The garden: Evolution of a backyard

[knary]

We've got a standard city lot - 50' x 100'. We also have the restrictions of setting aside space for the soon, I hope, to be built studio and for the work on the house (small addition and new foundation). This gave me one piece of the yard to work with. The entire backyard, not including the imaginary studio where the now removed garage once stood, is all of a rough 40' x 30'. Not much, but enough for some fun.

First, the history. We bought the house in January of '05. It's a century old in a part of portland that used to be gangland and has long been the poor side of the tracks. We are, like it or not, part of the wave of gentrification transforming the city. Though I've swung a hammer many times and dug many holes for many plants, this is our first house and this is my first garden.

The previous owners had a great dane, a constantly defecating old mutt, and a pot bellied pig. The dogs made their expansive piles out in a sea of bark nuggets nearly a foot deep spread over black plastic - not weed barrier, plastic. The sea of bark camouflaged the dog bombs well, but did little to hide the ugliness of the yard. In the midst of this wasteland lay a ten foot wide stagnant pond complete with a stone and concrete perimeter, and layers of pond liner and carpet... but no pump. The bark nuggets did little to filter the dog nuggets and urine from the fetid pool.

Here I've started draining the pool and breaking up the stone and concrete. I became good friends with the sledge hammer and the zing of concrete off safety glasses when I remembered to wear them. Note the pig's fence in the back left, the concrete rubble of someone's ancient patio piled up to form empty raised beds and the half baked attempt to make a vegetable patch with 2 x 8's.

I saved the best stones and began filling the local west nile vector.

The bark nuggets, loaded one by one with the recycling bin, filled the dumpster along with gallons of rat droppings and assorted crap the PO's left as a gift. When they tilted the dumpster loading it onto the truck, an unholy river of brackish water poured forth.

Going...

Gone...

The hole was filled, but I knew it would continue to settle. With the help of a local hand (Barry is the hardest working mofo you'll ever meet), we had all 8 tons of the concrete used in the raised beds hauled away.

The disturbed bare soil became a haven for ants in a colony that stretched from house to fence to fence.

Before the hole was gone, Bob M (on the MOA forum), a landscape architect, came by and gave us some quick notes as to what was a weed or a nuisance or not. Following some of his suggestions, I saved some plants by moving them out of the way and threw out some others. With the slate beginning to clear, we, with some help from some visiting parents, started regrading the soil. It's amazing how much conflict there can be in moving a little dirt around when parents help out a son. Too many chiefs, not enough indians.

The ideas started to make some sense and I began to lay out some rough plans for the yard using scrap lumber.

Some of what the previous owners had planted were worth saving. With summer on the move, and it being portland, growth was fast and furious...

Canna lillies

Hostas and out of control asters

Crocosmia, some already in the yard, some dropped in from another neighbor

A constant and never ending part of the process has been the removal of garbage from the yard. A century of random waste had been dumped in the back. Everything from nails, gallons of stove ash, hatchet heads, plastic bags, children's toys, nail polish, utensils, scraps of clothing, to door hardware and paint. And glass. Broken glass is everywhere. One bucket of debris...

Some of the treasures will be saved, most went to the landfill in the sky.


continued...

p.s. yes, I did post this thread in another place as well

 

[knary]

Late fall '05

With what seemed like it might be a good enough plan, we wanted to get a head start on a tree. The sooner it went in the ground, the sooner it would offer the shade we sought. To this end, we planted a single large tree in the middle back. It's closer to the studio and the property line than might be suggested for a larger lot, but for us, it's a good compromise. Someday the tree, an autumn blaze red maple, might be relatively massive (should top out at 50' or so and 30' to 40' wide), but that's a long way off and even then with some judicious pruning should fit, though dominate, the site reasonably well.

Early spring '06
In a fit of mild stupidity, I tossed some poppy seeds down earlier in the summer. Not many did well, but those that did spread seeds far and wide. Some time in february, a lawn of poppies warned of impending spring.

Day lilies were soon awakening, along with the bleeding heart and stone crop sedum...

Even with the mess of the yard, I enjoyed the bits of beauty here and there. The purple of sage and orange of the poppies.

When that plant that ranks amongst the foulest most despicable most invasive - lemon balm mint - began sprouting everywhere, I knew it was time to get down to the hard work.

 

[knary]

The first step to most any project is planning and I am a planner. Or maybe a schemer. I went through page after page of sketches for the backyard, including photoshop mockups and idle doodles on napkins at the bar. I priced materials for raised beds and debated over soil choices. We settled on using materials on hand - brick and stone and a bit of wood - and getting things moving in the right direction. If there's one thing I know about any of my plans, it's that they'll change.

The final rough sketch... (already somewhat abandoned)

With sketch in hand, I staked it out and made some adjustments.

 

[knary]

A neighbor across the street, a man I am proud (there's that word again) to call a friend, who has been working on the resurrection of his house for six years, came by one time and smiled and said, "You just look straight ahead and don't even think of turning around, do you?" He was talking about the chaos between those beds and the house, but I want to take it the other way. The other half of the back yard was dirt and sifted rubble and a house threatening to fall (all bark, no bite, don't worry). But this corner, this half of the back yard was my sanctuary.

With spring galloping by and summer threatening, we kept many a hive going with the orange bounty.

Plants were knitting together, waging a quiet, relentless, and sublime war with one another.

Erin's lavendar poked at the senses and the sky

Daisies may smell like feet or ass or bad cheese, but friendly faces sprung up everywhere

And busy familiars made new webs.

 

[knary]

Early summer '06.
As much as we're enjoying it already, we need to get the paths in. On the few days that it rains, the paths turned to mud. After some bad math, I guesstimated how much we'd need and a few yards of gravel delivered. Small enough that it's walkable in bare feet, though not too comfy, and not too small that cats think it's a giant little box. The paths were dug deeper, weed barrier put in place, and the gravel shoveled into place. Gravel drains well and the light blue color is a striking contrast giving shape to the beds, brick and plants.

The plants were now coming along, the gravel snapping the design into focus. The point of the tighter layout is to balance out letting the plants run chaotic

The end of one path to date. This small circle will likely grow and gain a small fountain/birdbath

The rosemary leaned over from when I moved it and sprouted greedily. The smell always there when walking through.

Beans, the magical fruit, winding a fantasy up the bamboo

The soft purple blossoms of Oregano dangle, a pendulum with the weight of a bee

Casual columbine already gone to seed

It really is just the one corner.

 

[knary]

We return home from Italy to find bountiful chaos. Mild temperatures, a neighbor generous with the water, and long sunny days have everything surging. Plants that were supposed to be no more than a foot wide are swelling up past three. Nasturtiums, stowaways from the previous owner, have sprouted and swallow and crush as they trample their way through the garden.

African daisies, in the square bed, never quite stop.

The liatris stalks have erupted into giant slightly sweet pipe cleaners several feet in length that the bumble bees find irresistible.

Everything, everything has grown. Even a small spruce we thought was going to be lost is sprouting.

Watching and listening. I try to count the creatures while I pluck at the occasional weed. I lose count at a dozen different kinds of bee and wasps. Some are massive bumbles defying gravity, others agile tiny wasps that move like jeweled machines, paper wasps drink, dark honeybees, green sweat bees, fuzzy mason bees, and wave after wave of casually frantic small bumbles. Hover flies swoop from flower to flower and buzz angrily during sex. Armies of spiders build webs or hunt like lone wolves. Red ants, brown ants, little black ants. Squeeking hummingbirds. Dragonflies visit from unseen water. A thriving slice of an ecosystem.

I find myself laying on my back staring into the small spaces between the plants. I let the gravel crunch under my weight as I ease my head back. The sun is fading.

Shadows under the beans

Folded red blooms of crocosmia, each turning into a knotted pea

It was supposed to be a small tomato plant. It sprawls endlessly, tentacles embracing the entire bed.

Lemon cucumbers resting on scottish moss

There be dragons here

A translucent spider, giver of death, on a dying dahlia blossom

A torch and the purple blossoms of thai basil

 

[knary]

Late summer '06

And here we are today. This is my first garden and lessons have been learned. When the tag says "will grow to two feet", don't believe it. With good soil, good sun, enough water and a long growing season, double that just to be safe.

These little silver green afros were to be a foot or so wide. The bed is 6' x 6' and those 'fros are nearly 3'.

The beans grew and grew. The canna lillies with the orange flowers tower to nearly 8 feet above the path, the beans a bit more.

Honestly, they weren't supposed to grow this much.

A japanese maple, probably coral bark, will be planted close to where I stood to shoot this, just in front of the fuzzy mess of the cosmos foliage in the front left.

And so this is my garden as it stands today. There's plenty of editing to do. I don't like all the colors. There will be more evergreens and shrubs that will slowly take on the roll of being the backbone of the garden. But for my first try, especially considering how piece meal it has had to be, I'm very pleased.

 

[knary]

Four photos to quickly capture the progression

 

[burnszilla]

Nice!
We did a little gardening to this summer, planting privets and other shrubs. It's hard to find stuff that grows under a redwood canopy.

How's the inside of the house coming along?

 

[knary]

Nice!
We did a little gardening to this summer, planting privets and other shrubs. It's hard to find stuff that grows under a redwood canopy.

That's a burden worth bearing.

How's the inside of the house coming along?

It kinda isn't quite yet. We've been casually hunting for a designer/architect to help us sort out the grand plan. We've decided that we need to replace the entire foundation and dig out the basement. This will effectively double the size of the house and allow us to go up when time and money allow. Not cheap, but much much cheaper than buying a larger house.

p.s. I'm working with kbasa to settle on some fungal dates.

 

[dbrick]

That's really a treat for the eyes, Scott. Thanks for showing it. I remember how it was, and I am slackjawed at the change you're wrought. Great work!

 

[bob_m]

Every Gardener Knows Best

I usually drag out that old saw to grant a waiver to the hacks who call themselves gardeners, but who need instructions to install plants green side up. You have created a Lovely garden that looks like it will serve you more than you give it. (initial installation notwithstanding.) Very professional job.
(I have bunches more lillies, crocosmia and 2 large lonicera 'baggen's gold' if you are still looking for plants, PM me). It is great you are a designer and gardener, but I had been under the impression that you were a "real" motorcyclist. With the bicycle riding, the career and the property restoration it is clear you have other interests and do not eat, drink, breath and dream motorcycles. We have nothing further to discuss

Except... Regarding the Fungal: I Know you can not plan to accomodate everyone's schedule, but dates Oct. 6-10 are out for me.

See Ya

 

[burnszilla]

p.s. I'm working with kbasa to settle on some fungal dates.

I can't wait for the Fungal Ride! Hurry up and decide!

 

[BUBBAZANETTI]

smugmug broken, go yell at the appropriate offenders

 

[knary]

smugmug broken, go yell at the appropriate offenders

One does NOT yell at Baldy!

 

[knary]

I usually drag out that old saw to grant a waiver to the hacks who call themselves gardeners, but who need instructions to install plants green side up. You have created a Lovely garden that looks like it will serve you more than you give it. (initial installation notwithstanding.) Very professional job.
(I have bunches more lillies, crocosmia and 2 large lonicera 'baggen's gold' if you are still looking for plants, PM me). It is great you are a designer and gardener, but I had been under the impression that you were a "real" motorcyclist. With the bicycle riding, the career and the property restoration it is clear you have other interests and do not eat, drink, breath and dream motorcycles. We have nothing further to discuss

Except... Regarding the Fungal: I Know you can not plan to accomodate everyone's schedule, but dates Oct. 6-10 are out for me.

See Ya

Plants are good things. More plants are better things.
But first I need to carve out some more space. This will happen once the studio is built. I have the image in my head of how it will all fit together. The additional tree(s), moving the veggies over next to the house, the arbor that wraps around the studio and over a bit of the driveway... Now I just need to build it. 2

The motorcycle has definitely slipped to the back burner as of late for the reasons you mention a bit more. But I've got a birthday around the corner and after a few more bicycle rides I'll be free for a bit of wandering (assuming I fulfill enough of my other duties).

David,
Both you and Bob saw what was once there in the flesh. Thank you!

 

[rich]

Somebody's been very busy. Nice work, Scott!

And really nice photo work.

 

[Pat Carol]

That looks very nice. You really do nice work. We are currenly making the attempt to finish up the rest of our landscaping around our house. In fact I took the whole month of July off too paint the interior of the house and finish the landscaping. This summer was a working vacation.
We have only been in our house for a little over a year. We have 41 acres of rolling hardwoods. October 1st is coming fast. That is the opening day of archery deer season. I strongly feel that deer looks much better on a dinner plate with mashed potatoes and corn. A nice big buck head hanging on the wall looks better than on my bike.

Nice Work
Pat Carol

 

[RIDERR1150GSADV]

Nice work! It is amazing how you have transformed a 'fixer upper' into a nice place you can call HOME
I realize it is still a work in progress but you seem to be well on your way to get it all sorted out.

 

[BUBBAZANETTI]

One does NOT yell at Baldy!

right, i meant "ask nicely"

sweet looking back yard, mines kinda like that, c'ept mine's rented, and not really well thought out............