So, it's full-on summer here in the desert and while I really try to avoid going outside while it's hovering near 115 degrees outside, awhile back I bought a decent sprinkler and a decent timer and now...we kind of have a lawn in the backyard!
Two or three weeks ago, that was nothing but dirt. We have a very tiny area (maybe 6'x6' or so) that grows year round, but it's generally pretty sickly looking. I am *ecstatic* that there is this much green in our yard right now!
So, the new growth combined with a dear friend reworking her garden in an even more arid environment has compelled me to take on a garden reboot. Because ours was just sad and the two little plants that grew this spring have turned into plant skeletons.
So, I took some "Before" photos to peek at when I catch myself thinking that nothing's changed. ;)
This is the garden in the corner of our yard, as it appears right now. There's grass - yay - but it's all overgrown. We were in the midst of cutting it when we realized that the whole yard (and I do mean the WHOLE YARD) had become one giant ant bed. So we're treating for ants (sugar and borax ftw) and it seems to be working quite nicely.
The pond insert has been hanging about for awhile ended up getting propped against the fence during a nasty sand storm. It will need to go someplace else. The bird feeder was relocated to the garden a few weeks ago and will need to be moved again. Getting it off of the patio was an absolute necessity though. Pigeons are messy.
The garden itself consists of three raised beds. There's one 4x8 bed that's built but empty, one 4x8 (where the bird feeder lives, now) that's filled and one 4x4 that's filled. It's hard to see in the photo, but there are skeletons of a tomato plant and sunflower in the 4x4 bed. (At least the sunflower grew nicely for a bit!)
Early last spring, Bug and I dug out the rock bed near our front door, put down some edging and planted some lavender and ground cover. It didn't take. It's kind of been floundering since then so I'm going to try to get that worked out again, too.
I have no idea what plant is that's popped up there on the right.
I did most of the prep work of gathering stuff while Richard was out with the kids, and then called a halt to it because it was 108 degrees outside and I knew that Bug and Boo would want to be involved. When Boo came home a bit later, we pulled the weeds from all of the spaces - and I was delighted to discover that the soil in the gardens is still in awesome shape! - and found some new ant spots to treat. I pulled the wild plant from the front door bed, resettled one of the pots, removed the others and broke up the dirt. The soil there isn't as friendly as I'd like, but between a little new soil and some compost I think it'll be all right.
Bug is already chomping at the bit to get moving with the next steps, so hopefully this project will take off quickly.
