The Gardens

I took so many pics of my gardens this past weekend that I will split them into two days. Here, I am leaving the upper garden to walk down to check on the guest house project. This is the view as I pass through the upper gate.

I step on a stepping stone to cross over the rushing water as it flows from the upper pond into the creek.

The first room on the left is where the new gazebo stands.  We are just about to mulch this whole area.

After walking down the side of the mountain I arrive on my patio and step onto the porch.  This pic is blurry but you get the idea.  We will be putting a slate floor down on top of the cement one hopefully by Fall.  We are also adding an outdoor TV for football watching!

I took this pic over the edge of the porch.  This driveway will be poured on Tuesday and then the gates and railings will be ordered.

Here are the new concrete stairs that run up to the garden gate.

The new pergola is almost completed.

Many of the patio stones have been replaced and the patio has been enlarged.

The patio is about 8 feet wider now.

Though this area is still under construction, you can see the patio and the location of the new outdoor sink.  The french doors lead to the dining room.  Once the work is completed, the whole outside will be painted and I am very excited for the change.  I think it will be fabulous.  We are having a horrible problem with carpenter bees and the only way to handle them is to paint all of the wood.  They will not bore into painted wood.

A gnome and his toads greet those who enter.

I'm still waiting for the counter tops and the plumber. The plumber has to attach the faucet and move my hose line.

This is the pergola area over the kitchen door. We are having new lighting installed all along the pergola.

I planted ajuga along the house and hopefully this will eventually spread between the pavers.

This is my new privacy fence. It is almost 10 feet tall.  Either this Fall or early Spring, I will be planting this entire area.

It was built to match the screen that covers the A/C condenser.

This is a very sadly neglected area of my lower garden.  It was meant to be an orchard but as trees grew, it became too shady. I recently trimmed all of the box woods and dug out the dead ones.  I am trying to revitalize them. I'm thinking of creating seating areas off to the sides of the path for guests to relax and chat when I entertain.

Just off of the terraced area of the garden are two Katsura trees.  These trees smell like cotton candy twice a day.  People that aren't familiar with them always ask if I am making caramel when they walk by them.

The lower pond is just beyond the Katsuras. We will be getting fish very soon.

We just painted some old urns and planted them with peewee hydrangeas and hanuke grass.  They should be stunning when they fill in.

My mason created a low dry stone wall using the small boulders he removed to enlarge the patio.  I have a lot of planting to do in this area too.

More pics tomorrow!