Patio Season Has Begun!!

Last summer got away from me and before I knew it, the snow was flying...I wasn't going to let that happen this year!

I got out my design magazines and this backyard patio/lounge in Style at Home Magazine has the feel and aesthetic that I am hoping to achieve...

My inspiration......

The clean lines, the simplicity, the greenery...

Hostas, cedars, herbs.....black, grey, cream and green...

I plan on also doing a similar fence with horizontal fence boards...

I love this gate/entrance way...I hope to also do something similar to this as well...

And with that......

My backyard makeover had begun! 

A HUGE THANK YOU to my brother, Mike McDonald, of Toronto who has his own home reno/construction business (website is in the works) for putting together this gorgeous patio that I use on almost a daily basis (weather permitting).

Mike dug it out ...wheelbarrow load after wheelbarrow load....and I was able to use the sod in other areas and the top soil in the flower beds surrounding the yard.

We put down gardeners 'paper' to help prevent weeds/grass growing up through...It was a very, very productive first day!

Then came the gravel....I ordered mine from Dirt Cheap in Kitchener. Mike wheelbarrowed every load from the driveway, levelled and then tampered it. Then, the limestone sand went on before the stones were placed.

And......VOILA!!

The stone is pressed concrete from Rona in Guelph and they get their stones from Triple H Landscape in London. I had really wanted to try and source as much as I could from smaller, local companies...and  was absolutely able to with great success!

Cheers! The first glass of wine on my new patio!



The monster fern is from a local nursery in Guelph.



The patio set (I'm still putting all the pieces together) is from The Bay. The coffee table is a rustic crate I found in my parent's neighbour's barn! I did the planters myself, with coleus from Meadowville Garden Centre in Guelph and planters from Home Depot.

This is what it's all about....a friend and I enjoying a summer evening (Canada Day to be exact) on the new patio....

Thanks SO MUCH again Mike...I LOVE IT!!

RR

Curb Appeal..

While I'm finalizing my backyard plans, quotes and design, I thought I'd do some work on my front yard.

This was the front of my cute little cottage 'before'.It was a great starting point of established boxwood and lilac hedges (see below), giant hostas and bleeding hearts.



To begin to add to the curb appeal, I started off with planters with some annuals and went from there....

I wanted to stick with a consistent colour palate and consistent plants for the planters. I used Coleus (in 2 colours), Grasses, Potatoe Vines,  and Creeping Jenny.

I also stuck with the same style of planter. Squared, clean lines and metal.

Here is a picture of the planter, just after planting about a month ago...

This is a picture of the planter today....

As you can see, it's really filling in and I love the look! The hostas are really coming along too (see to the right of the picture)....they are one of my favorite perennials....they come in so many wonderful shades of greens and different leaf shapes & sizes.

These are the smaller planters up my front steps...a cute addition to just add a bit more foliage and colour.



It was then onto the perennial bed that boarders the sidewalk.

This actually started last summer when I began  'phase one'. I dug and planted 3 smaller beds, with the plan to make it into one larger bed this summer. With my trusty four legged, furry gardening partner, we set to work!

 

These are tulips I planted in one of the 3 gardens in the front of the house last summer. When I transformed the 3 beds into one larger bed this spring, I dug up the bulbs (after letting the flowers brown) and have replanted them, ...so fingers crossed they come up again next year !

I had my plan, knew the species I wanted, the colour scheme I was working toward and I then made many trips to various garden centres around Guelph and Burlington. One of my favorites is Northland Nursery just north of Waterdown (they have great prices, an amazing selection and to top it all off...they have Labs and horses..I was in heaven!) The plants below on my side stairs are all from Northland.

Notice the walkway to the left in the picture above? The garden that runs along it was also a project last summer and I ended up planting it almost entirely with hostas...the picture below is one of my favorites!

So...after lots of digging, removing sod, adding soil, peat, 'fertilizer', planting, watering and mulching....here it is..my new front yard perennial garden!!







I used 3 different Hydrangeas, a Burning Bush, SandCherries, a Barberry, Grasses, Dogwoods and a variety of other perennials, with the goal of sticking with a green, white, pink and deep burgundy/red wine colour scheme.

I am really, really happy with the final result and can't wait for it to begin filling in!

Down the road (hopefully by the end of the summer) I will also put in a flagstone patio between this new bed and the existing hosta bed, from the driveway to the walkway into the house. It is the never ending fun of home ownership!

Once things have filled in just a bit more (and I've cut the grass), I'll post a full 'after picture' of the front of the house/cottage...so "stay tuned"!

RR