return.  It's important to remember when buying plants you oftentimes have to wait until the correct season to buy the plant you are looking for (which is usually right before they bloom; in other words, don't go to the nursery to buy a fall blooming plant in the spring.)

While at the nursery I did spy a bright red bleeding heart in bloom.  The leaves were a beautiful shade of silver and the blossoms were so deep in color, they almost put my fringed bleeding heart to shame.  The price was $14.99 which I thought was expensive for a quart sized pot but I was still tempted.  But as tempted as I was to give in to its prettiness, I also remember that oftentimes the showiest plants aren't the most reliable.  Sometimes it's better to stay with reliable if low maintenance and/or frugality  is in your game plan.

Speaking of choices, there is something else to consider when planning your garden.  Sure, you can pull out the color wheel and plant according to complementary blooming colors (an orange next to a blue, a yellow next to a purple) but I never bothered and I think my garden looks nice.  Every spring I am loaded with purples (ajuga, grape hyacinth, creeping phlox, etc) and once it goes by, the sea of yellow will take over.  I have found that blooms in solid colors planted repeatedly in the yard have big impact when viewed from the sidewalk, across the street, etc.

As a aside to that, when I plant pansies as an annual to fill in around the perennials (sometimes pansies will winter over, sometimes not, so I always think of them as an annual) I select the "faceless" kind and I plant groups of the same color.  When a lot of multi-colored flowers are planted in a small space they don't seem to "pop", at least that's this gardener's opinion.

Photo Credits
You may have been wondering about the photos shown on my blog and whether or not they are from my own garden.  They are!  The photo above here is of the pagoda dogwood my friend "adopted".  The blossoms are really lovely and you can see that the "orphan" we adopted from the nursery that initially appeared as a dead twig in the fall just needed a little TLC.  The dogwood also produces berries once the blossoms have faded and gone by which provide food for your neighborhood birds.

Certified Wildlife Habitat
Which leads me to also mention that if you provide food, water, and shelter for your neighboring wildlife, you may want to proclaim it!  See http://www.nwf.org/Get-Outside/Outdoor-Activities/Garden-for-Wildlife/Create-a-Habitat.aspx on the details if interested.  Of course, you may have guessed that I have already certified my yard (I did it about 5 years ago after spotting someone else's certification in their yard and I loved the idea!).

A happy update to one of my February posts. One of my former coworkers (hopefully now friend) has relieved me of my leaning pagoda dogwood.  The roots were not extensive, so we were able to dig it up quite easily and she immediately planted it in her yard.  I reminded her to water it consistently when rain is scarce, but initially forgot to tell her a liquid root stimulator (found at most nurseries) would help to curb any transplant shock.  I remembered a couple of days later to tell her and now my conscience is clear (but I really hope it makes it!)

This Spring we expect the City's contractors to begin work on a combined sewer overflow project on our street.  We can see the trucks, front loaders, piles of sand and gravel headed our way from the adjacent street and I'm bracing myself for the noise and mess soon to follow.  I had planted our esplanade (the part between the sidewalk and street) with overflows from my perennial garden (like shasta daisies, coreopsis, iris, oenothera, and day lilies) as the grass died there as well.  Now I fully expect to come home from work one day to find it completely buried under sand, gravel, trucks, etc.  So, I am making a big effort to give away and move what I can.  My friend who adopted the dogwood, filled a pick up truck with plants, and I couldn't even see a dent in my esplanade garden!  Now I've begun actively soliciting my children's friends' parents.  I have found some takers, but it does mean finding plants pots and boxes to put the items in.

Since I have now run out of plant pots, I am resorting to empty paper coffee cups and yogurt containers (mostly for seedlings) and using copy paper box tops for the larger items that once pulled really need to be planted right away.  I may try to leave a few things planted, like the ajuga, and pray it comes back.  But I mostly suspect the City's contractors will demolish the area, then attempt to grow grass back once and forget about it once it doesn't take.  I just hope they are done by Fall so that I can replant with any "volunteers" that pop up over the summer.

Tools

Tools, like plants, don't have to be expensive or time consuming.  A few simple items are needed for basic care; long handled digging shovel, spade, pruning shears, pruning saw, rake, and, perhaps, sod lifter (for edging, and in Maine, breaking up driveway ice and lifting it out of the way).    Oftentimes the best tools can be found at a yard sale where the family is downsizing into some type of condo/town house and no longer need to maintain their landscape.  

Some things aren't, in my opinion, a good investment.  Items like a large watering can (a hose gives a much better soaking and deep watering is best, also empty milk jugs are free and easier to cart again), or fancy plastic buckets (I use empty cat litter containers, the plastic kind with a handle),or store-bought trellises (I have two clematis that need to climb, I use a broken side of a lobster trap found at the beach for one, and the old grill from the storm door for the other.  Other good trellises would be the side of a baby crib or an old wooden ladder (good for recycling and good for your wallet).  Also, don't waste your money on gardening design magazines unless you enjoy feeling poor and untalented.  You may get one or two practical ideas, but generally the designs are too large scale and can be intimidating to the everyday gardener (unless you indeed have deep pockets and an estate groundskeeper).

If you like practical advice and doable ideas, I've always enjoyed "People, Places, and Plants".  I don't usually subscribe to magazines, but on occasion have purchased a subscription and though it's not completely dedicated to plants (there are people and places as well, title doesn't lie) I haven't been able to recycle my old copies as I like to re-read them on occasion.