Yard maintenance - Show us your yard/garden

[Atom#28]

Then we built a new home. The yard was huge and hard to tame. I made a small vegetable garden:

 

[Forsoothe!]

This yard was a vacant lot when I moved in. Planted 75 arbor vitae and a bunch of landscaping plantings. Then I dug a 3,500 gallon koi pond with a shovel one summer. Then we moved to the other side of town. I miss my pond.
I did all my own maintenance:
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Spectacular, and the amount of work involved must make you dream about returning?

 

[Cadillactaste]

Thank you! Chi Chi is undergoing a transition to a smaller size. Actually for many years since ~2003.
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Next spring I expect it to be pretty nice. I have a 'Chase Manhattan' too, which is just coming into its own, but no pictures.

Ahhh thanks so much for sharing! Wow...it's came a long way. You did amazing with it. Those Chase Manhatten's...Is that the species that Brian mentioned grew really at a slow pace?

 

[Atom#28]

Spectacular, and the amount of work involved must make you dream about returning?

Thank you! It makes my hands ache just thinking about all that digging! We loved that yard so much, but the neighborhood wasn't great... Hardest part was leaving my beloved koi behind

 

[Tentakelaertje]

My lil bonsai nook a couple of months ago. I swear I took a pic of the rest of the garden, but imagine a student house garden with a huge 8ft tall jungle filled to the brim with wild blackberries, nettles and also dinner chairs for some reason. Will take a pic on Monday, it's pretty epic

 

[Cadillactaste]

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My lil bonsai nook a couple of months ago. I swear I took a pic of the rest of the garden, but imagine a student house garden with a huge 8ft tall jungle filled to the brim with wild blackberries, nettles and also dinner chairs for some reason. Will take a pic on Monday, it's pretty epic

I'm sorry... I'm sort of distracted by the penis on the wall. I had to say it. Visual art...I mean I get it. Sort of. A good many in your collection.

 

[Dav4]

This is my little slice of heaven, and for good or for bad, I am the only landscaper and mower the yard has seen in over a decade. It’s a large lot, almost 2 acres, of which over 2/3 is wooded. The property is very private, and the backyard is all woods and fenced in which is fantastic for large dogs, but trying to grow bonsai and veggies is in conflict with nature… Disease and pestilence are abundant and the indigenous flora include numerous thorned vines or caning shrubs that grow year round and actively try to trip me every time I leave the pathway. The soil here is thin and rocky and It’s also very steep which makes gardening on it dicey at best... I’m not lying when I tell you my kids could slide down the front yard lawn in June on pieces of cardboard, and I’ve slipped more than a couple of times while mowing .

 

[BackyardBonsai]

This yard was a vacant lot when I moved in. Planted 75 arbor vitae and a bunch of landscaping plantings. Then I dug a 3,500 gallon koi pond with a shovel one summer. Then we moved to the other side of town. I miss my pond.
I did all my own maintenance:
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One heck of a project you got there. All that sweat and tears for someone else to enjoy. I probably will not do anything that elaborate if there is a chance I have to move. Very nice pond! I feel your pain.

 

[BackyardBonsai]

This is my little slice of heaven, and for good or for bad, I am the only landscaper and mower the yard has seen in over a decade. It’s a large lot, almost 2 acres, of which over 2/3 is wooded. The property is very private, and the backyard is all woods and fenced in which is fantastic for large dogs, but trying to grow bonsai and veggies is in conflict with nature… Disease and pestilence are abundant and the indigenous flora include numerous thorned vines or caning shrubs that grow year round and actively try to trip me every time I leave the pathway. The soil here is thin and rocky and It’s also very steep which makes gardening on it dicey at best... I’m not lying when I tell you my kids could slide down the front yard lawn in June on pieces of cardboard, and I’ve slipped more than a couple of times while mowing .

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I would probably be very nervous driving up to your place when it rain or icy. Just thinking about sliding down with no way to stop in a vehicle already give me chill.

 

[Adair M]

I would probably be very nervous driving up to your place when it rain or icy. Just thinking about sliding down with no way to stop in a vehicle already give me chill.

Oh, no worries! Dave has a winch he can attach to your bumper to pull you out.

Ask me how I know...

(Dave’s “slice of heaven” is a vertical slice!)

 

[Dav4]

I would probably be very nervous driving up to your place when it rain or icy. Just thinking about sliding down with no way to stop in a vehicle already give me chill.

I grew up in eastern MA just southwest of Boston on a similarly graded lot with a driveway just as steep but a lot shorter then the one I currently have in GA... my reflexes were forged over 25 years driving on the roads with some of the world's most aggressive drivers and crappiest weather back when winter was WINTER... fear not!!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1221111117906310

 

[Forsoothe!]

Ahhh thanks so much for sharing! Wow...it's came a long way. You did amazing with it. Those Chase Manhatten's...Is that the species that Brian mentioned grew really at a slow pace?

Thank you again! 'Chase Manhattan' is a dwarf that has a tiny leaf and short internodes, but still retains that very upright habit. 'Chi Chi' is dwarf, too, but the term is overused and all Ginkgo have that hateful very upright habit that is hard to overcome with anything other than cutting back hard every year.

 

[substratum]

We hire it out. Twice a month the yard guy does the front and back yards, and everything that’s not pasture. Maybe five times a year (depends upon rainfall and temperatures), a neighbor with a tractor mows the front and back pastures, and two paddocks. When we had horses, we never had to mow pastures, but they are expensive yard ornaments if you’re not going to ride regularly. We have a weekly pool guy, too. I have two garden beds that I manage.

With our two children off at college, we are doing intensive upgrading and remodeling to sell this place. It was a great place to raise & homeschool our kids, but now it’s time to have less land (unless it’s just woods). The house size is fine, but the rest is too much, and mostly not used.

 

[vp999]

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Wow !!!! I would be happy to pay to visit your garden ...Its like a bonsai museum !!!! Thanks for sharing and this is such a treat for me. I am half your age so this will give me motivation to work on mine. Thank you.

 

[vp999]

One heck of a project you got there. All that sweat and tears for someone else to enjoy. I probably will not do anything that elaborate if there is a chance I have to move. Very nice pond! I feel your pain.

I agree with you, I always want a Koi pond and a nice garden but I don't think I want to stay where I am that long to justify all the work and money.

 

[henrykiser]

I'm 76 and a Mater Gardener for 40 years, so my city lot is packed to the gills with special things. My philosophy is to see no soil. Ground covers with Hosta, Lilies, Phlox, Columbine, Roses, Azalea, Boxwood, and about 40 special trees including 11 Japanese Maple a 9 Dogwood varieties interspersed. View attachment 280189View attachment 280190View attachment 280191View attachment 280192View attachment 280193View attachment 280194View attachment 280195View attachment 280196View attachment 280197View attachment 280199

What a beautiful landscape. I'm inspired to dig in and keep working on ours! Is that pretty sprawling shrub by the road sumac? I love the leaves...

 

[leatherback]

Nice garden.
Which beech species is this?

@Forsoothe! do you know?

 

[Tentakelaertje]

I'm sorry... I'm sort of distracted by the penis on the wall. I had to say it. Visual art...I mean I get it. Sort of. A good many in your collection.

Ah yeah that one haha. That's the 'art' of one of the ex roommates, far before I moved in. These graffities are around 5 to 10 years old, this house has been a student house for well over 50 years
We have some photos of the house and old roommates from around 2000 even, apart from the graffiti, the kitchen interior and a couple of floors it hasn't changed one bit

 

[Cadillactaste]

Ah yeah that one haha. That's the 'art' of one of the ex roommates, far before I moved in. These graffities are around 5 to 10 years old, this house has been a student house for well over 50 years
We have some photos of the house and old roommates from around 2000 even, apart from the graffiti, the kitchen interior and a couple of floors it hasn't changed one bit

I figured there was a story. I just kept thinking. I just am going to say it and move on. Like the elephant in the room.

 

[vp999]

This is my little slice of heaven, and for good or for bad, I am the only landscaper and mower the yard has seen in over a decade. It’s a large lot, almost 2 acres, of which over 2/3 is wooded. The property is very private, and the backyard is all woods and fenced in which is fantastic for large dogs, but trying to grow bonsai and veggies is in conflict with nature… Disease and pestilence are abundant and the indigenous flora include numerous thorned vines or caning shrubs that grow year round and actively try to trip me every time I leave the pathway. The soil here is thin and rocky and It’s also very steep which makes gardening on it dicey at best... I’m not lying when I tell you my kids could slide down the front yard lawn in June on pieces of cardboard, and I’ve slipped more than a couple of times while mowing .

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How do you play basketball on that slope??? You better not miss because it would take half an hr to retrieve a rolling ball lol.