BCU - Earth
Garden Entrance
My Other Beds:
Main Map
Area 1
Area 2
Area 3
Area 4
Area 5
Area 6
Area 7
Area 8
Area 9
Area 10
Area 11
Area 12
Area 13
Area 14
Area 15
Contact B.Howe
Welcome to the Beds
Click on the image below or follow the text links at the bottom of the page.
1. Frog Pond | 2. The Tongue | 3. The Back Bed | 4. East Side Bed | 5. Center Bed / Herb Garden
6. Patio Beds | 7. The Cedars/Mints | 8. Garage Bed | 9. West Side Bed | 10. Front Bed
11. Entrance Beds | 12. Lasagna Bed | 13. Butterfly Bed | 14. Veggie Beds | 15. Lucas'/Adria's Beds
I have been experimenting with this format a little and find that I like it. I would still appreciate your feedback on anything you see while visiting BCU. Please contact me with your thoughts and opinions regarding this site.
What's New in the Beds
May 23:� Everything is GROWING!
� In bloom are: some irises, tulips, grape hyacinth, coral bells, columbine, blue flax, and some marigolds.
� Had first tastes from Veggie Beds - radishes of course.
� Hedges are trimmed and neat,
� Driveway is re-sealed,
� All of the beds have been completely weeded at least once.
� I have a part-time job at a local growers (weeding) so now I can spend my days weeding my garden and my evenings weeding someone elses.
Thanks for stopping by,
Brett
Previous Entries:
May 4:
� The pond is up and running, although not yet stocked with plants.
� The various Daffodils are giving us a nice show this year, the long winter payed off.
� The Redbud and Serviceberry trees are in bloom.
� The Vegetable Garden (Area 14) is planted and the peas and radishes are showing.
� The plants from the Herb Garden (Area 5) have been moved to the Patio Bed (Area 6). Strawberries will be planted around the hedge in Area 5.
� Area 7 is being filled with a variety of annuals and perrenials as a temporary measure to control erosion and keep the area aesthetically tolerable.
April 22:
� My Daffodils have finally begun to open.
� Some of the hyacinths are opening.
� I've lifted the middle pool of my pond and am re-sealing it, 12� goldfish have taken up residence in the large pool, and work has begun on a small filter box for the new pond pump.
� Planting has begun in the veggie garden.
� I will be starting to take my seedlings outside tomorrow in order to harden them off.
� A number of plants are beginning to show healthy signs of growth.
April 18: The yard is only days away from bursting into bloom. We have a bumper crop of Daffodils this year, more than my wife and I can ever recall having, and they are close to opening. Hyacinth, Muscari, and tulips are coming up strong, while the perennials (daylilies, delphinium, coral bells, and much more) are beginning to show signs of life. The exciting time is about to start, and for once it looks as though I'll be able to sit back and enjoy it, rather than working around it. Speaking of work, this is what has been accomplished since last week:
� Finished digging out the two veggie beds (Area 14) to a depth of roughly 1'.
� Dressed the veggie beds with 6 yards of triple mix.
� Built a large, hinged A-frame for the cucumbers.
� Installed soaker hoses to the veggie beds, a drip-frountain in the frog pond, and re-worked the rainbarrels.
� Finished rough dressing Area 7 with soil from veggie beds.
� Dug out and installed the fish pond in Area 7.
� Temporarily laid the walkways through Area 7.
April 11: I've been digging! I'm on a mission to reduce the amount of lawn I have to cut, and it would seem that I've made some strides this year. Here is the short list of accomplishments from the past week or two:
� Area 7 - dug out the foundation wall, patched a 7 foot long crack, dug two 4' deep dry wells about 12 feet from the house, dug three french drains from the basement windows to the dry wells, installed 3 window wells, filled everything with roughly 2 yards of gravel, regraded everything up 2.5 feet at the house to correct a backflow problem;
� Area 14 - this is a new bed, lifted sod from an area measuring roughly 25'x18' (sod was used for regrading Area 7), dug out a 20'x5' patch (another to be dug tomorrow) about 1 foot deep (the soil was used to dress the regrading in Area 7), cast 2 hypertufa wall sections (8"h x 4"w x 60"l) at end of what will be the veggie beds, 6 yards of triple-mix arrives tomorrow to fill and dress these two beds;
� Area 15 - two more new beds, much smaller (see Area 15 page for dimensions), planted in order to attempt a rescue of 2 peonies and a Rose of Sharon that had to come out of other beds, cast a 2' high pedestal for my large wire tree which is centered in one of the beds;
� Cedars in front yard - rescued from Area 7, had been planted next to the foundation, hoping they will survive the transplant to this spot where I intend for them to stay;
� Area 13 - the two beds have been joined to form one bed, removed all the sod from between, will be a larger wildflower bed.
March 20: The snowdrops have been up for a while, the Daffodils, tulips, and Muscari were poking their heads up, only to be dumped on by 6" of snow. Promise of a warm week ahead, so here's hoping they'll survive.