Spring Yard Update

As usual this year, I've spent the last couple weekends out in the yard, clearing away the trash from the winter, planting the new stuff, and weeding like crazy. After a lot of rain - everything is doing great, and the yard is now ready for its annual spring post.

my little redbud tree getting bigger each year

1. Shrubs
So, when I first landscaped the yard 3 years ago, I set out to fill the yard with flowering shrubs that would bloom at different times of the year so that we would always have something in bloom, but not have to replant them every year.  This year all of the shrubs stayed alive through the winter - some even bloomed for the first time.

abelias have gotten huge

azaleas are finally blooming

mountain laurel being over the top

rhododendrons finally blooming and putting out new leaves

2. Perennials
As a Christmas gift two years ago, I received a gift certificate to Burpee (thanks again Bill!), a huge online plant store, which I used last fall to buy some perennials. I was not expecting much out of them, as the foliage pretty much died off as soon as I put them in the ground, but low and behold, they are all coming up and doing well so far. I don't exactly remember what they are - so it should be a fun surprise when they finally bloom, later this summer. At the same time, the few cheapie perennials that I bought on sale in the middle of the summer came back and are blooming already too. I was sure they were toast - but they're already doing great. I'm hoping for some awesomeness from these sections of the yard this summer.

yellow flowers were planted late last summer but doing great so far

mystery plants coming up between the pink ones

3. Annuals
So, my goal is to have almost no annuals, since they are the expensive part that you have to pay for every year- but I still bought a bunch. So far, they are all doing great and growing quickly. The kitchen garden is set up, but significantly smaller this year, in an attempt to keep a little control over what is usually pretty chaotic.

kitchen garden is tame for now

4. Solar Lights
In non-plant news, several years ago, we bought the cheapie solar lights to line the walkway. They quickly fogged over and stopped working. Last year, I tried to scrub the fog away, which worked briefly, until it didn't. So, this year I bought some new slightly nicer ones. Now we have a full set of working lights, which will hopefully last a couple more years.

new cheap solar lights will hopefully last a couple years

5. The Cement Patch
When the old brick stairs were removed, they left behind a patch of rubble under the new stairs. We had an old bag of cement just sitting in the garage, waiting to go bad, so I finally just grabbed a bucket, the hose, and a trowel, mixed it up and dumped it in. It's not perfect and could use another bag - but that seems pretty unlikely, so I'm calling this done for now.

patch of loose rubble under the stairs before...

no longer loose rubble after. 

So, that's the spring yard update. Other than some regular weeding and mowing, I'm pretty much going to let it do its thing, while we turn our efforts over to the little porch which needs some loving.