Carport Dilemma

I must admit I am to blame for this problem. I bought the house after seeing it one time. Jeff and I usually mull on the potential house for days/weeks and have it pretty well laid out for all existing furniture before we make an offer. This time, it was one visit and we did it. Whew! That is another story. This one is about my problem carport.

I am lucky to have a carport. I know that. In this part of town, there is often NO carport and only a driveway up to the front of the home. So, I know I am fortunate. Not only do we have a carport, it is a TWO car carport. Another plus. And…it has a workshop. Well, two workshops. One that was original and smaller, and the other MUCH larger attached to the back at a later date by the original owners. So, YES I am lucky to have my carport.

I hate looking at my cars. My cars are nice, but not what I want to see when I am eating a fine gourmet dinner delivered by someone else! And heavens knows that if I cooked up a great meal, I would not want to be counting bugs on my windshield. So…I came up with a solution….but don’t like it anymore.  I was going to put outdoor drapes up that will hide cars. They could coordinate with whatever we end up doing in our yard with furniture and umbrellas. Or maybe just be neutral so you don’t notice them.

Here is the view from the dining table.

Ok, so you got a sneal peek when you saw that picture about my new idea – a garden trells along the front of the car area to have a living green thing that I want to look at.  What do you think?

Here is a view when you drive into the carport.

Please excuse the mess, we are renovating the inside!

Here is a view from the patio sliding doors you would walk out to go outside.

We need to keep the walkway open on either end. The fence that is closest to us in that picture will be removed, but the one across the end of the carport has to remain for the pool. “What pool?” you ask.

The pool that is going in the backyard.

They used to have a pool but removed it 2 years ago when they started having leaks. Sigh. One day, it will be a pool again.

Meanwhile, I have to figure out how to NOT look at my cars. Any great ideas on how to build an artsy cool kind of trellis? I will remove the rose bushes and other plants there, and eventually it will become our eating outside area with table and chairs.

Help!!!

More Garden Prep

We went over early this Sunday morning and finished up a project that has been bugging me…the side garden.

After my visit with the Master Gardeners, I knew I needed to get the plastic down to keep the weeds away.

Ben went with me and helped lug the bricks over to weigh down the black garbage bags. Whew! I was glad he was there.

The bricks are the ones that were inside my chimney, but are now outside!

We have been taking our dog, Lucy, over periodically to let her sniff around and get used to her new backyard. I don’t think she’s discovered Mr. Rabbit or Chippy, the chipmunk, yet.

I know you are still wondering about my painting the brick, right? Well, I need to take a couple of pictures of the test I did and run it by my husband before I go crazy, but it is looking good!

Fireplace is totally gone!

Yesterday I thought it was exciting that the hearth and chimney were out.

Then I stopped by this morning and saw that the fireplaces were all gone.

We are exploring the option of using a steel beam to go across the span. That way we won’t have to have a support column in the middle of the room. Wouldn’t that be nice? It would make placing furniture so much easier and give us more options.

My mom recently added a screened porch to her home and they used an innovative approach to the problem that didn’t require the column  and she’s sending me the plans to share with my builder and engineer to see if they’ll work. I can’t wait to hear if this will work on our situation.

Here is another cool picture of the rear yard view

Also stopped by the Mecklenburg County Extension office and met with two master gardners! It was my lucky day! Two were there and we discussed the side garden in depth. I was so worried about what to do with the nice naked dirt and they confirmed I should be putting some black plastic on top of it to keep weeds from growing…..immediately!  So, off I ran to buy black plastic garbage bags (which my sister recommended a week ago!) and paint for the brick.

I also found that I can send my dirt samples in and have them analyzed for FREE! I fill out a form telling the lab what I want to grow and they will tell me what my PH level is and all those important gardenly details like how to make it be in the right range for what I want to grow.  It was a super easy form to complete. You can do it for your lawn also, so I will find out what it needs. Wonder how long it takes to find out?

They had a LOVELY garden in front of  the office. Drat, why didn’ t I snap a picture? I will be going back soon and will be sure to remember. They also have a hotline that you can call and leave a message with any kind of gardening question. The volunteers research and will get back with you. Hooray, I am so happy about having professional gardener access!

Did I tell you I don’t like the white brick on the house? Well, that is a story for tomorrow I guess. I have to tell you that I am not afraid of paint! Just wait until you see what I am doing next!

Gardening Thoughts

My sister told me today that she is really sending me 350 iris. Wow! Plus daylilies! I am SOOOOO lucky! Now that my bed is ready, I better start figuring out a plan.

Here is a picture of the iris that is on the way.

Plus, I recieved an email from Breck’s this morning, as if I needed prodding!  Have just spent the last hour researching early blooming bulbs versus mid and late season bloomers. What a lovely way to enjoy a cup of coffee!

Here are some of the ones I am thinking about:

Snow Crocus – always an exciting thing to see at the end of a long dreary winter!

Quail Daffodils – 16-18″ tall and a mid-bloomer

Apple Blossom Tulips – these looked just yummy to me!  20-24″ mid to late Spring

Azure Allium – 18-22″ tall with  2-3″ blue spheres on top! Blue pom poms just look fun to me. I think they may look awesome with yellow daylilies.  It is ab early summer bloomer.

I am checking to see when the bloom times are for the daylilies and iris, then I can plan to my heart’s content. I heard a rumor that my mom is rooting some hydrangeas! Both blue and white varieties!  I will save a spot for those little darlings should they make it.

Now, the side garden is all dug up. The dirt looked really much better than I was expecting. No huge rocks or problems became apparent either during our dig. I wonder how I should treat it until these new gift bulbs get here? They will be her mid-October.  Then I can cover with mulch.

We are moving Nov. 19th adn will have loads of cardboard which I hear worms adore!  I planned on putting that down over the areas that are not planted then placing mulch on top of that. I think I can do newspapers too. What about until then? We are talking about less than two months.  I don’t want to pile mulch on, then have to take it off to plant, then place cardboard and then mulch. Am I asking too much? Will I get weeds growing before the gift bulbs arrive? Plus I don’t know exactly when the Breck’s bulbs will arrive either. Hmmm.

Maybe I should go visit Roundtree Plantation which is one of my absolute favorite ever gardening centers? They will know what I should do.

Side Yard Renovation

So, my sister is donating 300 iris bulbs and daylilies to me!  Well, actually she is sending me about 150 which is totally amazing! She had a few extra in her yard and wanted to do a vast plant removal. Lucky me!  Thanks sis!

Look how lovely they will be!

Mom is coming to visit in October and will be delivering the goodies, so I started thinking about where these will actually go. I mean, I am not in this house yet!  The side yard will be the perfect place to see them from inside and each time we come and go from our house we’ll enjoy them. So, side yard it is.

I sprayed the yard twice with ULTIMATE DEATH SPRAY! I have Bermuda grass growing in the patch to the left of the driveway.

Here it is dead.

Bridget wearing her lovely safety glasses with the Mantiss tiller. I have seen commercials for this and coveted it like crazy! You can rent this for $37/day at Home Depot and satisfy that craving. It was great, though a bit more difficult than the infomercial looked. Ben and I completed the job in 2 hours. I tilled the area twice and we used a rake on it to get large grass clumps and rocks out.

Ben worked so hard on this project with me!

Next we’ll lay plastic over the top and weight it with bricks until we move in. Then I will remove the plastic and lay down cardboard, which I understand the worms LOVE. Worms are good things to have in a garden.

So, we returned the tiller and it was a nice surprise that we only were charged the minimum charge of $26.  I am hooked and will go rent one again when I need it. So easy and quick.

Check out my post about all the pretty flowers that are being considered.