Lee-Roy - Yikes! So sorry to hear about your partner's leg. How long is he out of commission until it heals?

I am sooooo jealous! I love, love, love your concrete block planters! (I am a big fan of concrete block myself.) It all looks so wonderful. Great idea to plant Irises and Pennisetum! As far as having to trim back those fans, it will probably help them conserve and redirect energy into the roots to settle in their new home. The leaves will grow back before you know it. I do that to all my daylilies when transplanting them. Within a month or so, they've grown new leaves.

Can you work on your home year round or do you have to stop during a challenging season such as Winter?

Hey Becky ^^ Well he's an open cast since past week. Tuesday he'll receive another, full cast with which he can walk. He'll be in it for the next 4-6 weeks though and after that possibly some more rehab.

Yeah it was painful to cut the fans, but I know it's for the best. It's not like it's forever ;)

Lee-Roy, I just found this thread. I am BLOWN AWAY by what you have done...this is absolutely amazing!!!!
I traveled to Kessel-lo, Belgium recently and was impressed to see that all the homes are constructed of brick and stone. Very sturdy and beautiful. And the yards are generally quite small. You have packed a lot into what you have. It will be fabulous when it is done, and also easy to maintain because of the good design and materials. You might say you are a novice gardener, but you and your partner are certainly not novice designers, landscapers, or builders!
I hope your partner is recovering...a broken leg is no fun at all. We take walking for granted until we can't do it.

An update on my Hymenocallis bulbs. They're all doing great after a slow and doubtful start.

These are my H. harrisiana, totally different leaves than H. littoralis




H. littoralis (they look like H. x festalis)

Lee-Roy - Looks like you've chosen some very nice plants to add to the charm of your garden area!

Every time I read your posts, I get a BIG smile on my face! I am delighted to see a fine young man like yourself who is renovating a beloved home and creating a really beautiful garden area to compliment the home. You have a good eye for detail, research your plants, and have done an enviable job creating AND building such a lovely garden area (not to mention all the work you are doing to the home)! Wow!!!

In all honesty, it is exciting to see the progress as you do it and I thank you for posting all these photos to chronicle the transformation. You and your partner deserve a round of applause! My hat is off to both of you for a job well done ... and I know it isn't even completed yet. I hope you continue to update us as you finish the renovation work. It's very inspiring!

AND .... I hope your partner makes a fast and complete recovery from his leg injury!

Look great.

Still no major work done, so I'll post some pics of (my new) plants Three more salvias and took some lavender cuttings

Impressive.

Very, very nice, Lee-roy! I love the color of that salvia blooms! Nicely compliments everything! Oh! In a year, it will all be filled in and will looking stunning! I am sooooo jealous! I just love those cinder block steps and planter boxes. Wonderful!

How is your partner healing from his fall?

It's cinderblock walls and concrete steps :P But let's not fuzz about those minor things haha. µ
Yeah the white theme was getting a bit boring to me; I wanted a little more color, but not to an extent that I'd end up with a cottage like garden where a rainbow exploded. Purples/blues seem to go very well and add to the relaxing effect. (Althoug I've seen an RHS garden with purples and yellows and it looked amazing! :o )

He'll be in a cast for a bit longer than he'd expected. He's bored to death as you can imagine and annoying me =p

Ooooh ... some yellow blooms in those beds would sure make all the plants pop with color! You have the right idea and seem to be using some plants that work well in the landscape!

So sorry to hear the cast is staying on longer than hoped. I can just imagine how boring it is to be so limited in what you can do. Plus I know you were both anxious to get the work done on the house and yard. Hope he heals up as good as new!

I finally thought it would be a good idea to plant out my pride, my king, my not so little anymore teenage calla lily :p As you can see in the pics he was bursting out his pot and would give every agapanthus a run for its money. His roots were even penetrating the vinyl liner at the bottom. I think he'll be happy in his new home until it's time to move out again to his final place (hopefully next year)

Wow! Is he ever healthy!!! How long was he in that container? With those roots, he looks like a pretty aggressive plant? And sure is quite a handsome specimen!

Well my man is out of his cast, but far from fully recovered. We might just jump in and build a new wall since he's so bored. I'm trying to get it out of his head, but he's so damn stubborn. :p

Well apart from a bit of pruning and pottering and watering nothing major happened really...From the three hostas that I ordered this spring two have survided my unkindly handling. I've dug them out two times already and today once again I hopefully chose the right spot for them: a lovely, cool, shady spot between my grasses in the raised beds. The slugs were harrassing them, any leaf that dared to pop up was immediately taken care of. So I'll be keeping a close eye on them from now on.

Enjoy:

beckygardener said:Wow! Is he ever healthy!!! How long was he in that container? With those roots, he looks like a pretty aggressive plant? And sure is quite a handsome specimen!

Oh he was in that container only since March or so. Wasn't a big rhizome either, about the size of my fist. But yeah. I read these are a weed in Australia and New Zealand. Still very much like them though, doubt they'll ever truly seed out here. I'll try to avoid it anyway.

I can't grow Hosta's here because of the slugs. The slugs here are huge! I find them all the time and toss them over the fence. I should probably destroy them, but it's not my nature.

Glad your partner is out of his cast! Yay! But, I agree with you, he better pace himself or he will be out of commission again and may take longer to recover. Best not to push it for a bit longer. He needs a small project that doesn't require using a ladder or lifting anything heavy! Surely you can find some things to work on to keep him occupied for a month or so?

Lee-Roy, the hostas are a nice addition. For slugs you might try spreading sharp gravel around the bases of the hostas. Slugs will not crawl over that. I have heard crushed eggshells work also but have not tried that myself.

foraygardengirl said:Lee-Roy, the hostas are a nice addition. For slugs you might try spreading sharp gravel around the bases of the hostas. Slugs will not crawl over that. I have heard crushed eggshells work also but have not tried that myself.

I don't really believe sharp sand will keep them back. I try to go out every evening to hand pick them and I also use bio pellets.