the Backyard B'zmany hands make light work!

Our task this meeting was to take the dry creek bed that Suzi had started some time back and bring it to the level of excellence that we have come to expect of the B’z.

Runoff is a frequent problem in yards with a steep slope, and in Suzi’s yard the runoff from the downspout and rain barrel overflow needed to be directed and not allowed to just cut a gully through the yard. Suzi had begun to try to take it in hand, but it was a daunting task for one person and it was understandable that she had been putting off dealing with it.

Where we began. Lots of rocks, but no real organization going on here!

The first step was to move the old weed blocking material out of the way and till the path intended to direct the runoff. Then the dirt was mounded on the sides and sloped toward the middle. The whole trick of the thing is to make it look natural and not like a sluice.

Here you can see the tilled path and the beginning of the rock placement.

You need to be a bit of a Rock Whisperer to get the rocks placed so that they look like they were deposited there naturally. You must overcome your need for order and neatness, and embrace a little chaos. Keep in mind the natural streams you have seen, and allow the sloppy edges in nature to be your guide.

Here you can see the mix of large, medium and small rocks that form the edge of the dry creek bed.

“Where did these rocks come from?” you may wonder. Well, some came from Nancy’s yard in the area she calls the rock garden because rocks just sprout up from the ground there. Some we dug up from Suzi’s yard or relocated from other areas. Any unattached rock is fair game as far as we are concerned, and we are not above stopping on the side of the road to pick up a worthy specimen from the ditch.

Here's one we dubbed The Fanny Rock because, well, see for yourself...

All of the toting and hauling and rearranging paid off big-time in the end. Some plants and some big chunks of the pine trees that fell in the yard one rainy, windy evening were relocated and the results were even better than we anticipated. Sometimes we shock and surprise ourselves, and this was, I think, one of those times. We were amazed at the transformation – the best part of every meeting! And we could hardly believe how easy this was to do.

Can you believe the difference? This went from blah to WOW!

Another thing we have fun with is what we call “gilding the lily” which is where we add the little touches that put the design over the top and really bring in the “oohs” and “ahhs.” Here a red chair adds some pop to a corner that wasn’t even noticed before.

This scene is so inviting. I want to take my iced tea out there and wait for it to rain so I can see this creek bed in action!

Practicality comes through all we do, too. Suzi needed a path across the creekbed for a wheelbarrow or mower to traverse, so we took some of the flattest and largest stones and made a path that won’t stop the water’s path, but will allow her to get from one side to the other easily.

Functional and attractive - does it get any better??

We all agree that the B’z meeting days are among our favorite days of the month. When we began this adventure we never realized that it would be just as much fun to work in someone else’s yard as it is to work in our own. The synergy of ideas that we have when we all come together is what makes it such a transformative experience – for the yards and for us! Each of us contributes a unique perspective and a unique talent, and we are all important to the process. I would recommend starting a group like the  Backyard B’z to anyone. But you would be fortunate indeed to find a group of women as fabulous as our four!

It was with great anticipation that I looked forward to the monthly meeting of the B’z. It was my turn to benefit from the group effort and boy did I need it! I have a 3/4 acre lot, which didn’t sound like much when I moved here from my 2.25 acre lot, but is a lot to take care of alone all the same. My brush pile is at the far back right hand corner of the lot, and the front of my little plot of ground slopes up from the street quite a bit. So it’s a hike from the street to the brush pile, and I soon get worn out from the trips.

Also, I prefer working in the back of the house where I am out of sight and not under scrutiny by the constant parade of cars and neighbors. So needless to say the whole front area has been sadly neglected since my one big effort in spring when I discovered that my neighbors had been allowing their dogs to use my juniper bank as a restroom all winter. After collecting a good sized grocery bag of dog poo on just the left size, I walked away in disgust and abandoned all effort.

My trees belch sticks and branches every time a puff of wind stirs, and the ivy on either side was conspiring to cross over, join hands and eliminate the driveway altogether. The juniper was advancing over the orderly row of stones toward the street, and everything had generally run riot and misbehaved. It was, in a word, a mess.

Street view. Depressing!

As I got ready for the day, Stealth Cat (Stealthius incognicatus) watched me with a jaundiced eye. When I took his picture he accused me of trying to steal his soul and stalked off indignantly.

Whose idea was it to plant ivy? I can’t believe they still sell this stuff in garden centers and people continue to fall for it under the mistaken idea that they can control it. Ha!

The ivy plague advances.

I’m a person who likes things neat and tidy, I love a clean edge. But you sure wouldn’t be able to tell from my front yard. My neighbors have no idea that the back yard is a paradise. All they see is this weed pile disguised as a mailbox bed. I’m so sorry!

My untidy mailbox bed. Oh my.

So these were the challenges that stood before us. We gathered at around 10-ish in the morning to enjoy some coffee and freshly baked blueberry scones on the screened porch, then hitched up our sox and went to work. Jane loves to cut down trees, so I asked her to take out any of the small trees in the front that she thought she could handle. I have too many trees as it is, and don’t want to encourage anymore oaks or tulip poplars. The dogwoods and Japanese maples can stay because they grow slowly and stay small. I also had an abundance of drooping and dead branches hanging around. We dubbed her “Lumber Jane” as she labored all day to clear the view and turn my front into a deer park.

Suzi, Sharon and I spread out to attack the edges and clear all the fallen branches and sticks. We must have hauled six tarps or more of debris to the back! Suzi observed that even if you don’t have time to weed a whole bed, if you get the big obvious weeds and the edges done, it improves things by 100%. Very true. Sometimes we get overwhelmed by the big picture and give up before we start, but even a little effort can be rewarding.

But believe me, this was no small effort! We reclaimed the edges of the driveway, the edges of the mailbox bed and the edges of the juniper bed.

Wow! What an amazing difference! Just look at those edges!

Now my house doesn’t look like a neglected mess from the street. Hm, someone might actually believe a gardener lives here. Curb appeal plus! I’m shocked at how bad I had allowed it to get.  It slowly spun out of control, but with the help of my wonderful comrades-in-arms it’s restored to its former glory, and even better than before. Now if I could only get the trees to drop their sticks into a bag I’d be all set. Soon the leaves will start falling again, and I’ll be mulching night and day to try to keep up. That’s why I love my Worx leaf mulcher! It spins leaves into garden gold! Finally I can use them for something instead of just creating a mountain in my back yard.

Oh look! There IS a mailbox there and not just a weed pile!

I’ll use those leaf shreds to mulch this mailbox bed, and all the other beds, for the winter. The leaves will break down and enrich the soil, then I’ll cover them with pine bark mulch or mulch from my mulch mountain donated by a local tree service.

I still don’t like working in my front yard, but maybe now I’ll be able to at least keep up with tending the edges and pulling the big weeds that stick up. If not, there’s always my next turn with the Backyard B’z!!!

It never fails. The rains of April raise our hopes that this year will be different! This year we will have ample rain, spaced just right! Days of steady rain, or even better, steady rain at night at just the right intervals to keep our hydrangeas hydrated and our lilies lush. And then sometime in mid-May the spigot is turned off and we look in vain for rain.

By the beginning of June we’re outside watering morning and evening as the ground turns to hardened dust and our poor perennials try to squeeze out a bloom with precious little resources. In the winter I swore I was going to install soaker hoses this year so that I wouldn’t have to stand outside fighting mosquitoes while watering, watering, watering. But here it is, June again, and did I buy soaker hoses? No.

How long has it been since we had a good soaking rain? Two weeks? Three? Saturday there was a nice “pop-up thundershower” as the weather folk like to call them. But then back to day after day of 90 degree temps and sun, sun, sun. It’s enough to make you want to take out the hydrangeas, who seem to be problem drinkers, and install some tee-totaling cactus. Well, almost.

Fortunately last fall I had a tree company dump a load of shredded mulch in my driveway, and spending day after day in the spring spreading it 3″ thick all over everything now helps keep the ground cool and retain any moisture that might stray into the area. It attracts good earth worms to aerate the soil as well. Other than that, how do we cope with the effect of blistering heat on our gardens day after day? How much time do you spend watering? Do you have any tips or tricks for keeping your parched plants happy?