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 Garden - the second season 

The plants are getting more full. Just take a look at the pictures below.  Although it's a lot of work to maintain, it's really worth it.

A view of the front. plants are really filling in the spaces. Compare this with a shot taken last season


We now have a small dog and I found this doggie door that can be put in a screen door.  It is designed for pets under 30 lbs.  It is convenient so the dog can get out and yet control the bugs from getting in.

Our contractor wanted to put this retaining wall in when we first built the home. Due to cost we waited until this summer.   Those concrete blocks were heavy!  They must have weighed 70-80 lbs each.  The first course is the most important to get level.  We put it on a thin layer of sand. After that first course the rest were relatively easy (but I had to re-lay that first course about five times!). Behind the retaining wall we put gravel for drainage.  You want to make sure that water  drains quickly so that the pressure won't cause the wall to burst. The top is a course of brick pavers to match the edging that we put around our garden beds.   Against the concrete foundation we put a tar-like substance so moisture won't seep into the interior.


The plants in the trellis swing garden is in filling up the space nicely.  Compare this with a shot taken last season!
 

This year I placed a more permanent fence around our vegetable garden to keep the bunnies out.  This fence is actually created by putting together two foot high by two foot wide vinyl lattice and then installing green chicken-wire on the inside.  The lattice had stakes to put them into the ground. Four lattice sections to each side.

The lattice is held together by vinyl round tubing that I cut into small sections.  Each two foot section is secured to the next one by friction.

A closer view of the brick paver edging.  It would have been easier to install the pavers the first year the sod was laid  because the edge would have been crisp.  In some spots I had to re-figure where the edge was because the grass had over-grown into the garden area.  We used a cocoa bean shell mulch because it is supposed to be a deterrent to bunnies.  I'm not too convinced about it yet.  It has a strong chocolate smell when it's first put down.

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