Making The Yards Pretty Again, Spring 2014

Our handsome Mylo, 19, napping by the birdbath

Don trimming the Ivy in back, just this fills up our yard waste receptacle

Finished with the back side, now he has to do the patio side

One of our back yard squirrel buddies...."Hey, got any peanuts or walnuts?"

Regular visitors to our back yard, Mourning Doves. They are so gentle and beautiful. The feed on seed I put on the patio and also on the 'Squirrel Plaza" under the feeder.  They will eat their fill and then settle down and nap under the Rhodies.  We feel honored that they feel safe in our back yard.

Years ago the neighbor took out a lot of their Rhododendron bushes, we weren't aware of it until we saw him digging up the last one that was located in his back yard next to the fence.  We asked if we could have it.  At the time it was an uncared for, scrawny little bush.  We nurtured it, gave it fertilizer and pruned it down every fall so it would grow and fill in.  It sure paid off.  It is a real beauty when it blooms every spring

Mylo has to have his outside time every morning.  He has arthritis and has a little difficulty going up the slope of our back yard to this flower bed, where he sits sideways (his most comfortable position) and takes in the fresh air.  We don't leave him in the sun long, because he is white and can get sunburned.  He loves the back yard, never bothers the birds or squirrels.  The squirrels have even sat next to him eating their peanuts and feel very comfortable around him

The Azalea in front bloomed so profusely this year it hardly showed any leaves

One of the pretty Camelias on our bush in back

The Rhododendrons and Ivy along the driveway in front. It amazes me how many birds use the birdbath during the spring and summer, squirrels too!

Rhododendrons along the front of the house.  The big one to the left I trimmed down about a foot from the ground because it had grown so big, now look at it, and that was just two years ago.  It also has a beautiful dark red blossom, the one on the right has off white blossoms with maroon in the center, they remind me of Orchids

The bird bath in front.  The Black fern behind it was given to me by our neighbor, Dorothy Carr, she died several years ago but every time I look at the beautiful fern I think of her.  She was a special lady!

The tall Douglas Fir trees behind our house,  in mid afternoon.  It was a glorious day to work in the yard, not too warm with a gentle breeze

Waiting for our Dragon Flower to open up.  Not sure it will.  I plan to move it to the front this fall where it will get a lot more sun and do better

Wherever Don is working, that's where Mylo will be, he is such a yard buddy to my 'Yard Cowboy'!

Froggy playing his French Horn, sitting on the decorative grass by our front walk. He's been there for 14 years, lol

Play Your French Horn Froggy
By Carol Glitschka 7/25/06

Relaxing in the garden
Early in the morn
Froggy by the Hosta
Tooting on his horn

Work, or stay and listen
Decision leaves me torn
He sits, as the leaves
His little head adorn

Lovely garden music
I could never stay forlorn
Froggy's played his tunes
Since the day that he was born

Don't have the heart to throw out this beat up pottery bird, but he looks okay among the decorative grass strands.  I took a pottery course at OVTCC (Olympia, Vocational Technical Community College) back in 1973, along with some other art-related classes.  I really enjoyed pottery but eventually focused on painting instead.  I would like to do some more though!

Assortment of flower bed critters, the snail on the right has lost his antennae, but, like the bird above, I'll keep him in his little corner by the front steps

Squirrel pile was a gift from our daughter, the bird houses were also gifts, one from my brother and his wife, the large middle one was built by our son-in-love, Doyle, and the small one I got at Goodwill or G.W. Boutique as I call it!

Repainted the bench by the front walk this year and used some favorite things to decorate it.  The  bird feeder in the center was a gift from our daughter, Amy, years ago.  I was cleaning and refilling the feeders and discovered that it was peeling pretty badly.  I love it, so I decided to repurpose it for future use. After cleaning it I spray painted it with a grey Hammered Iron paint, filled it with clear, colored marbles and am using it as a decoration.  The sea bird on the right was a gift from my wonderful friend Norma and our son Von and wife Becky gifted us the cat holding the 'Glitschka' sign.

I always take pictures of the flower bed by our front walk, I love the huge Hosta and the ferns when they grow. They have to be cut down in the late fall and this space is just so bare all winter.  I put in a little ground cover and so far it is doing well.

Front walk flower bed from another angle

I removed all of the old Ajuga ground cover and weeded the area really well, then planted some Impatiens because it is a partially shaded area

One of the three pots are done, still have the Lobelia to plant

This was a four day project. I had to remove two half-dead bushes and the bed was full of weeds, lots of digging and taking out. Also had to cut back and remove a lot of overgrown ground cover. Transplanted some ground cover to the left area and put in a Pygmy Barberry, Purple Heather and a Bellflower plant, added mulch and it looks so much better

Oh yes, I bought myself an early anniversary present; a Homelite, small hedge clipper.  I began trimming all of the bushes in front, we have a lot in the flower beds. This one is finished, it had grown over the ground cover (none of the dirt around it showed.  It was also about 6 inches taller.  The rocky area was filled with grass and weeds and ground cover that had taken root.

Early spring Jonquils bring a smile to my face

Trimmed up the ground cover, took out all of the grass and weeds  along the base of the stonework along the street and continued trimming the bushes

This is what the bushes looked like before trimming, they were crowding each other out and also the flowers in between

Our daffodils bloomed so nicely and then a wind came up and blew a branch off of one of our huge Douglas Fir trees in back, it flew over the roof and landed......wouldn't you know....on my daffodils.  So I took one of the leaves and wrapped it around the fallen flower.  They stood straight and happy until the blooms were spent

Finished with trimming the bushes along the neighbors driveway in front.  You couldn't even see the dirt, they were so overgrown

Not too pretty but for now they are staked up so they will grow straight.  I need to add mulch around all of them to hide the uglies

It always feels so good to have most of the work done, even the grass is responding to the fertilizer Don put down. The weeds and other growth got a head start on me. I was busy finishing my dog/cat paintings for OVCC, had a deadline and so the plants outside had some happy growing time before the 'clipper' got to them!