Making it pretty

[allons-y]

I recently posted about the possibility of ‘getting caught up’ with all the must dos. Barn, fences, water, gates, etc. Even the inside of the farmhouse needed some love. I finally feel caught up with essentials and have moved on to non-essentials.

I bought a property that was a working Pecan grove. Little to no ‘pretty’ plantings anywhere. Pretty much all business around the house and fields and shop buildings. Almost everything not Pecan was ‘working’. (There is a row of pink crepe myrtles lining the driveway very nicely.) Blueberries, grapes, apples, pears, Oranges, Kumquats, figs. Just a few tired roses in the backyard. My heart goes out to the (now deceased) former lady of the house. She must have worked so hard and yearned for some pretty. There is a wild rambling rose around a light pole by the windmill, it is pretty for just a few weeks. The birds love it so it will stay.

I came from Florida where I boarded, and my yard was my ‘planting baby’. Hours and hours spent in the yard, growing a beautiful, lush, tropical Florida landscape. So this new place was ‘tabula rasa’ for esthetics.

I can’t wait for next year to see how things look after my last year and this year’s efforts. So far I planted:

Around the house:
dwarf azaleas and green gem boxwoods.
Bush and creeping Gardenias
Heavenly bamboo
Chaste tree
Black Diamond crepe myrtles (leaves very dark, almost black, deep red blooms)
One hydrangea that just can’t seem to take off, may mow him down if he doesn’t do better

New plant island around the Palm by the garage parking area:
Gem boxwook
Polka dot plant
Liriope border- dark green
Several lime green Liriope in the island
Heavenly bamboo
Pots of impatiens
Texas sage

Along the fence leading to the barnyard:
Kousa Dogwood
Kwanza flowering cherry
3 Sweet Olives
More dwarf azaleas pink and white
2 more baby gem boxwoods (Small, round, no shaping required)

I still turn horses out in the barnyard to help me mow, so I haven’t planted anything around the barn. Eventually I will come to some conclusion on this.

I work hard in a high stress job with very little ‘pretty’ involved, actually see a lot of ‘ugly’. I need to rest my eye and my mind when I’m off. And I enjoy taking care of things.

Yes I know I need pictures, I am not too good at getting them from my phone to my computer, I need a teenager here.

So, bottom line, here’s to spring!

[clanter]

Black Diamond crepe myrtles (leaves very dark, almost black, deep red blooms)

we have planted five of these and they are really pretty, have been growing a couple feet a year … it appears we are being several cycles of blooming a season

the sage bushes are very drought hardy

seems everything blooms at the same time

[Scribbler]

When are you planning to ride? That’s my big fear about acreage. You spend all your time on upkeep.

[clanter]

@Scribbler

When are you planning to ride? That’s my big fear about acreage. You spend all your time on upkeep.

oh the horses are there just to make the property pretty, so the city thinks… at least that is the primary reason horses are allowed by my city

[Bluey]

Stuff has a way to get into horse pastures, or horses into places they should not be.

Try not to plant anywhere anything that is even a little poisonous to horses.

I think that azaleas are poisonous:

http://www.horsedvm.com/poisonous/azalea/

[allons-y]

Thank you @Bluey I will be very careful.

It’s too hot to ride much of summer, so there’s that. I ride early am (grass too wet to mow) or early evening. Lots of time left over to fiddle with my ‘yard’. I just need to be able to walk outside and say ‘ohh, that’s pretty!’. Otherwise, it’s just all work here at home. I don’t mind the extra effort, it’s really not too much. I planted Glads for the first time time year - lots of bang for your buck. Plant and no maintenance, just cut some sprays for your house!

[allons-y]

And as far as maintenance goes, these selections were chosen for lack of maintenance. Very little effort except watering during dry spells. No endless trimming or pruning. Not going for Topiaries here!

[Miss_Motivation]

I’d like to think that the former hard-working owner, whether she drives by or looks on from the heavens, will have a beautiful smile when she sees how you’re tending and caring for the land she worked so very hard on all those years.

Enjoy!

[cutter99]

I would love to see pictures!

[S1969]

@allons-y

My heart goes out to the (now deceased) former lady of the house. She must have worked so hard and yearned for some pretty.

LOL well, maybe she yearned. Or not. I don’t plant a lot of “pretty” because it’s still work in the end. I’m far more willing to work for produce than pretty.

I agree that you should be careful you do not go too fast - keeping up with plants can be very time consuming. I am happy to get my farm mowed and vegetables weeded. Any flowers have to be self-sufficient - spreading densely enough to crowd out weeds and not require deadheading or special feeding. I’ve played with a few things that turned into far more work than they were worth.

[susanne]

I am both a diehard horse parent and diehard gardener and firmly believe the two play nicely.

Bookmark the ASPCA Toxic Plant list. It is one of the very few lists that goes beyond the most basic of plants. While I’m aware of all my plants’ toxicity, I don’t worry too much about azaleas, other rhododendrons, hydrangeas, and other non-spreading shrubs as long as they are away from the corrals and don’t cast leaves willy nilly. A few plants are such as laburnum (golden chain tree), wisteria and sambucus (elderberry) are kept outside the driveway gate where horses can’t get near them. Some plants, such as yew, red maple, and ricinus, are not allowed anywhere nearby. I would pay a neighbor to get rid of these.

As much as I love gardening, I most adore the plants that take care of themselves and practice Darwinian gardening. Native plants are best for this. Shrubs, small trees, and perennials are key to low maintenance. I am an heirloom rose addict, as they are gorgeous yet tough as nails, not needing the maintenance, pruning and chemicals of modern roses. Annuals are only grown if they are self-seeding and visually stunning. Love Lies Bleeding is a show stopper, and columbine reseeds all on its own, so these two annuals are most welcome.

We planned our house so that we can view the horses from indoors, so I’m careful not to plant trees or shrubs where they will block my view of them. I love being able to quickly check up on everyone when I wake up or am at my desk working.

As for your barnyard…my horses love doing drive-bys — taking a swipe at a plant as I’m leading or driving them past, so nothing even mildly toxic or too inviting there (such as roses) is grown within reach of barn or corrals. (I do constant battle with wild elderberry, which loves to torment me by growing too close.)

I also forgive myself for benign neglect of the gardens in late summer, when keeping everything watered is in itself exhausting, and I’d rather hang out with the horses in the shade.

[allons-y]

I mostly needed foundation plantings. The front had some azaleas but most died of old age. The other 3 sides were simply bare. Foundation plantings also provide shade to the brick, so should lower the inside temp. All of these items are plants and go, after being watered in initially. I don’t want to trim bushes so I chose the finally height, width carefully. I am putting down landscape cloth and mulch around the bushes to prevent the need for trimming grass. I just want to drive by on my lawnmower, not use the string trimmer.

Then I went to some bare fencelines between house and barn. These bushes and trees also need no maintenance once established. These bushes and trees also provide habitat for birds.

I do have caladiums and impatiens under the grandfather Oak, they mostly return each year. The oak tree kindly drops enough leaves that mulch around the plants to prevent weeds.

The rest of my flowers are in pots on the two back porches. I water them every few days, otherwise I just enjoy them.
I also practice Darwinian gardening. Hopefully you’ll make it here, if not, I wont replant that one.

I will try to get some pictures, I just don’t know how to get from phone to computer yet.

[Willesdon]

Bulbs can add seasonal colour for very little work.

[clanter]

@Willesdon

Bulbs can add seasonal colour for very little work.

we have some that were planted by the original home owners, over sixty years ago …they fatefully come up every year

[Bluey]

@allons-y

I mostly needed foundation plantings. The front had some azaleas but most died of old age. The other 3 sides were simply bare. Foundation plantings also provide shade to the brick, so should lower the inside temp. All of these items are plants and go, after being watered in initially. I don’t want to trim bushes so I chose the finally height, width carefully. I am putting down landscape cloth and mulch around the bushes to prevent the need for trimming grass. I just want to drive by on my lawnmower, not use the string trimmer.

Then I went to some bare fencelines between house and barn. These bushes and trees also need no maintenance once established. These bushes and trees also provide habitat for birds.

I do have caladiums and impatiens under the grandfather Oak, they mostly return each year. The oak tree kindly drops enough leaves that mulch around the plants to prevent weeds.

The rest of my flowers are in pots on the two back porches. I water them every few days, otherwise I just enjoy them.
I also practice Darwinian gardening. Hopefully you’ll make it here, if not, I wont replant that one.

I will try to get some pictures, I just don’t know how to get from phone to computer yet.

Which kind of phone and computer?
Someone may be able to help with that information.

If you have an Iphone and Mac-something, when you connect them you can see in your photo page the last tab on top will say “import”.
Click on it and click on each picture off your phone you want to have in the computer.
Then click “import selected” and those pictures will show up in your picture page.

[allons-y]

I have an android and Mac, I’ll try the above, thanks

[clanter]

@Bluey

Which kind of phone and computer?
Someone may be able to help with that information.

If you have an Iphone and Mac-something, when you connect them you can see in your photo page the last tab on top will say “import”.
Click on it and click on each picture off your phone you want to have in the computer.
Then click “import selected” and those pictures will show up in your picture page.

or email the photos to yourself then save from the email to the computer

[lorilu]

email/ That’s what I do.

[Cynical25]

Sounds lovely!

I dream of a massive garden, but the reality is I don’t have that time. I do manage to tend 3 raised veggie beds and many potted flowers on my front porch - they make me smile, and give me some peaceful “decompression time” after my long work commute. This spring I pulled all my home’s foundation shrubs (the massive roots were tearing up my walk ways and foundation) and filled the most visible beds with drought tolerant, native-Texas species. I was delighted with spring/summer color and can’t wait to see what my fall bloomers will offer! Hoping to expand my water-wise plantings to the remaining spaces this fall and next spring.

[TCA_Arabians]

It’s planting time! Eden’s and Gurney’s have sales going on. Just sign up for their newsletter and you’ll get a coupon a day for something. Always interested in other mail order sites so please advise if you know of any. Gurney’s is cheaper than Eden’s.

I’m in the high, high desert of SoCal - just below the tree line. I am determined never to buy another plant that can’t take desert heat in summer and freezing temps with snow in winter. We also have squirrels and rabbits that eat almost everything. They don’t like zinnias … so that is now my go-to annual for color. I also like zinnias because they’re still blooming.

I like Oregon Grape. It’s green year round and blooms these lovely, yellow flower stems in Feb/Mar. It’s the first color to show up… followed by the lilacs in April and then the roses in May/June. Meanwhile, if we get enough rain the wildflowers burst out too. The bulbs are up during this time frame as well. I have a lot of native trees and shrubs. Their blooms are very different than what you find elsewhere. I’m experimenting with different lavenders this year. All different blooms and they’re blooming now. Plus, the critters don’t eat them.

I added two more Crepe Myrtles this year. I think I’m going to look for the Black Diamond OP mentioned. They do fabulous here.