The Roof Top Garden: Gramercy Park

A few months back I told you all we have begun planting on our roof top. My expectations were low. I thought it would be a great project for the Ninos, and who knows-- maybe we will grow something successfully. 

To my surprise, we have actually grown food we enjoy eating. We have a variety of green beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and the list goes on…. Check it out, we are quite proud of our roof-top garden. Not bad for beginners…

Yard Work is Hard Work: Part 2

Since we arrived home again after being gone for a month this spring, I have spent quite a bit of time working in the yard, trimming, planting, and overall attempting to tame.  The weather has been nice, and our frequent summer thunderstorms have kept the plants AND the weeds happy and me busy.

We planted most of our landscaping plan last fall before the polar vortex hit, but a few shrubs we couldn't source at the time were left until this spring.  One major eyesore I couldn't wait to give a makeover was the corner where the fence meets the neighbor's garage... 

Lovely, right?  As much as cinderblock walls, climbing vine weed things, and a section of chain link fence are all my style, I couldn't wait to get this area cleaned up.  Our plan has always been to plant a Little Gem Magnolia tree in this spot, partly because its tall, slender shape and reasonable maximum height will prevent it from dwarfing the rest of the yard eventually.  Thank goodness we didn't plant this magnolia in the fall, since they're some of the more sensitive trees in the yard and almost definitely wouldn't have survived.

After calling just about every nursery I could find, this guy was the tallest tree available at a respectable 6 feet.  Before planting it, though, the eyesore corner had to be dealt with (finally), so I dug through our scrap wood/plywood pile and found an extra section of fencing from when we built the privacy screen on our deck.  

By some miracle, this leftover fencing section was exactly the width I needed to cover over the corner and connect the existing fence to the side of our garage, so all it needed was a few decking screws to fasten it in place, and problem solved.  Why didn't I do this months ago??

I realize that the width of the fencing boards and the color from the new section don't coordinate with the old part, but hey, it was a free, easy fix, and the color will fade to match over time anyway.  

This week I finished up the other section of our landscaping plan that had to wait until spring.  In the fall we installed some dwarf hollies that will grow a few feet taller (again, eventually:)) to create a medium hedge distinguishing the main part of the yard from the back, more secluded garden.  But you can see in the photo below, the center section was missing more plants and an arbor to make a doorway to the back garden.

I really did not want to spend a lot on the wooden arbor and even started researching plans on how to build one myself-- until I discovered this one on Amazon for just $135.  Just a few minutes assembling and done.  After more phone calls to nurseries across town, I settled on a pair of boxwoods-- the biggest ones I could find-- to go on either side of the arbor, and two climbing clematis plants that will make their way up the arch and soften the whole look.

Once I had everything laid out and in place I first needed to secure the arbor in concrete footings. 

I love fast drying Quikrete concrete, especially with smaller holes like this.  You don't have to premix it in a tub beforehand, which isn't difficult, but it makes a mess.  All you do is just pour it straight from the bag into each hole, spray some water in there and mix it around with a trowel (or a paint stirrer, if that's all you have on hand:)).

The last area that desperately needed some TLC was the side yard, connecting our side screened porch to the back.  It was just sad looking, with pretty much nothing there at all in the way of living things.  Grass has never grown here, so eventually I would like to cover over the dirt path look we have going with pea gravel or pine straw from this screen porch door down to the back lawn.  But one thing at a time, right?

Last week I bought a few more Nikko Blue Hydrangeas to match the ones already in place nearby and continue the line of them around the corner of the deck. Once the bed continues past these new bushes, the area becomes a true all-shade section of the yard because of some mature trees just overhead.  So I picked out a variety of shade perennials and filled out the space a little and give it some sense of intention.  It's amazing what a few little plants can do!

By the way, after a few days of digging all of these holes, I'm still sore and exhausted!  Landscaping crews definitely earn their money:)

xo

Liza

Yard Work is Hard Work

This winter's Polar Vortex was so brutal that we've been pretty worried about all of those plants we put in the ground last fall, wondering if anything would survive all those icy months.  It can be hard to tell with some things what kind of damage they've sustained until spring really sets in and new growth begins to bud (or not).  Thank goodness most of our plants, trees and bushes survived, and really most things look pretty happy now-- but there were definitely a few casualties, too.  

This weekend I pulled on my gardening gloves and got to work, trimming off dead branches and cutting away sections of anything burned by the frost.  I've been complaining (pleasantly:)) for years about missing a real yard, and now that we have one, I'm amazed at how much maintenance it takes to keep it looking good.  The weeds!  It's like there's a new batch every day.  Thankfully I do really love to work in the yard, weeding included, so I got what I wanted:)

I also picked up some new plants and finished working on a section of the landscaping that we had put on hold.  Stay tuned for the reveal later this week!

xo

Liza

Roof Top Gardening: Gramercy Park

Last weekend we had a beautiful Saturday here in the city. The kids and our neighbors decided to take advantage of the good weather and began replanting our roof top garden. With a little elbow grease we are well on our way to a healthy roof garden. 

 A few months ago Liza's mother was in town, and she came to see our roof top.  She shared some wonderful wisdom and suggested we plant herbs and lettuce. I know Liza's mother has a real green thumb, and we took her advice. 

To Do Lists

Whew!  Well, we made it to the airport and eventually to Berlin after a crazy week toting around a to do list that you wouldn’t believe.  I’m sure I looked like I’d lost my mind, clutching my paper full of scribbles and crossed off items, but without my list I definitely would’ve forgotten something major.  I think we did it— the dog sitter is all set, the bags got packed, the grass is cut— you get the idea:)  

 One thing I’ve been meaning to get around to is planting these little boxwood bushes that we’ve had sitting around for months in pots leftover from a planting project in the front yard last fall.  I can’t believe they survived this winter of constant polar vortex temperatures, but they’re putting out new growth and looking as healthy as can be, so I felt like I had to give these little fighters a chance somewhere in the yard.  Since we won’t be there to water for a while, and spring is a great time to plant anything, I wanted to get them in the ground before we left town.

Along the side of our house in the back yard, there’s a whole bare patch that I have plans to fill in eventually, so I figured these boxwoods would make a good start.  Once the winter set in, my progress on the deck railings and lattice skirting ground to a halt, and there is still a whole side section waiting for me to finish it.  Before planting the boxwoods I decided to break out the saw again and inaugurate a new project season by building my next-to-last section of lattice.  

Here’s how it’s supposed to look... 

And here’s what’s been staring at me all winter… It’s definitely time to do something about this gaping hole, don’t you think?

To support the lattice frame I measured and built, I used scrap pressure treated 2x4s screwed into the deck posts about an inch and a half back from the front edge, so that the lattice would be flush with the posts.  (For the full how-to, check out this post.)  Once these supports are in place, I just screw the lattice frame straight into the scrap 2x4s for a clean look.  And then I could finally plant my patient boxwoods.

I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to finish the one small lattice frame or the final two sections of deck railing before we left.  But I had to cut myself some slack, since our last three days before leaving for Germany were spent at a conference in DC and at the wedding of some good friends.  So I guess I’ll keep things in perspective this time:)

xo

Liza

Monday Blooms

Happy Monday!  We had a wonderful weekend, with perfectly beautiful, warm days and much needed sunshine.  I'm so tired of hearing myself talk about the weather (can it get any more boring?:)), but we've been genuinely elated and enjoying the first days of real spring.  And the back yard is beginning to come to life!!!  After our big landscaping project last fall, we've been dying to see everything start to leaf out and eventually bloom.  

Here's how I spent as much of my weekend as possible:

 (Ignore the overgrown grass, please!  It's on the to do list... :))

xo

Liza

New Bench for a New Season

For the past couple of months I've been telling myself that spring is definitely coming, hoping to sound convincing enough to talk myself off the ledge from booking a last minute trip to Florida :).  This winter-- for all of us, it seems-- has been long and cold and wet, and any excitement over more snow or snow days has long since faded.  But now, here in Louisville there is a hint of hope that temperatures will rise, the birds will return and things will actually start blooming again-- and I couldn't be more thrilled!  I have to confess, I have been in serious hibernation mode for ages, and the cold and snow and dark days have done a number on my motivation to do pretty much anything except stay warm and stay home.  

But now that spring is in the air (if not yet showing much on the trees), I'm getting excited about projects and decorating and yard work all over again!  

Remember all of those new plants we installed this fall?  Soon we'll start to see the back yard come to life and begin to bloom.  Aaaaaahhhh-- I can't wait for all of those hydrangeas and roses!!  I feel like a kid who can't sleep the night before Christmas:)  We are already enjoying the warmer weather and sunshine, especially since this new garden bench arrived and has given me a new favorite spot to read and relax for a few minutes every day.

Happy (almost) spring!

xo

Liza

The Back Yard is Finished!!

Our major landscaping project is complete!!  At least until the spring, when we will add a few more big plants that were unavailable this late in the year.  I am SO excited about how beautiful the yard already looks, and how in just a year or two it will fill out even more and begin to look lush and mature.  What I love about the plans that my Mom gave us to work with is that the bones of the layout give the yard structure and balance throughout the year-- even in the winter, thanks to so many evergreen bushes and trees-- with pretty low maintenance and the flexibility to add in smaller flowering plants and herbs as we like.  Plus there is a great mixture of different hydrangeas and roses to give us tons of cut flowers all summer long.  I've pretty much died and gone to heaven.

The Christmas tree shaped evergreens you can see up against the fence line almost the whole perimeter of the back yard, and these arborvitae get huge.  Eventually, they will fill out so much that they create a wall of green surrounding the whole space, giving the yard a private, secluded feel.

One of the places we're leaving empty until the spring, when the plants we need will arrive, is the area between the main yard and the back "secret garden."  So for now you just have to imagine two tall evergreen tea olive plants that will eventually be trained into an arch to create a doorway into the back garden.

We're also still waiting for a magnolia tree to arrive in the spring for the back right corner where the fence meets the garage.

For the secret garden I'm going to get a bench for the left end and hopefully find a statue for the back side that you'll see as you walk through the archway.  I already have a feeling that this space is going to be my favorite-- with cherry trees, roses, snowball viburnum and hydrangeas, it will be full of summer blooms in peaceful, pastel colors.  I wish winter would hurry up and be over already! :)

xo

Liza

Friday Reads

Hello Friday!

 The weather is a bit on the gloomy side here in NYC, so it is the perfect day to take in a little cap from Maialino's and work on the Mockingbird Conference.  So, I am so excited to be teaming up with Nia J Kiesow on this one. She is brilliant and full of wonderful design ideas. 

Some Finishing Touches on the Deck

With all of this exciting work going on in the back yard recently, I knew the time had come to get myself motivated to finish the deck.  The next step toward being 100% done with this monster project is to build and install lattice screens for the base, which will help the whole thing look more polished (and it will hide the mounds of dirt that we never smoothed out underneath). Once all of the beds are cut and the bushes planted, it will be much more challenging to get the lattice panels into position, so this landscaping project was just the thing to get me back to the saw:)

I decided to set my sections of lattice back inside of the support posts so that they would be flush with the outside edges of the deck rather than stick out beyond, which I think would look tacked on.  I first drilled sections of spare lumber-- 2x4s or 2x6s) two inches back from the edge of each post to provide a backing for the panels and something to drill into.

Then I measured each opening carefully, taking into account the fact that the lattice should clear the ground by an inch or two.  Of course each opening was a totally different size (great planning on my part:)), so each panel was measured and created separately.  I created a simple frame out of pressure treated 1x4 boards, connected by galvanized angle brackets for stability.  Once I had double checked that the frame would fit correctly inside the opening, then I cut each section of lattice with a jigsaw and screwed it onto the back of the frame.

The trickiest section was the little angle pieces for under the stairs, but thankfully my angle tool came to the rescue.  Otherwise it would have taken ages to get those angles right!  In one day I managed to finish seven panels... but now I need to motivate for the last few:)  Still, progress is progress, and I'm pleased.

Happy Monday!

Liza