Fantasy Gardens

Newcomers to my Backyard

I looked out the window last week and discovered these two visitors in the backyard.  Then my dog, Riley, happened to go out the doggie door, spotted the ducks, and chaos erupted in my nice quiet yard.  A little background information on Riley: He has a history of terrorizing the duck community at my city park and actually wiggled out of his collar and attacked and killed one.  That was a disaster as it was witnessed by about 15 horrified people.  He was with my husband at the time and when they got home, I marched him straight to the dog trainer.  He started going on Pack Walks with many other dogs at that very same park and learned better socialization with dogs as well as leaving the wildlife alone.

Being at the park on a leash in an instructional walk with other dogs is a lot different than my backyard.  He charged and raced all over chasing them, barking and making quite a nuisance of himself.  The ducks promptly jumped in the pool and stayed there.  Of course, now I had to go out there, collar and leash in hand, and have a big discussion with that darn dog.

Riley is the white dog in the pictures above.  The first picture is his graduation from “Dog School” , the second from the same day, and the third is Riley with his friend, Reba.  Doesn’t he look so innocent?

Next day the ducks were still there and so was Riley.  More of the collar and leash; and more discussion.  The ducks flew off and I thought that was the end of it but they were back the next day.  Now they leave for short periods, probably to eat, but they come back.  Of all the available places in this entire area, these idiots pick Riley’s yard.  I am quite certain that they now think they are going to raise their family here (having a pool is a plus according to them) before they continue on the yearly migration to the far north for the summer.

They have been here for a little over a week now and Riley acts like he could care less.  He walks out there, looks at them, and goes on with his business.  If I hadn’t seen this with my own eyes, I would have never believed it.  I am happy that ducks do not dig up gardens and don’t even bother any of my plants or planters.  I put fresh water bowls out for them but am not feeding them.  I do want them to leave when it’s time.  The pool is saltwater and has a great filtering system.  No one will be swimming until they are long gone and I will have a professional come out to test the water.

So, there was a little excitement for a few days, but now the backyard and the gardens are quiet again.  I just love the springtime.  Kathy

WhooooHooooo!!!

The Pirate Chest Garden

The Pirate Chest Garden is finally finished.  All of the succulent plants are in and secure in the cactus soil mix and the soil stayed where it was supposed to.  I feel like a major victory was achieved with that loose soil.

There is quite a variety of small succulent plants and my goal was to try to create the effect of a sunken ship resting at the bottom of the ocean with an underwater wild garden growing all around it.

The Sunken Ship in the Pirate Chest Garden

I added lights, little miniature white ones, throughout the ship and the succulent plants.  This Pirate Chest Garden is going to have its home in my backyard patio.  The patio is a fairly good sized one and the container garden project will be a nice addition.  With the casters that my husband attached to the bottom, it will make moving to sunny or shady locations something I can do without a tow truck.

I also added a little Octopus and a Crab.  I am still looking for a mermaid that might be the right size and maybe some very small fish.  I know I just said this thing was done, but just a few added touched would just put it over the top for me.

This was a lot of work, and most of it in the planning stages.  Thank goodness my next container garden projects will be a little bit faster to complete.  At least I have enough of an idea and a picture in my head before I start.

I think that Container Gardens are an ideal hobby and I now have some great ideas for gift giving to my family and friends.  I am busy stock-piling accessories and parts for future projects.  And, since the gardens are for outdoors, these items do not have to be so brand new and shiny.  The garage was the first place I raided and I retrieved quite a bounty of interesting items.

Under the Sea Garden

So, I hope you enjoy the pictures and I look forward to the next project.  Kathy

Easter in Bloom

The Sunken Ship in the Pirate Chest Garden

It’s just a few days past Easter and the spring weather has just become amazing. All the bulbs in the neighborhood are up and as well as the blossoming trees. The only downside is that my allergies are also in full bloom. Nothing is working this season to help short of putting a clothes pin on my nose so I can finally get a full night of sleep. I am like a zombie in the mornings and this will probably be like this until the end of May. I really want to get outside and plant my vegetable garden, but I think I am going to need help this year. I have raised beds for my gardens so it is so much easier to take care of. Last year my tomatoes were taller than me and we were giving away bushels of tomatoes and peppers.
The finishing touches are being completed today on my Pirate Chest Garden so you can see the pictures. It was fun to do and looks like it will be pretty easy to take care of. The chest has holes in the bottom for drainage and casters to roll it around.

The Pirate Chest Garden

My next project is going to be with bird houses incorporated in a container succulent garden. At least they won’t take near as long as my Pirate Chest to complete. I really like using succulents because they do not require a deep planting space. And they love to be crowded together. I have another big terra cotta planter filled with succulents that have grown pretty big so I will need to remove a few plants and put them somewhere else. I can’t seem to kill them which is a good thing. The big pot got knocked over and broke in a bunch of pieces scattering my plants all over the patio. All I had to do was get another pot, a little more cactus mix, and put it all back together. Not one plant died. If that would have been an Orchid, I would have had a plant funeral. Pictures of that are also in ‘My Pictures’ on this blog.
Got to get up off this couch and get busy. See you all soon. Kathy