Gardening Help

Last week, we had Art and Linda's Wildflower gang over to steward the beginnings of our gardens.

First, they raked and bagged all the leaves. Watching from the window, I had to admit I was glad we didn't have to do this... Although, we did have to do the parkway over the weekend. We did it the smart way, and mulched all the leaves with the lawnmower. The bag was changed over 30 times... and the tree's aren't even half way done with shedding their leaves.



Next, notice how we no longer have a mud pit. Yep, here's the bright shiny new mulch on display.



And, here, Michael, Art, and a helper prepare our new garden bed for the spring. Not sure you can see all the flags in the picture, but we will have a nice sweeping garden bed all around the yard.



The one thing that bugs us about the backyard, is we have a big telephone pole and attached to it is an alley light. The light shines into our bedroom window, but it's also a huge eye sore and kills the ambience when we're chilling in the backyard on any evening. Art told us a good idea is to plant a fast growing tree, which will block the light. We had a couple options of trees, we opted for the catalpa (hoping I won't be cursing the mess of the spring flowers and bean pods) but it's a really unique and pretty tree. It also grows about 4 feet per year. So the options, plant a tiny tree, a 4 foot tree or a 6 foot tree. We told Art we'd think about it, and let him know. He surprised us when he popped over on Saturday and gave us a little tree to plant for free.



Should be fun watching her grow.

Third times a charm...

Yes, third times a charm, for giving up on the front lawn.

After tilling twice by a big heavy tiller, and once entirely by hand, and finally having a master gardener come and look at the lawn, it's been decided there is no way we can get anything to grow in front.

I started the search for a landscaper a few months ago on Angies List. The company I was interested also happened to be at the Bungalow Expo we attended a few weeks ago.

We talked to Art and Linda's Wildflowers extensively, and finally decided to have them come out to take a look. Art concluded that we have such intense shade by the Norway Maples that there is no way to get anything to grow. He gave us several suggestions.

Option 1. Contact the Alderman to get permission to cut down a major limb of one of the maples. This could easily cost us $1000 plus to get done. We hate option 1.

2. Try to work with what we have. This involves putting mulch on the yard (the only thing that will obviously survive) and attempt to plant ferns is select spots. He's not sure if the ferns will survive or not. He can also move our gutters to create a pretty rock/rain garden in front.

We are going to try option 2 and wait and see.

We also contracted them to do our backyard. We just don't have the time, knowledge or expertise to do it on our own, and his idea's were superb.

Art took us on a garden tour of several homes around us to get idea's, and his work is awesome.

So, there you have it. Hopefully by next summer, we can post some pretty pictures of the front and backyards of the Happier Bungalow.

Soon, the grass won't be greener on the other side...

Today, I walked over to the front windows to look outside. I must admit, I was left speechless... there are sprouts of grass starting to grow on the mud outside! Whoohoo!

Now, we're talking little patches of sprouts, but I'm beyond happy, I'm thrilled! So, now I have to run to crafty beaver after work to buy more grass seed, as I can see where we already have patches of no seed. The only thing I'm concerned about, all the Maple tree helicopters are all over the mud, everywhere. Not sure if that will be an issue, but I'm hesitant to rake it and disturb the grass seed. Anyone have any advice??



Will keep updating with hopefully greener pics!


And, check out what just popped open in the backyard~

People who like to garden are psycho...

When we left Chicago for Hawaii in early May, it was pretty cold. Now, 1 month later it's still pretty chilly out.

We did come back greeted to a backyard garden chock full of tons of blooming plants. Wonderful! As you can see, Sidney is enjoying himself. At one point, he was actually tiptoeing through the tulips...

So, back from vacation, it was finally time to deal with the yard. Remember the great deal Mike got last fall on the lawnmower for $20? Well, it was time to take it to the repair shop to see if they could get it working. And work it does! They did a total tune up, replaced the blade, and the mower looks and works like it's brand new. Score!

After the grown grass was dealt with, it was time to deal with the front mud. We no longer call in the front lawn because, well, it's pretty obvious why. The plan was to sow the grass seed with the dirt rake, and be done with it in 2 hours. True, that was my plan, but my husband knew better. Turns out, we were going to have to re-till the front lawn again.

A quick stop over to Crafty Beaver, and we had the tiller in tow. Michael ended up aggravating the injury he got from our Honeymoon. (No, not a "fun" injury like one would think they'd get on a honeymoon. This one involved a water slide...) But, the lawn was again tilled, and it was time to rake it flat and spread the fertilizer and seed.


Since the front mud really gets no sun, we know the trick is to make sure we water it EVERY SINGLE DAY. Turns out, even when it rains, the trees offer such good protection, that the mud really stays dry, so we're even out in the rain watering. It has now been 1 week since we put the seed down, and the end result is the seed we raked into the soil is now sitting on top of everything. No sprouts, no growing, but we're making the bird population in Albany Park pretty happy and full. So, we'll see. I will report on any change. And keeping my fingers crossed!

This past weekend, our fun (NOT!) consisted of transplanting the day lilies from the breezeway and the backyard to the front corner parkway. Again, after almost 8 hours of planting, we hope they stay alive.