Dew Drops

 

The dew drops caught the early morning sun and sparkled and danced in the breeze, entertaining me as I pulled weeds....

Deck Cleaning

Our composite deck was looking pretty dirty, so last week I had the fun job of cleaning it up. Here is what it looked like when I started.

 

And this is what it looked like after using Corte*Clean. Amazing! I did quite a bit of research to find this cleaner and found that there was only one lumberyard in our area that carried it.  I will be using it again next summer - it is environmentally friendly and the grass around the deck was not harmed.

Building a bog

The moisture-loving plants that I had planted near the edge of the pond were not doing so well. They needed more moisture - the way the liner comes up at the edge of the pond was preventing them from getting moisture from the pond. So I created a bog area on the west side of the pond. First I dug a hole that was about a foot deep, then I lined it with plastic. I used a sharp rake to poke some holes in the sides and then filled the hole with a mixture of peat moss, black dirt and sand.  After just a couple of days, some of the plants are already looking happier. I planted chocolate Joe Pye, two different types of lysimachia, a swamp milkweed, a carex, an umbrella plant, two red lobelias, a Northern Sea Oat grass, and a rodgersia. I am hoping that the taller Joe Pye plant will provide a bit of shade for the carex and umbrella plant. The umbrella plant is supposed to get quite large, but the leaves on mine are only about 4 to 5 inches across, rather than the 12 to 18 inches they should be. Hoping the additional moisture will help!

Pond steps

As I have been building the paths around the pond, I added places where I can step into the pond.  I added three entry spots on the north side, which is the shallow bog area.  A couple of weekends ago, I was on the Minnesota Water Garden Society tour and I realized that I also need paths that exit the pond area. This will help with traffic flow - if you get a group of people who are wanting to look at the pond and the person in the front stops, because the paths are narrow, there isn't room to get around. Now you are stuck!  But if there is an exit path, you can take it and move around to a different spot.  And last summer when I took my granddaughter on the pond tour, she wanted to explore all the paths, even if they lead to nowhere!  So for ease of movement and more fun - more paths!

Pond paths and patio

 

This path is on the north side of the pond. Where the path heads towards the stream there are rocks that were placed so that you can step across the stream.

The patio is still in progress - I've worked on it a bit more since I took this picture.

Little critters

I enjoy seeing who is visiting my gardens.... except for when the frog jumps unexpectedly and scares me!