Positive Focus Sunday - And The Project List Grows!

Yes. More bamboo!

This was actually free also and very easy to acquire. It was already cut down and only about a mile from my house. I just needed to load it up. 

So off I went at 7 a.m. to gather up my bamboo and haul it home. At the time I didn't have any idea of what I would be using it for other than 'something' in the garden.

But actually, a few days later, it hit me. 

I definitely need a permanent fence around the veggie garden. However, I am talking about a lot of garden area to contain (or keep dogs out of). There is this small issue of the dollars necessary to pay for it. That I didn't have!

However...

I had a whole car load of bamboo. The fence only needs to be a little over 3 feet tall. It just has to be 'solid' enough for a hundred pound dog to get through. 

So now it is a matter of sorting out the bamboo by 'posts' and 'cross bars' and vertical bars. And a couple of rolls of twine. 

Of course, I still have one large garden area to plant up before I can start on the fence. But both should be completed next week. Maybe. I know I will at least have one side of the fence up. Figuring out the gate will be the most challenging part. But it will be doable. 

So there are projects 1 and 2.

Then I can move to the front yard.

Project 3 and 4 will be doing the borders around the outside of the herb garden and sinking the water tub into the ground.

Projects 5 and 6 are clearing out the flower beds and planting them up. Project 7 will be, if there is any bamboo left over, creating a low 'barrier' around the beds. 

Projects 8 and 9 will be the brick walkway around the left side of the front yard and hopefully to the herb garden area. Part of this means I need to take the two pots of thyme and mint, divide them and repot in order to have more 'starts' to place in the walkway to spread. 

Project 10 will them be taking the square pavers I put down for the present walkway and making a spot where I can sit the grill in the back. I would like to exchange the grill for more of a fire pit. I am thinking of placing it just outside the garden area in the back so I can view my veggie garden and the dogs won't go crazy with me sitting outside and not being able to get near me. 

The eleventh project will my 'ledge' along the front fence where I will plant out my butterfly bushes. I'll have to fill in some of the ledge will something other than the clay fill dirt currently there. And make some cages to go around the bushes until they get bigger to keep the dogs off them. 

For number twelve, I would like to make a better support system in the back for the berry bushes. It also means I need to find a more 'organic' way to get rid of the wild grape vines and weeds which are along the back fence which the neighbor just allows to grow. However, after pulling out a lot of grape vines, I am eying them to weave into my fencing in some manner. 

Lucky 13 will be a potting area on the side of the house. It is also north-east facing, so not all that much sun during the day. But it is a concrete slab attached to the house and, while not covered, I can use it to pot up, divide plants and organize my unused containers. Creating this space will get stuff off my front porch too.

So these are the projects I would like to complete by the end of August. I figure three months would be reasonable to get these projects finished. And the good thing, is other than some twine and a couple of bags of compost, I have everything I need and won't cost me anything much. 

Oh, of course, there will always be weeding. My goal is to get things sets up so there is less weeding each year. 

The veggies are going well. The clematis are climbing. We have had some rain this weekend. Summer is starting to really heat up. 

Things look good!