June 4, 2011
Please ignore that the grass needs to be mowed. We’re just happy it is so much healthier than it was 2 years ago. The beds are finally filling in, and the trees are maturing nicely. Many of the trees and shrubs seem to be twice as big as they were in 2009.
[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

June 4, 2009
I had just installed the playground back then, and hadn’t finished the mulch or edging around it.
[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

Here also is the full 2011 panorama as a single image. Click for a larger version.

Here also is the full panorama as a single image. Click for a larger version.

The irises in full bloom

The roses, just beginning to bloom, and the lavender

Katra filled the planter with annuals.

Another view of the iris bed

A white peony, just starting to open

mmmmmm...... manure

Katra brought wheelbarrow loads to the back and began filling in the beds where they were still low. We never had a chance to fill in behind the new garden wall last year.

The flower bed by the pergola, before the new soil

The same bed after Katra moved some plants, installed some other plants, and filled up the beds. We still have to mulch.

During lunch and later in the day, I began widening another bed over against the east fence. We decided to do this to make the bed blend more with the play center area, and because it was too narrow in parts.

After lunch, with the sod cut back part way. If you look closely, you can see the cut line extending towards the back of the yard

The final product, with the whole bed tilled and a few plants moved in from other locations.

The sargentina crabapples are in full bloom. The smell of these flowers fills the entire yard.

More screws than the crew of This Old House has installed over their entire careers

Ship's wheel, telescope, swings, etc.

The play center will be installed in a mulched area of our back yard, so we also bought some concrete blocks to do edging around the mulch.

Today we plotted out the play center area in the back yard, brought in 600 pounds of topsoil to level the area the play center will be sitting on, and dug a small trench around the play area to install the blocks in. I plotted out the play area in the computer, then we transferred the measurements out to the yard. We’re still trying to figure out to do with the sod we dug out of the trenches (anyone need some 4″ wide strips of sod?)

Incidentally, you can also see our redbud and cherry plum trees behind the play area, which are currently in glorious full bloom.

Some of the plants I grew from seed.

More progress on the pathway. I’m hoping to finish it this year so I can spend the next 3 years working on and off on a different project.

The vegetable garden, where we will have peas, beans, edamame, carrots and lettuce. There are also some shallots coming up from last year, which was a bit of a shock.

Mama Robin is back again this year. She had just finished building this new nest when I took this photo. Now (May 4) there are 4 eggs in the nest.

This is from about 2 weeks ago. The vegetable garden has since been overrun by a mutant squash plant. The National Guard has been notified.