Thursday, August 20

A lovely star jasmine is waiting to be planted. It will go in a spot where it can climb AND spread its sweet scent.

With stronger netting, our defense against deer is holding.

Zucchini is doing well.

Wanting to save water we have let the yard on the west and north
go brown.

We have de-thatched the yard on the east and will re-seed with a drought resistant mix.

August 12

We apologize to our restless readers! (you know who you are)
We have had family visiting from the midwest, and we took time before they came to prepare. So, while work has never stopped, our photographs and postings have fallen by the wayside. Thank you, readers, for helping us get back on track!

While our sons and friends were with us, we had a little "rock placing party". They laughed at first, but in the end, put their backs and creative energies into it and things are looking quite fine.

Also, we took a trip to the Oregon coast, and while there, collected some driftwood. Those have found places around the beds.

Our issues with the deer continue. We don't think of it as a war, but rather an effort to co-exist. But conflicts have arisen. Our goal is to put in plants they don't find interesting, and protect the ones they do.

An internet search told us that stringing fish line can be a deterrent in some cases. At the appropriate heights, they get confused because they can't see it but it is an obstacle. It has to be close enough to the house or other structures to discourage simply jumping over it. We tried it, but some mornings  we could see from prints and munched plants that it was not totally effective. One day I looked out to see a doe inside the garden. I walked out to the deck and watched as she deftly ducked between the lines and hopped on out. We have put another row of fish line in the middle and are waiting...

We have one more new garden bed. Alongside the straight walkway, its ambling line is meant to create a contrast. We hope the Lilies of the Valley will fill it in.

According to our plan, we still have one more garden bed to create near our driveway. Once the autumn rains begin (notice the optimistic tone that this will, indeed, occur), we will plant about a dozen more trees out at the periphery of our "yard". For now, they are behind protective netting. We have a few more rocks that we haven't placed, as well.

While shopping at Costco, we happened upon some solar powered lights that we are trying out. The largest light the ends of the entrance walkway. Others proved too small to actually light a path and are placed around for general atmosphere.

And finally, a shot of recent visitor (or perhaps a fellow resident!)

Irrigation

As we have created new garden beds, we've been confronted with the challenge of finding the most efficient, most convenient, and most plant-friendly system for keeping it all irrigated. We did have systems in place when we lived here before, but only some of it is functional. All of it is in need of repair and upgrading. We are learning that some watering zones have pop-up and sprinklers paired together in ways that don't work anymore. We are trying to modify what is there to suit our current needs, knowing we need to totally upgrade the whole picture. Aiyahh! Time to call in an expert!

Here's one example of a modification we've made: changing a single sprinkler head to also have a faucet that we can attach a hose to. This one has been a bugger because it kept springing a leak. We'll bury the line once we know it's good.