A new yard awaits....

 A new yard awaits....

April 30th to May 1st -- At 8:00 am on April 30th, the truck arrived to deliver the pea gravel.  By the end of the day that mountain of pea gravel found a new home around the raised beds, in between the north side of the house and fence, and in the alcove outside the greenhouse.  

One of the 4' by 8' raised bed frames has been built.  One down and four more to go.

After putting in several hours, all of the raised bed frames have been constructed and when the back fence is completed, they will haul away the trash and put the raised bed frames in their proper location where irrigation hoses are already in place. 

The gate on the back privacy fence had to be reconfigured so that there wouldn't be a huge gap between the bottom of the gate and walkway.  These photos show how the backyard is essentially done.  It is easy to see the two 4 by 8 raised bed frames next to the garage and the two 8 by 8 raised bed frames next to the walkway.  If you look really hard next to the fence, adjacent to the 8 by 8 frame, you can see the fifth raised bed frame as it is next to the back fence.

These photos also show a pile of flagstone scraps that I will use around the yard.  One of the raised beds has a bunch of mulch in it, which I'll use around the yard.  

Here is a better photo of the reconfigured back fence gate and that last raised bed frame. Next spring this raised bed will have old windows covering the top to serve as a cold frame for early crops such as greens.

Also, 2 yards of planters mix and 1/2 yard of mulch were dropped in front of the garage (hiding underneath this cover), which I'll use to fill the raised beds. It won't be until Monday until the spray heads for the drip irrigation system for each raised bed is installed.  So, this weekend will be all about preparing the beds so that I can plant next weekend after the threat of the last frost is gone.

The woolly thyme has been planted at strategic joints in the flagstone on the patio by the south-side deck -- the woolly thyme should spread by the end of summer -- as long as I'm on top of the weeding -- and will be no more than 1.5 inches tall.  Hopefully the flagstones will be surrounded by the woolly thyme to give a touch of green to the patio.

  

Here is a photo of what the woolly thyme will look like -- hopefully -- at the end of summer

There is now pea gravel around the back of the house where there isn't mulch.

The front privacy fence and gate is done -- this view is from the deck.

Here is the view from the front of the house, and you can see that not only is the new front privacy fence done, but the chain link fence has been put back in front of the house.

Here is the alcove outside the greenhouse with pea gravel.

And, in this photo there is water on the pea gravel from a test of the sprinkler system -- there are sprinkler heads embedded under some of the flagstone so that the woolly thyme will grow, and so I can also put flower pots on the patio that will be watered.  Here is a photo of the potting bench in its new location in the alcove.   I haven't moved the gas grill yet, but I have a much better location for it than in the alcove....photos to come this weekend.

And, look what I noticed this morning -- not only did this plant live through the construction dust, but there is a bloom!  

There is nothing like the promise of spring and the thought of digging in the dirt, and this year a new yard awaits that will hold all sorts of surprises.