Yard work...

[DMD123]

Tired... got the coral bark into the ground and of course forgot to get picture of it, lol. I basically dug out a 6' round hole and broke up the soil with a shovel and hand mixed in different organic soil amendments so that the tree would have the correct things it needed to thrive. I then spread out soil all around the outside of the edging and planted some grass seed. Not perfect by any means but will likely blend into the lawn better now. Will try to remember to take a pic and show you guys. Im so looking forward to this thing become a 15'+ tree and filling in that area.

 

[DMD123]

Picture as promised

 

[DMD123]

At this point just trying to enjoy the yard for a bit before fall comes. Also trying to finish off little things like the rock garden before the bad weather. Doing up the rock garden has been a bit of a challenge. Hard to make a bunch of stacked rocks look natural and the larger rocks are heavy! lol.

 

[DMD123]

Has been a bit slow growing but appreciate when it flowers. Our Gardenia plant with some special effect added, lol

 

[DMD123]

Kind of got the little rock garden somewhat done...

Before


After

 

[DMD123]

The new grass I planted is coming in nicely and the tree is now a whole different color spectrum. Fall colors are already on it!

 

[DMD123]

Not sure if these are 'native' but at work I will find these on occasion.

I brought this one home and released it into my maple.

 

[DMD123]

Running out of warm weather fast... just trying to wrap up a few loose ends in the yard. Dont think I will get sprinklers done but hopefully get some stepping stones set and keep the grass green to get through the winter.

I am seeing a bunny regularly in the yard. Its just been in the lawn and not eating any ornamental plants so Im letting it be. I have a mole that will pop back in on occasion, I treat the lawn with repellent which keeps him away for a while but he came back quicker this time. may have to try something different. I think I have racoons visiting. Im seeing spots dug up in the grass (looking for grubs) and there is a small tree that has been 'attacked'. I think they jump down on to it from the neighbors tree ang the tree is just too small to take the brunt of this. I need to stake up the tree yet again this year due to the animal vandals, lol.

 

[fishguy1978]

My vine maple turned

 

[DMD123]

Great splash of color from the vine maple.

 

[DMD123]

Borrowed some mole traps from a friend and caught one this morning. Hopefully its just the one...

Now I can get the yard patched back up.

 

[sir_keith]

Does it count as 'work' if I merely 'supervised?'

I've been thinking about installing a retractable awning over my deck for some time, and this month I finally pulled the trigger. Given how hot the last few summers have been, I installed sun screens on my skylights and west-facing windows last year, and they significantly reduced the amount of heat radiating into the house on hot, sunny days. But my east-facing Trex deck absorbs a lot of heat during the morning and early afternoon, and it radiates that heat into the house through French doors that open onto the deck. Thus the idea of a retractable awning. Of course, being able to have lunch/dinner on the deck when it's otherwise too sunny or rainy is an added bonus.

Here's the 'before' configuration, with a large patio umbrella. The little pieces of blue tape on the deck mark the maximum extension of the new awning.



Here are a few shots of the installation process-





Here is the awning in its fully retracted position-



And fully extended. The awning was made by an Italian company called KE Outdoor Design-





Let the good times roll!

 

[DMD123]

@sir_keith, loving that awning. We have debated to build a covered area over our new patio we poured this year but our issue also includes the fact a permanent fixture would block any winter time sun from coming in. An awning like that would help us out both in summer an winter.

Is yours a manual closing system or electric?

 

[FishBeast]

Wow! You guys have beautiful yards and properties. The grass died in my backyard as our sprinklers went kaput and I never got around to taking care of them. I figure just let the surrounding forest take over...

 

[sir_keith]

@sir_keith, loving that awning. We have debated to build a covered area over our new patio we poured this year but our issue also includes the fact a permanent fixture would block any winter time sun from coming in. An awning like that would help us out both in summer an winter.

Is yours a manual closing system or electric?

It's electric, controlled by a remote. The electricians and the awning installers were here at the same time, which worked out really well. An electrician had to get into the 'attic' crawl space to hard-wire the awning, and of course the access point was at the other end of the house, as far away from the dormer where the awning is mounted as it could possibly be. So he had to do quite a bit of crawling around up there. The awning also has a motion sensor so it closes automatically if it gets too windy, 20 mph or so.

While the electricians were here I also had them install an additional outlet and a light receptacle over my cooking station at that end of the deck.

Next Spring I plan to install new low voltage lighting in the back yard, which we ripped out this year when we re-built the railings on the stairway down to the beach. That will be a fun project.

 

[DMD123]

@sir_keith, Look forward to seeing your lighting project. That’s something I want to do also but I want real hardwired lights and not solar. The solar stuff just does not seem to last very long.

 

[sir_keith]

Fall color in the garden-

 

[lloyd378]

Beautiful!

How much time did you spend this morning picking up leaves first?

I have to rake leaves tomorrow as I planned today but then my in-laws showed up for lunch.

 

[DMD123]

I know I spent the early afternoon (3 hours) doing fall cleaning and raking oak leaves. The worst part? I don’t have an oak tree, its the neighbors.

But I didn’t spend the whole time on leaves, was cleaning up front bed and mowed. A frew shrubs needed trimming and some light pruning so got that all done. Just waiting for the next round of leaves to drop.

 

[sir_keith]

Beautiful!

How much time did you spend this morning picking up leaves first?

I have to rake leaves tomorrow as I planned today but then my in-laws showed up for lunch.

No time at all, really: I just blew off the driveway, and that was it. A few of my maples have just started to drop, but most of the leaves are still on the trees. That's likely to change over the next week or so, especially with all the rain.