Friday, May 14, 2010

Go On Girl

I've been trying to get back to working on the house, so I ran what little trim I had left of the clerestory windows. I have SO got to finish the exterior. I'm going to try to get the corner boards put up this weekend and at least run the siding down on this end. I ran out of trim for the other two windows and will have to order more.

I have been reserving afternoons for gardening. My strawberries produced better this year but they are still not doing great. My tomatoes seem to be doing really well so far though.
The gravel is referred to as 89-10. It is a very fine crushed limestone, you can get it in grey or light brown, and when it gets wet it compacts very hard. It's great for walks and such. I did put a weed barrier down underneath, as you can see, just for the heck of it. We had some extra from work but it was not enough to finish this path after I filled in a few potholes in the drive so I guess I'll just order a small load and have it delivered to the house.

My plan is to run this gravel walkway all around the perimeter of the garden, having fruiting plants on the outside edge and the veggies on the inside. I just put in 2 blueberry bushes there on the near left.

Does anyone know what this plant is? I have this one growing near he house and it seems to be the only one around. And this one flower seems to be the only on the bush. It's very pretty.

So, I hope to have much progress made over the weekend and be able to show ya'll something new. I know it's been a while since I have posted much on the house and ya'll are probably tired of my ramblings and other psycho babble.

15 comments:

Pablo said...

I always like posts on the progress of the house. I have no clue about the plant.

Anonymous said...

I enjoy watching skilled craftsmanship (craftswomanship?) at work and the glimpses we get of how you think, so keep it up as you can.
YeOldFurt

Anonymous said...

I think the plant is viburnum acerifolium (mapleleaf viburnum). Still enjoying your blog- and watching the progress on the house and garden.
Grace

R.Powers said...

Allright! Blueberries! Garden looks great. How do you like that small tiller in the photo?

MamaHen said...

Hey Pablo! well, I like to do ones on the house if I have something interesting but sometimes I think some of the stuff is pretty boring. I mean, do ya'll really want to see me caulk siding?

Hey Furt! thanks! heh, I'm sure the glimpses of how I think are pretty funny sometimes. :p

Hey Grace! thank you! and I'm glad you still enjoy the blog.

Hey FC! yea! I think I may add one more blueberry.
I do like the tiller. It's a little TroyBuilt. My soil had been tilled the past 2 or 3 years with a rear-tine and it is very sandy, so the soil is already pretty loose. I just needed something to till in amendments basically and this one does pretty good. Now, if the ground had never been broke or was harder, forget about it! I would say it is strictly for soil already broke up but does work great to blend soil and loosen.

pamit said...

That viburnum's a nice native to have on your property, good food for birds when the purple berries come. Thanks for the pic, Annie! I miss Alabama. --Pam in CO

HermitJim said...

The garden and the plants look great! I too, enjoy the updates on the goings on around the house!

I like the way you present things!

Rich said...

If you aren't satisfied with how your strawberries are growing, you might try finding a pine tree and raking up the pine straw to mulch your strawberries.

I always had trouble getting strawberry plants to last more than a couple of years and/or actually getting any strawberries until I started using pine straw. Pine straw mulch is supposed to have a beneficial effect on the strawberry plants (it acts as a fungicide or something). As an added plus, the pine straw seems to last alot longer than something like wheat straw.

Results may vary (I'm not a certified Strawberriologist).

Hayley said...

Your garden looks great!

Jenn said...

I had a viburnum trilobum that had fantastic fall color.

Kathy said...

Your garden path is going to be so beautiful. I enjoy even what you consider boring blogging. I am on my own also and get lonely so I often click to see if you have written anything. Love it when you do.

MamaHen said...

Hey Pam! I hope I have some more of them but I haven't seen any.

Hey Jim! thanks, I appreciate that.

Hey Rich! good to hear from you again. I've been thinking maybe the pine straw was something I needed to switch to. I've seen other people use it and wondered if there was a reason. I'll be getting me some!

Hey Hayley! thanks!

Hey Jenn! well, I'll be watching this one come fall to see what it does.

Hey Kathy! thanks! yeah, I know what you mean; it helps to get comments from others too!

Beau said...

Yeah, viburnum is great to have around and for he wildlife. We don't have that variety at least native, but I may have to get one!

Rusty said...

Yes, I was thinking of some species of viburnum whe I first saw it - cant place the exact type though. That garden of yours is going to be great.

MamaHen said...

Hey Beau and Rusty! well, I'm going to have to do a little research on this plant. I had no idea what it was! And clear out around it so I can make sure to not chop it down.