Remaking the Front Garden, Part 3

 Now things are happening!

After looking at the size of the front steps as they were taking shape, we decided we wanted the whole thing bigger. This new size will have some mass and make more of a destination, not to mention being more functional.

All of the old plants that we were not keeping have now been hauled off. It is an unpleasant feeling for me as a gardener to watch healthy plants that have some age being destroyed. Unfortunately, most of them were not what we wanted or were not in the right spot. We decided to save the cut-leaf Japanese maple by the head of the new sidewalk, as well as an unknown old rambling rose that is shocking red. We'll probably move the rose next spring, but it's fine where it is for now.

The paved circle makes a statement. The gravel paths through the garden feed off of this as well. It will be further edged with Montana slate in irregular slabs as a transition to the planted areas. I can't wait to have things spilling onto this!

We're liking the edge detail. This will be more colorful once the concrete dust has been washed off.

We're in high plant lust mode now, making lists, planning shopping trips. First up: Cistus Nursery near Portland, Oregon. We're renting a van for that one.

Still to come: large rock placement, dry stream construction, massive amounts of dirt and compost hauled in and contoured, and many other details.

Remaking the Front Garden, Part 2

It's amazing what people with strong backs (and a jackhammer, and a sod cutter) can get done in just two days.

All of the grass is gone, for good. Today, they busted up the sidewalk, the front steps, and a big concrete slab that had been hiding under the front deck. It was loud. Things shook all day in the house!

This state of destruction is both distressing and exhilarating, because it's currently a mess, but will soon start to take shape in its new form.

Next up, I think: digging and potting all the plants. That should be interesting!

Remaking the Front Garden, Part 1

After living in the house for two years, we are finally embarking on a total makeover of the front yard. Specifically, we are planning to rip out everything that's there currently, redo the sidewalk and front steps, and convert the remaining space to garden beds. Work should begin in early May.

Here are some "before" photos. The posts of the old fence are still standing, for the most part, because we couldn't easily wrest them from the ground and don't want to leave the concrete they are set into in place. Workers with a jackhammer will make short work of them! The small deck under the picture window will be removed.

Some of the plants will be lifted and replanted once the new beds are built; others will go to yard waste. The sidewalk and front steps will be removed and replaced with pavers and stone slabs. There's some noisy work ahead.

All of the existing lawn will be stripped and there will be no turf in the new garden.

More photos to come once demolition/construction commences.

iPhone Painting: Squash

This painting was made with the Brushes app on an iPhone 4.

iPhone and iPad Paintings

The last couple of months, I've been creating paintings using either an iPhone or an iPad, using the Brushes app. This painting of some baby bok choy was created on an iPad.

Working on a touchscreen is an interesting experience. I have used a stylus and tablet for years to make marks in Photoshop, Painter, and other applications. Working directly on the image with my fingers is very expressive.

Like all software applications, Brushes has a limited features set. One thing I'd like to see in future releases is the ability to blend colors. As the program exists now, I find that it works best to paint as if I'm using tempera or gouache, building layers from the back forward. I also find myself laying down color, then using another color to trim away or shape the first color. I'm sure my technique will continue to evolve.

Best of all, I can draw and paint while waiting to set up a studio space. Who knows, the solvents might remain packed for some time.

A New Garden Emerges

One of the heartbreaking tasks we faced when moving from Vashon Island was what to do with the extensive gardens we had made there.

It was obvious that we would leave the majority of the plants in place, either because it wasn't practical to move them, or the plants were common enough that we knew we could find them again.

Some things, however, were unusual or beloved enough that we made the effort to dig them, pot them up, and move them to the new house. We ended up taking 71 different plants, and took multiples of some of them. The plants filled a 20-foot truck.

Once at the new house, we arranged all of the plants in the shade of a tulip magnolia. After a couple of weeks, we moved the sun-lovers out from under the tree canopy and soon realized that some things needed to be planted—soon.

We intend to extensively remake the yard and existing flower beds, and didn't want to just plant things wherever there was room without a plan. However, the needs of the plants soon won out, and we decided to start the gardening sooner than we had planned.

We started by planting some of the sun lovers, including Helianthus 'Lemon Queen,' Angelica gigas, Heliopsis 'Lorraine Sunshine,' and Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff' in sunny positions around the front yard. We will have to move these again once remake the front garden, but they are all much happier in the ground. The dahlia is blooming, and will soon be joined by the sunflower.

In the back yard, we build a raised berm that is half in sun for much of the day and half in shade, at least until late afternoon. We planted this with Hacquetia, Hellebores, Amsonia, Pittosporum, Actea, Brunnera, Philadelphus, Mahonia, Carex, Dichroa, Cardiocrinum giganteum, Chrinodendron, Billiardiera longifolia, Himalayan maidenhair fern, and Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens). Under the shade of a flowering pear, we will plant giant red trilliums and a Royal fern.

The previous owners operated a day care center at this house, and much of the back area was set up as a play area, with a large wooden platform and lots and lots of play chips. We took the platform and arranged it in front of our new bed, then arranged some of the large pots we brought with us and filled them with more of the plants we moved: Paeonea 'Kopper Kettle,' Ozmanthus davidii, Eupatorium 'Chocolate,' Romneya coulteri, Phormium 'Apricot Queen,' another Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff,' and Penstemon 'Garnet.'

Because many of our plants were already larger than typical nursery stock, the beds and pots have an instant impact. Nice!

We still have a collection of shade-lovers under the magnolia tree. We're not sure where they're going to end up, as we don't have much shade in this yard. They might end up planted under the tree that is now sheltering them.

Meanwhile, we've taken extensive measurements of the yard and are working on a master drawing that we can use to plan the rest of the gardens. More to come!

On Leaving a Place We Love

After four and a half years of living on Vashon Island, we have disembarked.

Once we found ourselves in a position to buy a house, it no longer made sense to live so far from work. We bought a nice place with lots of light, lots of room, and a great yard that we will remake into gardens over the coming year.

Departing was both exciting and terribly sad. We both loved many things about living on Vashon. It's very inaccessibility meant that it was less developed, more wild. The bird life there was fantastic—we encountered many species of birds that neither of us had experienced before after decades of living in the Seattle area. I used to love watching the Spotted Towhees, Black-Eyed Juncos, Varied Thrushes, Banded Doves, Pileated Woodpeckers, Red-Banded Flickers, Steller's Jays, Cedar Waxwings, and a wide assortment of wrens, finches, swallows, and song sparrows. Bald Eagles were a common site along the bluff across the road from our house, soaring on the thermals and emitting their ethereal cries.

So far, we've seen Flickers, Hummingbirds, Finches, and Wrens at the new house, as well as the ubiquitous urban residents American Robins, European Starlings, and Crows. Because there are mature trees and large shrubs, we are hopeful of attracting more species. Once we start work on the gardens, we will, as before, take creation of attractive habitat into consideration when designing and selecting plants.

One of the great things about living in a small community (or, it could be a not great thing if you feel differently about people) was having so many folks know us by name, at the grocery store, the coffee roasterie, the nurseries, the farmers' market. We were always running into people we know when running errands. Now we live in a densely populated suburban area, which is oddly impersonal. It's possible that places I frequent will come to know me, but I think the feeling of being part of a community will be more elusive.

The hardest part of leaving was moving away from the reasons we moved there in the first place: our friends and our godson. More effort will need to be made to stay in touch, and we will simply not be seeing them as often as before. In the end, having an extra 3+ hours a day not spent commuting in heavy traffic diminishes the sorrow of this, but it was the hardest part of our decision.

Now we're in a house of our own, where we hope to stay for many years, and we will make it as welcoming and warm as we know how. We will make return visits to Vashon, to see friends, say hello to people we know, buy eggs from our favorite farm.

Our godson, when told we were moving off the island, declared emphatically: "We go to Seattle all the time. It is not going to be a problem."

Kids are so smart.