Getting rid of crabgrass lazyman's way

Next  step was to rid the veggie garden of the horrible grass that has built up. However, I soon found that it was going to be a lot of work to do....and I really wasn't sure what I wanted to plant there anyways right now....just wanted the crappy crabby grass gone.

So I got out my newspaper recycling bag and layered a bunch over the grass. The idea is to smother it.

Then I added black landscape fabric

 

and some rocks to keep it all down.

 The terracotta cinder squares are going to be filled with soil and pumpkin plants will be in there. They will spread out over the landscape fabric and hopefully cover it up somewhat.

 I will let you know if it works. I will unveil it next fall or maybe early spring next year.

Building veggie raised beds

No more crummy makeshift raised beds for my garden anymore. I went to Home Depot and bought some corner braces and three-quarter inch screws. Easier said than done.... would be nice to have a couple of extra hands. Resorted to hammering in the screws to get them started however I now have a box ready to create a raised bed in my garden.

Mourning Cloak butterfly.

On the butterfly bush, natch.

Four interesting things about this butterfly:
1. It overwinters, so the ones you see in the spring like this guy have hidden away under some bark.
2. It is one of the longest lived north american butterflies (11 months)
3. The caterpillar eats poplar leaves so I guess that's why he's hanging around under our big tree.
4. It makes a CLICK sound when it flies away. I didn't notice that when this one took off (to fly up into the poplar!).

Larkspurs

Planted some seeds today.

Tulip Planting Ideas for the Fall

For next fall.... multicolored tulip groupings. Saw these at Brentwood School on Vancouver Island during a regatta my daughter was at. All the other parents were taking pictures of the rowers...while I was distracted by the gardens.

Here are some with a black, yellow and white theme.

Maybe for the front yard?

OK,  I took some rowing pictures too!

Spring in the Front Yard.

Here are some pictures of the front yard. Note where the tulips are. No excuse for accidently planting more on top or not knowing what colour they are.

BISHOPWEED BE GONE! (if it only were that easy)

Needs a little grass here, don't you think?

A Garden Path

So I decided to create a path through my new garden. I bought some landscape fabric and cleared the pathway of weeds. I laid down the fabric and added my concrete panels.

 I alternated vertical and horizontal to make a causal pathway.

Then I filled in between my panels with bark.