Grass Update

I feel like I am always working on the grass in the backyard. When we built the house we thought it would be nice to start out with a completely blank slate. No grass. No sprinkler system. Nothing but bare ground and a fence. I still think this was the right choice for us, but I am so tired of Bare Dirt.

We chose to plant buffalo grass in the backyard. It is perfect for our dry hot climate. The only problem is how slow it grows. So very very slow! This isn't a problem for the main part of the yard but, for the animals, it is not going to work. Tank can eat three or four heads of lettuce in one day. David bought 12 landscaper squares of fescue on June 1. Just enough to help with some of the dirt in the dog pen. Our wonderful nursery gave us 10 squares for free - They said they were just taking up space! I love our nursery!

David used my tiller and loosened up the dry, hard dirt and we started laying the grass.



About half of the dog pen will be this wonderful checker board pattern. I am hoping this will keep JD from digging as much. Plus I think it looks cool. I only had enough pavers to do this little bit but I will buy more soon.

This is the side yard for the dogs. The pavers will go up to the grass and then run down the fence line. The little shade structure will stay dirt. Hopefully it will give JD a place to dig without killing the grass.

This is Tank's yard (until the buffalo grass is established). All of his grass was free. I finished leveling the front part and layed a little more after this picture was taken. I don't know why I didn't take a picture of it finished.....

This was the buffalo grass on June 1st.

Our grass today (2 months after planting)! We actually mowed it last night! It is really starting to spread out. We have started walking on it but I will have to keep Tank off of it for a little longer.



I tilled, leveled, and removed rocks from the other side of the yard. It now has buffalo grass seed raked in and has started the four times a day watering. I just wish mother nature would water it for me a little more often!

15 May 2012

I have survived the clean up and it really isn't as bad as it looked. I lost a couple of tomato plants and a lot of my potato plants. After removing the broken limbs and raking the ground, only I can tell the difference.

The buffalo grass with the dog's foot prints.

After raking the yard- it looks so much better.

A close up of some of the grass.

My hubby bought me Foxglove for the front flower bed for Mother's Day. He always buys me a new plant for the garden on special days. I don't like cut flowers - they just die. I am afraid to plant it until I know if we are staying or going. It is sitting in the flower bed looking pretty, just waiting to find a home.

We got about an inch of rain over the last week. It was a very slow, cold, soft rain that would not go away. My garden has really taken off with the cooler weather. Some of the garlic and onions are wanting to flower and I do not know what to do with them. Should I cut them off or let them flower? Back to the books!

Garlic



Onions

Fire and Ice Radish

Southern Giant Curled Mustard Greens

Stowell's Evergreen Sweet Corn

Creole Collard Greens

Tendercrisp Celery

Mystery carrots- I first planted carrots in the large bed by the backdoor, but the wind destroyed the bed and after a month, nothing had come up. I planted the second group of onions in that bed and found a new place for carrots. Now I have little carrots popping up all over the onion bed!

The new carrot bed with really little carrot plants! Yes, those are dog foot prints.



Red Cored Chantenay Carrots

 

Big Top Carrots

Broccoli, cabbage, and spinach after the dogs played. I think most will make it. I need to harvest the spinach soon.

Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage

The potatoes, after the dogs. They are starting to perk up.

Spaghetti Squash with my first bloom!



Mr. Stripey Tomatoes

My first tomato flowers!

And my beautiful peach tree.

A Walk Around the Garden - 24 April 2012

Tonight I did a walk through my yard and I actually had plants to look at. It was wonderful!



My Asparagus that I moved from our last house. I was so happy when they came back this year.

This little guy showed up in the front flower bed this week. I do not know how it made it to the but it was a welcomed surprise! I don't know if I will move it to the backyard Asparagus bed or just let it stay where it is.

Cabbage, Spinach, and Broccoli

Yukon Gold Potatoes - It is already time for me to add more soil and compost around the plants. I am just unsure about how to do it. Do I need to bury the leaves?

Eggplant

Spaghetti Squash

Swiss Chard

Onion Bed #1

Onion Bed #2

Tomato - They are growing so fast.

Tam Jalapeno - It should be a mild hot pepper.

Part of my Salad Mix.  



More Lettuce.

My Garlic - I have three different varieties planted. Elephant Garlic, Early Pioneer, and a mystery garlic that I bought at the farmers market.

Now for my favorite new plant - Buffalo Grass! Yes. That is right. I have grass in my backyard. I know it is hard to see but, if you look really hard at the picture below, you will find two plants. And you can see a close up of my terrible dirt after I added a lot of compost. I will feel better when it is covered with grass.

Two baby buffalo grass plants! Today was just day 6 after planting the seeds and the normal germination period is 10 - 14 days. So by this time next week I should be able to find a lot more!

I have really enjoyed tracking the progress of my yard. I looked back at some older pictures and can really see the improvements we have made. I can not wait to see how it looks in a few more months.

17 April 2012

It seems like every time I finish one project, I start two more. I decided today that it was time to plant our grass in the backyard. I chose to plant Buffalo Grass since it is native, drought tolerant, and stays about 6 inches tall without mowing it every week. All of that is great, but the main reason I planted Buffalo Grass is for Tank. Tank is my 75 pound tortoise who mows my back yard and keeps me company when I garden. I have had him for about 8 years and can not picture my yard without him. 

This is an older picture. He was about 55 lbs at this time.

So I started to till and level the east side of the back yard. I only finished a spot 12' x 20'. It took a while to remove all the rocks, roots, and trash from the soil. I could not believe all the trash that was buried in our yard. After broadcasting the seeds, raking them in, and spreading a thin layer of compost over the area - I built a little fence. I did not want to hear Dallas saying "I forgot" when I caught him on the new grass. He is the King of "I forgot." 

East side of the yard.

 The front flower bed is now covered in two inches of cotton burr compost. I ran out of compost with only 4 square feet to go. At least it is behind the bird bath and my garlic! Next I need to finish the path. Maybe next week.

 I went home for Easter and brought back a huge, over crowded pot of Aloe. I dumped the Aloe out on the porch and started potting it. It was all plant and very little dirt. It took a couple of hours to finish but I ended up with more Aloe than I planned. Two large pots will be put into the cactus/rock garden for the summer and I guess all the others will find new homes.

I am really wondering if I will be able to sit back and enjoy my garden anytime soon.