One Project Completed and Another One Started

A couple of months ago I commissioned my husband to build me a bench to circle the Magnolia tree in front of the house.  With only bark mulch covering the area, the space felt too empty to me.  Although I already have several seating areas scattered around the garden, including two benches next to the front door, aesthetics seemed as good a reason as any other to add this feature.

Wide view of the completed bench under the Magnolia

The back portion of the bench faces a hedge along the house so I elected to use that portion as plant shelves.  The bench, constructed in six pieces, has two levels with the front being higher than the back.  It was originally three different levels but that looked funky so, to my husband's chagrin, I called for a last minute design change (even though he reminded me that the bench had been built to my personal specs).

Here's a closer look at the completed product:

Front of the bench

Side view showing the difference in level between the front and back portions

The pots I placed on the bench were selected based mainly on the color of the containers rather than the compatibility of the plants in the pots, most of which are succulents.  The pots are in shades of brown and green (as opposed to the prevailing blue colors used elsewhere in the garden).  I expect I'll be tweaking the collection as time goes on.

A close-up of the plant-shelf portion of the bench

The bench's tawny color stands out against the bark mulch and the tree's trunk at this point but it's made of redwood so it will fade over time to a more companionable silvery color.

With that project completed, the next one is already underway.  The remaining sod was stripped away by a landscaping service earlier today.  We are now entirely lawn-less!

Photos showing the main part of the backyard lawn area before and after the sod was removed 

Before and after shots of the front lawn area

Although this crew did a better job than the last one, plenty of sod netting and crabgrass roots were left behind, which I've already started pulling out on my own.  However, rather than spend two months digging up the soil to clear it of debris before adding more topsoil to raise the soil level, I think we're going to pay to get help there this time.  Then we'll face the task of laying more flagstone paths...


All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Remnants of the Past

The gardens associated with older homes have histories.  Established trees and shrubs may be the the most obvious remnants of prior owners.  In many cases, they're part of the curb appeal that attracts a buyer to a particular property.  That was certainly true of our current house - we drove by it when looking at homes in the area and I immediately felt pulled to it.  My husband took some convincing but, after touring many other houses over a couple of months, we eventually came back to this one.  That's not to say that I loved every feature and every plant - from the beginning, there were things I wanted to change about the garden - but I liked the foundation I was given.

When escrow closed and we moved in, one of the things that surprised me most was what prior owners had left behind in the garden.  Although this house is more than 60 years old, I didn't find any garden relics of the sort Loree of Danger Garden recently described (see her post on the subject here).   No old garden tools or interesting pots or evidence of decades-old plant purchases.  When I dig in the back yard, all I uncover are rocks, left over from the area's former incarnation as a rock quarry in the 1940s.  However, the prior owners did leave a number of yard and garden items, some useful, some not.

One very large artifact is this "snorkel spa."

This is basically a firewood-fueled hot tub.  We've used it a few times in the past 2 years but, overall, it's more trouble than its worth as I described in an earlier post.  Getting rid of it isn't so easy as it's big and heavy and there isn't a resale market for an item like this in our area.  My husband hopes to re-use the wood to build patio furniture (someday).  In the meantime, I use it to store outdoor cushions during rainstorms.

Another large, but more useful, item is the compost tumbler in the side yard.

Granted, it probably would be a pain in the neck to move something like this so I guess I understand the decision to leave it behind.  The maker's website says this model is designed for the "serious gardener."  It also claims that it can turn 18 bushels of garden debris into usable compost in as little as 2 weeks but I found that it takes several months even when I turn it a few times a week.  Still, I'm glad to have it.  The red and black item next to it that looks a little like one of Doctor Who's Daleks is a leaf shredder, also left behind by a prior owner.  It's rusted and doesn't work well so it may end up in the garbage soon.

A number of decorative items were left with the house as well.  Leaving the fountain is entirely understandable as I'm sure the cost of transporting it would be considerable.  The birds and I are very pleased to have it.

I was surprised to find two garden benches left by the front door, though.  (I added the cushions and pillows.)

Bench on the right side of the front door

Bench on the left side

And it doesn't seem as though this chiminea would have been that hard to move.

Hoses, a hose caddy, and a hose pot were also left behind.

As was a decorative rain chain.

And a small trellis I keep wondering why I haven't tossed every time I see it.

There are also some tiki torches, currently tucked behind the garage, and a number of drain pipes left over from someone's earlier irrigation project.

When we moved out of our old house, my husband insisted that we take EVERYTHING.  He said something to the effect that it wasn't right for me to leave my "old junk" behind for someone else to throw away.  I tried to leave this concrete pig, claiming the new owner's small children might like it, but even it went into the truck.

Concrete pig in vegetable garden, half-buried by mint (also left by the prior owner)

What would you leave behind in your garden if you moved?