I
would not say that I have a green thumb. Generally speaking, I travel too much
to water things regularly, probably over-water when I am around and usually get
enough mosquito bites when I do work in a garden that a normal person would
think I have poison ivy.
None
of that matters though, because Isthmus House needs a yard that doesn't look
like this!
When we first moved in, the backyard was well past overgrown, having been left untended for many, many moons. Believe it or not, this is better than when we moved in.
Once my parents came to visit, it only made sense to get the yard revamped before it got too hot to work on anything outside at all. Despite wind chills of as much as -50° Fahrenheit this winter, summers in Madison can also get right around 100° - not fun work conditions.
My mom took charge immediately, deciding what flowers and colors would look best in what arrangement (design decisions influenced by yours truly) and my dad and I got to work.
First up was getting the hedges trimmed since they were a tad unruly. Fortunately, the previous owner left some weathered but perfectly capable gardening equipment so I saved a few dollars not having to buy new hedge clippers, pruning shears, and a few other items.
Seemingly instantly, we had improvement just from trimming the hedges and getting rid of all the rubbish underneath them.
Once all of the rubbish was up, it was important to plan everything out for spacing. You know what they say: something about planning being most of the project. Then again, I don't think they were trying to dig in packed soil...
For all of the edging stones to create a level border for the new plant beds, I had to dig down a couple of inches into the soil. It's better to do that before putting down weed blocker cloth so that the cloth can sit directly under the rocks and not move around.
After the trench is dug, life gets pretty easy from there.
I pulled the edging stones back out from their trench so that I could lay out weed cloth. It's a black, tear and UV-resistant cloth that keeps weeds (aka indigenous plants that keep your soil fertile until it's time for a change) from poking through new prettiness. Metal stakes hold it down and provide a good base for any mulch.
From there, planting is also pretty easy. To plant, cutting an "x" cut with a utility knife through the fabric where plants are going is easiest before digging out a hole, fitting your plant so it's soil/peat pot is about level with the ground and filling back in with soil.
Courtesy of the nice, level trench, putting the stone back in their trench (making sure to cover all of the edges of the weed cloth!) was a cinch. A rubber mallet evens out any that aren't completely certain they want to fall into place.
Finally, our last step for the garden bed was mulch! You need way more mulch than you think you do. This little project took eight large bags. The Roommate, who's more accustomed to something closer to three truckloads from her childhood, didn't seem overly impressed with the quantity.
Last, we put down top soil and grass seed. Sadly, it was getting later and I didn't get any pictures so you'll have to take my word for it. Here are the steps to do it in your lawn!
So there you have it - a brand new front lawn and the beginning of actual curb appeal! If you're local and experienced the storm (complete with tornadoes that did rather a lot of damage nearby), don't worry! We were untouched in the storm. We're guessing that means we're supposed to keep going so more to come soon - hopefully before it hits 100°!
Once my parents came to visit, it only made sense to get the yard revamped before it got too hot to work on anything outside at all. Despite wind chills of as much as -50° Fahrenheit this winter, summers in Madison can also get right around 100° - not fun work conditions.
My mom took charge immediately, deciding what flowers and colors would look best in what arrangement (design decisions influenced by yours truly) and my dad and I got to work.
First up was getting the hedges trimmed since they were a tad unruly. Fortunately, the previous owner left some weathered but perfectly capable gardening equipment so I saved a few dollars not having to buy new hedge clippers, pruning shears, and a few other items.
Seemingly instantly, we had improvement just from trimming the hedges and getting rid of all the rubbish underneath them.
Once all of the rubbish was up, it was important to plan everything out for spacing. You know what they say: something about planning being most of the project. Then again, I don't think they were trying to dig in packed soil...
For all of the edging stones to create a level border for the new plant beds, I had to dig down a couple of inches into the soil. It's better to do that before putting down weed blocker cloth so that the cloth can sit directly under the rocks and not move around.
After the trench is dug, life gets pretty easy from there.
I pulled the edging stones back out from their trench so that I could lay out weed cloth. It's a black, tear and UV-resistant cloth that keeps weeds (aka indigenous plants that keep your soil fertile until it's time for a change) from poking through new prettiness. Metal stakes hold it down and provide a good base for any mulch.
From there, planting is also pretty easy. To plant, cutting an "x" cut with a utility knife through the fabric where plants are going is easiest before digging out a hole, fitting your plant so it's soil/peat pot is about level with the ground and filling back in with soil.
 |
Finally, our last step for the garden bed was mulch! You need way more mulch than you think you do. This little project took eight large bags. The Roommate, who's more accustomed to something closer to three truckloads from her childhood, didn't seem overly impressed with the quantity.
Last, we put down top soil and grass seed. Sadly, it was getting later and I didn't get any pictures so you'll have to take my word for it. Here are the steps to do it in your lawn!
- Add top soil - they do make special top soil for planting and reseeding lawns but at about $7/bag compared to $2/bag for the normal stuff, we opted for a 1 expensive bag mixed with 2 normal bag ratio.
- Seed! Get the good stuff, people, and read the label. If your lawn doesn't get sun, don't get the stuff that needs sun. You can use a distributor (either a little one that you crank by hand while you walk or one that you push) to fwing out the seed or just scatter it like you would feed a flock of chickens. My distributor wasn't working, so I went with the latter method for my tiny yard.
- Put straw over it. This allows the nice things like sun and water to get to the grass seed but makes it more challenging for critters to walk, crawl or fly away with your hard work!
- Water. This goes for all of your plants!
So there you have it - a brand new front lawn and the beginning of actual curb appeal! If you're local and experienced the storm (complete with tornadoes that did rather a lot of damage nearby), don't worry! We were untouched in the storm. We're guessing that means we're supposed to keep going so more to come soon - hopefully before it hits 100°!
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