The 2013 gardening and landscaping adventure

In the Bronx, Leighton and my Mom did some container gardening - a couple pots of flowers, one of carrots, and one of beans.

Last spring, we did more containers of veggies (habaneros, tomatoes, beans, carrots) and flowers.  All of them did pretty well, except the carrots, which got eaten by something else!  We attempted to do even more vegetables and fruits (beets, cucumbers, squash, melons) in the garden area, but something came along and ate all the tops of all the plants.

Now, in our new house, we wanted to continue some vegetables with the kids, but also had a lot more to do to clean up different areas of the property and to add some greenery and color around.  I was planning on putting my Mom to work when she was here for Spring Break, so in preparation, I contacted the gardener who worked for the previous owners of our house to see if he could do some random jobs for me.  He was pleased to do them and came to meet me and give me quotes.  We felt his prices were more than reasonable and were happy to have someone do lots of the hard work so we could be ready to do the fun stuff with my Mom and the kids!  We did 3 trips to Lowe's and 2 trips to our nearest Houston Garden Centers location to get everything we needed (and a big, huge, gigantic THANK YOU to my parents for gifting us all of the plants and trees and seeds and pots and the various other items as a housewarming gift), and then I made a few more trips to Lowe's to finish things up after my Mom had gone home last week.

First, we had him rip out the green ground cover and weeds and plants that had kind of taken over along the fence by the driveway and garage.  They just collected moisture and mosquitoes!  It was a totally unused area and I thought it might be perfect for the sand box turtle we were given by our neighbors last year (we wanted to keep it away from the pool and the kids love playing on the driveway outside the garage).  I now have lots of other plans for this area to make it more fun and colorful for the kids.  Stay tuned over the next few months!

Before:

After Miguel's hard work:

We put the turtle in the back corner, which still needs some work to clean up old bricks and other random objects and to add in some color and other kid friendliness, and the kids have been in there frequently.  They love having it there for easy access when we are playing outside.  I had learned a trick on Pinterest to put cinnamon in your sand to help keep bugs out, so the kids had a great time helping me to mix it in while they were playing one afternoon.

Now, I wasn't sure about that tree/shrub that I didn't get Miguel to take down.  I was hesitant to take anything out that had spent so much time growing, but it was in an odd spot, it wasn't pretty, the smell of the flowers wasn't something I enjoyed, and it was in the way of the driveway a bit when we are turning around.  So, my Mom found a saw in the garage and together we took it down.  Yay us!  Then we (actually, my Mom did this whole area so I can't take any credit!) planted some hostas and celocias for immediate color.  Kirsten also helped my Mom plant some sunflower seeds along the fence and the first two popped up yesterday!

The next thing we had done was to cut some branches from one of our trees that were rubbing on the roof of the garage and some that were actually dead.

Before:

 
After (sorry it's from the other side of the garage so a very different angle):

The home inspector and termite inspector both pointed out that the soil along the garage and one side of the house were too close and needed to be pulled away.  There was also far too much leaf-age piling up in there that needed to be removed.  We planned to do all this ourselves, but decided to have it done with the rest of the list to save ourselves time and potential back injuries!  This area doesn't get much sun, so we are not sure what, if anything, we will plant in there.

Before:

 
After:

Along this side of the house was also a branch from our neighbors' tree that was starting to rub on the roof.  We were advised to get that taken care of before the March winds picked up.  I went over to introduce myself since we hadn't met yet and asked if we could have it cut off.  They were more than happy for us to have it done.

Before (and there is no after - just use your imagination that it's gone!):

 
Now we get back into the more fun stuff!

Along the back and side fence, there are flower beds, but they were just overtaken with leaves and weeds and a few potted plants the previous owners left us.  We had it cleaned out and put new mulch in.  We also moved the pots to better locations and planted some fruit trees!  We planted a persimmon tree and 4 citrus trees - Meyer lemon, Persian lime, pink grapefruit, and red navel orange.  I really, really, really hope that they survive and grow and flourish.  We'd love an avocado tree, too.  Just not sure where to put it!  The area bordered by these flower beds is just dirt now and apparently the previous owners had no success growing grass there because it is too shady, but we want to give it a shot at some point soon.

Before:

After mulch was put in:

After trees are in:

Next up was the ugly ground cover at the base of the tree by the pool.  It seemed like such a waste of good planting real estate.  And it was ugly.  Out it came!  Then a huge amount of soil was brought in and some mulch was spread on top.  My Mom and I planted a wonderful herb garden in there.  We have basil, Thai basil, sweet mint, chocolate mint, sage, parsley, and cilantro.  So far everything in there is doing really well.  I am sprouting some dill from seed inside right now and will hopefully have it to put out there soon, too.

Before:

After soil/mulch:

After planting:

Next up was just adding in as much color and tropical greenery as we could in some pots.  Mostly everything is happy right now ... I hope it stays that way!  I've been moving things around for sun/shade and am trying to find the right balance of enough but not too much water for it all.  I didn't get to take the best photos of all of this (my little assistant is often hanging off me!) and I've got things in different stages of potting in some photos, but it is all done now!

The kids got in on the action and each chose a pot (Leighton's is teal, Kirsten's is orange, and Riley's in pink and tiny) and a flower (and Leighton added carrot seeds, too!).

These plants were left by the previous owners so I gave them a little TLC and they are looking much better, with flowers and new growth and all that fun stuff!

Before:

After:

We planted some vegetables with the kids (beets, beans, carrots, tomatoes, red and orange bell peppers, jalapenos, and  tabasco peppers).  The ones we planted from seed are coming up and the others are growing and starting to flower!

Now to the front of the house!

We did some flowers for the front porch:

And we had a big tree taken down.  We noticed the previous owners had filled it with some sort of support foam, but it made Roy nervous and Miguel recommended taking it down before the tropical storm season.  We couldn't believe how quickly they took it down one evening.  My Mom captured a lot of it on camera, just as she did when they took down an old, dying tree across the street from us in the Bronx and on our side of the street after Hurricane Irene.  Interesting that she always seems to be around for these things!

Before:

During:

And after:

And, finally, lastly we have the little flower bed by the side door along the driveway.  It had some monkey grass, a few aloe vera plants that weren't happy (I have taken the three happiest ones and but them in a pot, so we will see what happens there!), and some other unidentified plants.  I knew I wanted to tidy it up, and my Mom suggested it as a great place to try strawberries, so we are giving them a shot!

Before:

After: