Autumn is here. Although this year, summer never really got here. It was unusually cool and wet over the last months and we really only had about six days of actual summer weather.
Last summer was all about cleaning out the garden and this year was about making it all pretty. I've been adding lots of new plants, lights, seating and garden ornaments. Soon I'll be storing it all away in my outbuildings. But before then, here's a little tour of the results of a summer full of joyful garden work.
The view from the road
The driveway
The front patio.
I cleaned off the ivy from the garage roof and taught myself how to replace roof slates
My little garage is useful when the weather gets bad.
THE FARMYARD
My chickens and clock in the utility room window are handy for keeping track of time when I'm working outside.
I love looking at 'The Dairy' from my kitchen window
This is what it started as
My flamboyance of flamingos. I plan on planting decorative grasses around their feet in the spring, it's too late in the season to do it now
All the dead old ivy got cleaned off the outbuilding roofs
Fortunately all the roof slates stayed right in place
The living willow fence has grown in beautifully. I've had to trim it at least three times so far as it grows too tall
Black eyed susans and coleus plants in blue pots add some nice color to the outbuilding wall
The back porch plants had to be reworked after a bad wind storm
Came home to a bit of a disaster
I got these cosmos plants because the leaves were so interesting, and got the surprise of lots of pretty flowers
Milo has his little house all safe and snug under the heating oil tank. He often takes his afternoon nap here.
The side patio
The wall to the right is what is left of the original house.
THE GROVE
The Grove is the back part of the garden. It was basically impassable when I started. I had to cut out lots of small trees and then cut back the ivy to make pathways.
This was a drainage pit that was actually rather dangerous. When I had my first cat sitters I told him he didn't need to do anything in the garden, but if he wanted to do a project, I'd love to have a stone wall around the pit -- and this is what he did! It's now a nice focal point. I added a seating area and a crane in the back.
It was really a tripping hazard to try and walk around this area until I cut a pathway into the ivy, lined the path with rocks and added a cute little bridge. It's like a little fairy land now, and there's even a fairy house on the hill just past the bridge.
This area is in the plan for spring. I got this seated arbour more than half price off just the other day. It's stored in the garage for the winter. I'm going to paint it with a three color scheme and then it'll go out into this area in the spring.
I like these fallen trees that give a separation that makes the garden curve back to the side of the house
THE SIDE YARD
This is the newest focal point outside my kitchen window. I got the urn on a great clearance sale and the pedestal at another garden center. The basket of pink petunias was gorgeous until a windstorm knocked it and the urn to the ground.
I get the crane and the urn everytime I'm working at my kitchen counter.
The old cast iron patio set really shows up once I repaired the table and painted to black set pink.
As you walk around the side, my sheep are peacefully grazing.
I love sitting out in my egg chair to read. I added a storage chest for the cushions so I don't have to drag them out from the house everytime.
This is the other side of those fallen logs. Last year there was a hornets nest on the top of the hill and I got stung six times, so I just look at this area mainly.
ANGEL ALLEY
I found two little angel statues when I was cleaning out the garden and they live here now.
These are amazingly comfortable chairs I got at JSYK, which is like a small Ikea store.
As I stroll up to the upper part of the garden there's a blue bird
This swing has been a great addition.
The front part of the garden
The rock garden
Walking up to the last seating area in the front part of the garden
Got a midcentury looking seating set in Cork
This area gets the evening sun
Strolling back up to the front part of the garden
Coming out into the lawn area of the garden
Looking back towards the house
It won't be long now until I store all the garden furniture away for the winter. The leaves are already falling. I'll wait until the spring before raking them up to give all the little creatures shelter for the winter.
The days are already getting shorter and the temperature getting lower. Hunkering down with a fire in the fireplace is a nice consolation until spring comes again.
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