What a difference a year makes

I know that if you plant things in the ground they will grow . . . but I'll be damned if every year I'm not amazed at how much everything grows. Maybe it's because we had a townhouse before so we couldn't really plant anything, maybe it's because I have a loose grip on how mother nature works? Maybe I'm not the only one?? . . . . maybe I am.

I love flipping back and seeing how the yard looked back in 2011, and how it looks now. Here's the results:

The hydrangea bushes haven't bloomed yet but I couldn't resist sharing. I think this time next year we'll have a perfectly filled in hedge of hydrangeas, being held in by an almost formed hedge of boxwood.

I think the thing I am most excited about this year is the ferns hanging off the porch. I don't know . . . maybe I secretly want to be Southern (it's not secret I am a southern belle wanna be), but I love ferns off a porch. We bought these ones from Home Depot. We also picked up 4 feet of chain. The existing pot hangers weren't long enough . . . we considered buying new pots with longer hangers but once the ferns grew you wouldn't even see the pots so it would be a waste of money, when you can get 4 feet of chain for less than $4!

Lastly, what would a post about the front yard be without a quick paragraph about the grass. I've written about Natural Lawn care before here and here. It seems like in new build homes and developments the soil quality is terrible (our soil is 90% gravel ;) we've had to amend it with lots of mushroom manure and top soil over the last 3 years. For that reason the grass needs a little extra TLC. Our neighbors don't do anything extra to their lawn . . . they do mow it regularly but that's it. We have only used natural fertilizer like corn gluten, we make sure not to cut the grass too short and over seed our lawn once a year and the difference is dramatic. I didn't edit the photo below at all, I wanted to show the real difference. 

(btw, our neighbors don't read the blog . . . and they rent the property out so they wouldn't be offended about my comparison) The line between our grass and their grass is definitely pronounced, without the use of any chemical fertilizers. It took about a year for the natural methods to really show but it was worth the wait.

Thanks for checking in today . . . have a great Thursday!!! 


If you have a second our two . . . our little library/office is on Simcoe Street today, as part of Jen's guest blogger series:

A Back Yard with a little privacy

As you can see from this photo we don't have much privacy let alone a very good view from our backyard. We mostly see our neighbors detached garages . . . but such is life in the suburbs

We planted our Japanese Maple Trees last year and they gave us some privacy but they were just phase 1 of the plan. Phase two was scheduled for this year and we finished it over the weekend!

Phase two involved planting an additional 9 cedar trees (in addition to the 6 we already had back there . . . I'm crazy for cedars I guess).  The 9 cedars will block the view of the garages while adding some greenery.

Our little shade garden of hostas exploded this year which was perfect timing because we were forced to pull them up to make room for the cedars. We were able to split each hosta and make enough groupings for under each maple tree, the perfect shady spot for a hosta garden.

Lastly we added a hydrangea bush (a 'limelight' hydrangea), and our three little trellis sculptures!

Now that phase two is complete we are able to move on to Phase 3 which is . . . adding some new gates and pergolas above the gates, with some Dutchman's Pipe growing up.

But right now we need to get the grass back into shape, it is in very rough condition after a week of cedars lying on it, and 3 days of work boots tromping around! Some Natural Fertilizer and TLC should do the trick.

Organic Lawn Care

We decided when we first moved in, that we were going to keep an Organic Lawn. No pesticides and No Chemicals. We did the scary environment research:

• EPA permits over 200 different pesticides to be used for lawn care, and these are often mixed together and sold as chemical combinations.
• Nearly 80 million pounds of pesticide active ingredients are used on U.S. lawns annually.
• Approximately 35 pesticides are used in over 90 percent of lawn treatments.
•  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported that “homeowners use up to 10 times more chemical pesticides per acre on their lawns than farmers use on crops."

 Then we did the Personal Health Research:

• Pesticides are intentionally toxic substances. Some chemicals commonly used on lawns and gardens have been associated with birth defects, mutations, adverse reproductive effects, and cancer in laboratory animals.
•  Lawn-care pesticides are not tested for their chronic health effects, unless they are also licensed for food uses. The third most heavily used herbicide in the U. S., MCPP, has not been fully tested for chronic health effects since it is not allowed for use on foods. MCPP is commonly found in weed and feed products.
•  Nearly 100,000 accidental pesticide exposures are reported to poison control centers each year. Many of these exposures involve children, and pets. 

At first I thought we might have to sacrifice the lush golf course greens, but after a year and a half of organic lawn care, our lawn has caught up. It takes a little extra time, a little extra energy, but now we can walk barefoot through our lawn without any worry!! (except for Bee's, those little bastards are out to get me, just kidding).

Here's how we do it, in 3 Easy Steps (feel like your about to buy a slap chop?):

1) We De-Thatch the lawn. Thatch is a layer of cut grass, plant stems, roots, leaves and other debris that collects on the soil, below the live blades of grass. Basically it looks like dead grass hanging around the roots of new grass. The thatch acts as a barrier on top of the soil. It blocks fertilizer from getting into the soil and down to the roots.
The picture on the right is how much thatch we pulled out of a small patch of our front yard (about 10 square feet of lawn). I was Shocked at how much, we ended up with almost 4 full yard waste bags FULL.  Be prepared though, your lawn is going to look a bit "rough" for a few weeks while the new grass grows in.

 We have a VERY small lawn, so we do it by hand using a thatch rake. It's a lot of work but our lawn is so small it doesn't make sense to rent a machine.
If you have a mature lawn you should aerate it too (Punch holes in lawn) it helps bring nutrients and air down to the roots. Our lawn isn't old enough yet.

2) Re-Seed. The thicker your lawn is the less room there is for weeds to grow. We use a seed dispenser so that we get a really even coverage.
3) Lastly, in place of traditional fertilizers we spread corn gluten evenly over the lawn. Corn Gluten is an all natural lawn fertilizer, it's 9-0-0 you can find it at most plant nurseries.

Here's the difference in our lawn from last year to this year. I haven't re-touched these photos at all, I didn't even adjust the brightness, so that you could get a really good idea of how our lawn changed:

 A couple of other natural tips to keep a golf course worthy yard:

• When Mowing your lawn, never cut off more then 1/3 of the blade. The grass needs it's length to soak up the sun and stay green. Cutting more then 1/3 of the blade off, traumatizes the grass. 
• When watering (if you have to) water deep, watering for short periods of time, forces the roots to stay near the surface, you want strong roots. But also keeping in mind that grass is suppose to have a dormant season, it will and should brown a bit for some of the summer. But if you must water doing it early in the morning is best. Then the water has time to soak in and isn't evaporated by the sun. Watering late at night can cause and excess of moisture to sit on the soil, and may help the growth of fungus.

Thanks for reading, I hope you were able to pull away a couple of natural tips or tricks you can use on your own lawn.

Natural Lawn Care

We're a bit behind on our fall chores. Fall is the perfect time to re-seed your lawn, I always thought that you only seeded your lawn once and then it was a lawn and you wouldn't have to do it again . . . ever. I was wrong.
Since we are trying to keep our lawn 100% natural and organic, weed control can be a bit of a problem. The best way to naturally keep weeds at bay is to make a lush full lawn. If there is tons of grass growing then the weeds have less room to grow.
So here's the process:

1.   De-thatch your lawn. I didn't know what thatch was but the best way to describe it would be the dead layer of grass between your blades of grass. You might not have any thatch, but we had a fair amount. A good way to tell is, if you walk on the grass and it's very soggy, kind of like carpet would be if you soaked it, then you probably have some thatch. You'll want to remove it before you seed so that your seeds can hit the soil and grow, otherwise a lot of your seeds would just sit on top of dead grass and not grow.
- To de-thatch your lawn you'll need a thatch rake,

and tons of muscles (mainly back and butt muscles): (p.s. check out my sweet yoga pants tucked into argyle rubber boots . . . hold on Vogue is calling)

2.    Dispense seed over lawn. Our lawn gives new meaning to the word postage stamp, seriously if a small yard is a postage stamp then our yard is Elvis's hair on an Elvis postage stamp (otherwise known as a really really small yard) so we didn't need a special seed dispenser, Lee just did it by hand. If you had a large area to do, it might make more sense you use a dispenser for a more even coating.

3.    Grab some beautiful compost (from your compost bin) or from the store :) and spread it around your lawn, it helps the seeds get started, it's also like a mini feeding of fertilizer for you lawn.

4.     Sit back and admire what a mess you just made of your lawn and how it looked so much better before you started the process!
It's true it will look a little thin (kind of like your husband looked in his late 20's (or at least my husband :) you know, still has most of his hair, but it's becoming clear that won't be the case forever . . . that level of thin )
And yes, a thin layer of dirt on your lawn kind of makes it look like you have large burrowing animals. But the compost eventually disintegrates into the earth and the seeds start to sprout and come Spring you'll have fewer weeds to pull and you'll have more time to contemplate your husbands hair line :) hehe Just kidding!

In Summary:
De-thatch your lawn with a thatch rake Less than $30 at Home Depot
Seed your lawn
Sprinkle compost on lawn
Think about husbands hair (optional)
Pull fewer weeds in Spring.
DONE!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I'll be organizing kitchen cupboards and whipping up a How To: Slipcover a round ottoman post.

Lee will be making some progress on the barn door for the dining room, and doing something to the engine of his car, only one of which will be making it into next week's post . . . Let's hope he makes some good progress on the door, or we'll all get to learn where spark plugs live :) haha

Backyard Harvest and Fall Lawn Care

Here in BC we've had a super HOT September which is a welcomed change from our COLD summer.
Yesterday we pulled up some of our beet crop! Nothing too crazy, this is only about 1/4 of them, I'm hoping this warm weather holds out for a few more weeks, so we can get the fence stained and the beets harvested!

We've been caring for our lawn organically since the day we moved in, with little paws running around the lawn we wanted to make sure it's nice and safe.

So now that fall is here, we need to get on our organic fall lawn care before we blink and it's Winter.

This fall we are:

• Sowing  grass seed. It doesn’t matter how good or bad your lawn is, if you apply grass seed, the lawn will thicken up. And a thick lawn prevents weeds from germinating. Fall is the perfect time to top dress your lawn with seed. You'll need about 2lbs for every 1000 sq ft.
• Making Compost tea from our Compost Bin and spraying it on the lawn about 1 week after we seed.
• Keep mowing the lawn as long as it's  growing, but cut it LONGER than usual. Cool season grasses like to be a bit longer than normal.
• Rake leaves, or better yet, run them over with the lawn mower to mulch them and let them decompose in to the grass.
• If your lawn isn't preforming well, get the soil tested, and adjust from there. Fall is a good time to fix your soil issues.
• No Fast Food: If your going to fertilize your lawn make it a slow release.
• And don't forget to De-Thatch your lawn so the seeds and food can get to the soil!

This week we'll be "harvesting" the rest of our vegetable beds, and hopefully finishing off what has now become the bain of my existance . . . staining the fence.

Green Lawn Care!

Since we're lucky enough to start with a brand new lawn we wanted to make sure we kept it beautiful . . . organically! Most of what is used to "help" lawns, degrades the soil and pollutes our waters so we're taking extra steps to make sure our lawn stays DRUG FREE, "just say No to chemical fertilizers!" haha

Instead of using Chemical Fertilizer on our lawn this Spring we used  CORN GLUTEN!
It worked AMAZING! If you take a peek at the part of our lawn that touches our neighbors, it's definitely darker, healthier, and it grows twice as fast. Our other neighbor used chemical fertilizers on their lawn and our lawn looks exactly the same!

It's super easy to spread on, you can just use your hand and sprinkle it evenly on your grass!
The little orange pellets dissolve over about a month!

Here's before:

Here's after the corn gluten!