Well, here goes nothing. Unfortunately, in past few years we unknowingly planted evergreen shrubs (Dwarf Alberta Spruce) in a drainage area on our property. At first, I thought a lot of water would be great for these bushes even if they didn't need much water. This is Colorado after all, and too much water isn't exactly a common problem here. This area though, is like a swimming pool underground when it rains or it snows. Literally, the grass has looked like a water bed in the past after a heavy rain. The problem is enhanced since the soil is full of clay. The water just sits in this area because the clay won't absorb it.
So, I came up with my own solution since we're determined to grow these shrubs along our driveway. Call it container gardening or specimens in the ground. Thanks to Josh, I bought a bunch of rubber feed buckets at Big R outside of Falcon. These containers have no holes in them and were put in the ground to keep the water out. I then filled the bottom and sides of the feed bucket with pea gravel for drainage and to hold the assembly together. Then, I placed the shrubs in their original containers (with holes) in the feed bucket. My goal is to control the amount of moisture getting to the tree. The best part about the system is that both containers are completely removable. Since the ground is full of clay, I can pull the rubber feed buckets out whenever I want and the hole will stay there perfectly. I can even pull the trees out of the rubber buckets (should too much water get in) and let them dry out. Over time, if this works, we can continually up size the containers until the trees reach maturity. I'd like to keep them small, so I may just wait and see and not up the planter size until they show signs of stress.
As you can see in one of the pictures, one of the original trees survived (it's in a different section). Think this will work? I do. This will also allow me to water the grass appropriately without drowning the trees. Christmas lights here we come.
Out of the blue this morning Julia told Stacey that "Dadda's got big muscles." About five minutes later she asked, "Momma, where are your muscles?"
On the patio the other day...Julia: Oh no Dadda! Ants! They are going to get me! I don't like ants.Dadda: It's OK, I'll make them go bye-bye with some ant poison.Julia: Ahhh! Ants are on the patio and they are going to get me!Dadda: (puts poison on ground, gets rid of ants on patio). See, it's OK.Julia: They aren't going to get me?Dadda: No, I killed them with poison. I made them go bye-bye.Julia: (slight pause) They went bye-bye to see their families?Dadda: Umm, yeah, their families in "the sky".Julia: No no no Dadda, down! Ants in the ground!Dadda: Yes, well, I guess that's right too.
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Last SummerBackyard Project, Day 0
The backyard is finally complete! Despite still fighting the aftereffects of a bug I caught, Matt and I tilled the soil, rolled it, and installed the sod today. This was the last step in the project that took about two months to complete (weekend warriors). It was a lot of work but we stayed on schedule (can't get much closer to mid-May then this) and it's now done.
As I've told many people, now is the time to look at the grass and take pictures because it's the best it'll ever look! Obviously, we'll have to stay off the sod for a few weeks until it takes root. Although our neighbors, like we, were planning on doing their backyard this spring months ago, we've inspired them to lay a patio instead of a cement slab. I'm sure I'll be able to take a picture and show off their hard work too.
Not much else remains. We'll pick up the patio furniture on Tuesday, add a stand-alone fire pit in the coming weeks, and plant some flowers in a few pots. Iced Tea anyone? Thanks Matty. Next up, baby #2.
The sod was delivered today...tomorrow we'll put it in the backyard and call the project complete! I'll be sure to take a few pictures for everyone. Of course, we still have flowers, furniture, etc to buy, but the work will be done! That stuff is just fun and can be done whenever...
The past few weeks Stacey has had a few ultrasounds. Julia was at a few of them - and apparently picked up some pointers. She doesn't like the sound of the heartbeat on the machine, yet she imitates the sound when she listens to the heartbeat with the red cup. Her necklace doubles as a stethoscope, while her blankey a towel used to keep jelly/wipe it off of Mommy's tummy. According to Julia, she has to check up on Stacey so that baby brother grows big and healthy before he comes out. Stacey's old makeup brushes and case make great instruments. I'm not paying for medical school.
...of summer are almost here. Quincey is getting a head start.
