Finding Land: One Year Later

A year has come and gone since we first viewed this property, put in an offer, and then had the offer accepted. To celebrate the anniversary, let's take a look at some BEFORE and AFTER photos. What I've done is take the exact images from the initial post, which can be revisited here, and recreated the same shot the other day. Many shots look quite the same, but a few really remind me why my shoulders feel like they're in a Vulcan death grip. Oh, the pain!

The first photo from that hot, September day last year. I recall wanting to remove the deer fence surrounding the raised beds even then. And please, paint that porch. Ideas were percolating like crazy.

Here it is today, many of my wishes fulfilled. No more pink deck (but a little more work to do yet on it such as the metal cables going across it horizontally for a safety barrier) and no more deer fence around the veggie patch. The plants in the foreground were added very recently so will take a while to settle in. This is where many asters and grasses have been planted or moved from other parts of the garden. The idea is that it will be a transitional meadow-kind of garden, while the more formal plantings are closer to the house.

Then, a sunny day but a dried-up bank of a few crocosmias, asters, azaleas and Alchemilla mollis, my arch nemesis. The soil could not be dug into as it was rock hard.

Here it is today on a drizzly afternoon. The soil is much richer having a lot of compost and gravel added. I can easily dig into it now and have done just that . . . many, many times. The bed has been completely redesigned and 95% of the plants have been moved or removed. Many more added.

The "forest" on the northern edge of the property.

Here it is today, with a bad photo, my apologies. What's new here is the fence on the left and therefore the removal of many of these trees, especially farther east. There is Facilities Manager's log pile in the middle of the trees and you can just make out the green chicken cube/coop on the right.

The driveway as it was last November. You can see the hot-pink garden shed in the background.

Today - what's different is the hazelnut on the left is gone (except for the stump), there is a massive debris pile on the right which will go away soon, and also although out of frame, just to the right, a large maple tree has been removed. The shed, barely visible in the distance, is now Casa Azul blue.

This is actually a lovely scene from last November. The grass was starting to green up from all of the fall rains.

Today - wow, so much is different. The bed on the right was created by sheet mulching (which I did in January, you can revisit that post here) and now holds a field of Carex comans 'Frosty Curls' and four large Miscanthus sinensis 'Cabaret' grasses. The gravel path is of course new (and will be expanded) and this is also the top edge of the fire pit area below in the center of the white plastic chairs. The labyrinth garden can just be seen to the left where the labyrinth once was. The whole thing is connected so it doesn't feel like three separate areas any longer.

 One of two gorgeous Oregon white oaks on the property, this one in the wild east fields.

Here it is today. Not much has changed except its neighbor to the right, the large dead Acer macrophyllum has been chopped down by Facilities Manager. There are also many debris piles awaiting their fate, too.

Aaah, labyrinth, you were fun. But you were also 50' in diameter . . . that's valuable gardening space. The rock pile can just barely be seen on the right side.

Even though a gloomy shot with dead grass in the foreground, I still prefer the sight of plants. The gravel path will be extended, as will the bed to the right. These are newly planted, so they have obviously not filled in. I am so excited to observe them do so over the next few decades. There are many evergreen shrubs, small trees both deciduous and evergreen and several perennials. Oh, and the rock pile is gone. Thanks, FM!

The plant prison a year ago. Pink deck and all.

This to me is the most telling and revealing about how I envision the whole garden. I started here first, the epicenter of the garden and it's starting fill in and give a sense of place. This brings me enormous joy.

Facing west a year ago. This was in November with many pretty leaves all around.

Today you can see our new fence and gate, a row of Spiraea betulifolia along the edge of the driveway, a giant debris pile to the left and the removal of the other dead Acer macrophyllum. Also in the forestry area on the other side of the driveway are many many shrubs. They won't be visible from this distance for a year or two.

The berm garden with four or five azaleas along the edge and many other very unhappy plants.

The azaleas have been liberated and the soil improved. Many happy plants.

Same scenario here, but at least it's a sunny shot.

Compost, gravel, plants, plants and more plants.

Parting shot, much like the initial photo for this post.

Here it is today, complete with volunteer pumpkin vine on the left.

I love this place. The beauty of it, the serenity, the wildlife all fill our hearts with such joy. It is a privilege to live here. We are two grateful, humble souls looking forward to the next 30 years on this land.

That's it for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always, thank you for reading and until next time, happy gardening!