Backyard Embellishments

The landscaper is done with our backyard! The skid steer sitting in the yard was the last remnant, and now it’s gone, too. All that’s left is a beautiful retaining wall, gorgeous cut-stone steps, a new swing set, a weed-free patio, a covered fire pit, and lots and lots of space to grow lots and lots of plants. How exciting when a big project nears completion!

The Garden Bustle

So much is happening in the garden that I don’t even know where to start! Our landscape crew from Lighthouse Landscape Designs arrived with the excavator and Bobcat and began the grading process in the backyard. They laid the gravel base for the retaining wall and expect to begin setting the wall in the next day or two.

Planting My Paradise

When I got home last evening, I decided to fill my patio planters even though I can’t put them on the new patio until the final coat of sealant is applied. I went ahead and planted a few of them in the ground, too.

Backyard Bees

I visited a friend’s house today for a little garden tour and a lunch date. I love to see other people’s gardens and find out what they have going on.

Wisteria Frenzy

Photo by Rick Gush The cascading purple wisteria reigns here in Italy. It’s full-blown spring now in Italy, and things are blooming like crazy. I helped my friend use a weed eater on his olive groves this week, and though I cut down a lot of grass, I mostly mowed down fields of full blooming […]

Trying Onion Seedlings

And so the work continues here. I’ll post some new pics next week of how the new patio is progressing. It will be a few more weeks until the grading work and retaining walls are done. In the meantime, it’s a big muddy mess out there, but it sure is fun to watch the progress happening.

Working with Tools

Photo by Rick Gush This week, I got to try out my new curved surform—a tool to create pieces for my Adirondack chairs. I’ve got several projects going at the moment: building a pair of Adirondack chairs, starting spring garden work and prepping my next art project. All of these activities require excessive and repeated tool […]

Time to Transplant

I finally got around to transplanting all the seedlings growing on my new grow-light stand. They look so great!

Protect Your Garden Against Wildlife

Courtesy Hemera/Thinkstock Use wire mesh to keep wild rabbits from enjoying a lunch from your garden. As you begin to salivate over the luscious tomatoes and crispy peppers you’ll soon have growing in your garden, think about how you can get the fruits of your labor to the dinner table unblemished. While starting plants from seed […]

First ’Maters

Finally! I put the first tomato plants in the ground yesterday. By my calculations, I’m about a month behind my usual planting schedule.