yard work.

okay, so i'm still on this gardening kick. it probably didn't help that i bought 2 gardening (landscaping and perennials) books last friday at our favorite used bookstore. last year i just randomly planted stuff without thinking much about the next year. well, i'm going to do it better this time around. i roughly measured our backyard this weekend and sketched everything on graph paper so that it would be to scale. i then redrew it all in illustrator so that i can easily make changes and plan plantings accordingly. one of the books said to divide your yard up and tackle one section at a time. this makes tons of sense. earlier, i was looking at the whole thing, thinking that i would never be able to get it the way i want it. well, i'm going to try!

everything should be pretty self-explanatory. the part labeled 'house' is actually the sun-room and the very back end of the kitchen. our main patio is brick and there is a ton of cement! The green is obviously grass and the brown patches are just dirt for now. (and actually, i lied... that very middle patch of green is just dirt right now, but we are trying to remedy that as i speak!) the dark green circles are evergreen trees/bushes and the lighter green circles are shademaster locust trees that we are trying to revive. our plan for the second patio is to build a pergola and keep our patio furniture and grill out there. 

our backyard right now looks so much better than it did when we first moved it, but there is lots of work still to be done. i plan on planting some shrubs and lots of perennials so that maybe next year, it's not quite so much work and there won't be dirt (and rock) patches everywhere. any thoughts, ideas or favorite plants? i keep finding things that i like and am browsing websites for more ideas... 

more diy.

i promise i will try my very best to limit my garden posting after this... but i just couldn't resist sharing these great diy ideas (and beautiful photos) from a new favorite website: diyideas.com.

this website has tons of great ideas and tells you how to put it all together! seriously considering subscribing to the magazine... but it seems like every mag i subscribe to goes under... is it me?

the pots above would be great to fill with herbs and attach to the side of our storage building...

and i have already considered fencing off an area for the garden so that our dog won't think we've created a personal salad bar for him... this would be a nice pop of color...

i have several vegetable/fruit cans saved from cooking that i just couldn't bear to toss, thinking surely i could use them for something. well, now i know what i'm going to use them for!

these are a little more advanced than what i will probably be able to do myself, but i would love to create a little pond out of an old tub!

and this little shelter is to die for... i've dreamt of building a pergola to stand on the concrete block of what used to hold the little metal storage shed. though with our west texas winds, i don't know that attaching fabric of any kind would be very smart...

and of course, didn't really get to work in the yard much this weekend... (sigh) maybe soon!

veggie time.

this warm weather must be messing with my mind! all i can seem to think about are veggies and gardening lately. (or has my homemaking gene finally kicked in?) hoping to maybe, maybe have some time to work on that this weekend. i look forward to eating fresh tomatoes, basil, squash... but i'm concerned that our little doggy might think we're growing him a personal meal outside... and while i already have some space set aside for the garden, i'm thinking about maybe planting in containers this year. anyone have any experience with this? i have found this great website you grow girl with lots of helpful tips and ideas on growing practically anything.

with that in mind, i'm loving these plant markers found on etsy (made by ninagibsondesigns). do i see a diy project in the future? perhaps. these great fork markers give me lots of ideas...