Project Privacy (aka Nothing Personal)

An important decision to make is whether to save money and have a wood fence put in say next year, or to go with a living wall option almost certainly in the form of a hedge.  My own little pro/con list for each option is as follows;

Fence

• Pros
• Once installed privacy is achieved right away.
• No trimming required.
• Could install hooks and hang baskets for flowers or other small projects on the inner face of the fence.
• Cons
• Expensive.
• Must get a permit from the city along with written approval from all three neighbors.
• Construction of the fence in all likelihood would tear up at least the perimeter of the property.

Hedge

• Pros
• Added greenery.
• Comparably inexpensive.
• Don't believe any permit or other permission would be required, but will double check on this.
• Creates oxygen.
• Cons
• Time.  I am not sure how tall the plants are when they ship to me, other sites list about a foot and a half or so.  Even at the best case growth rate of 1' per year, it would be 5+ years before the hedge was as tall as the wood fence would be on day one.
• By taking down my current chain-link fence I would be making it that much easier for deer to spend time in my yard while the hedge grew up to a more defensible height.

I am currently leaning towards a hedge, as while it will take time to grow to the height I want, the less spent on the perimeter defenses the more I can spend on actual gardening projects.  Also the eventual greenhouse project is I'm sure going to cost quite a bit, so saving money on the border will help make that a reality a lot sooner.  

~Planning for the Future~

Part One

I feel that the first step needs to be choosing the large scale projects that I eventually want to complete and trying to work out what will go where, and ideally when.  For now I am going to post the main features I would like, and see what thoughts people have on where things should go and really any advice that comes to mind.

• Greenhouse - 2014.
• A thought my father had, and I think it is a good one, would be to have a greenhouse built into the side of my house.  In the back yard there is a small brick patio area that I figure could be enclosed in two walls and a ceiling of glass, using the outer wall of the garage and the kitchen as the other walls.  The advantages would be that I could enter and exit the greenhouse without having to go outside in inclement weather, and there are already water and electricity hookups in that spot.  It would also not take up any planting land, as again it is currently just a brick patio.
• However, it wouldn't get full direct sunlight all day, as it would be shaded by the house itself for parts of any given day.  Where a free-standing structure more towards the back of the yard would get 100% light all day every day.  But would be more expensive, and would take up planting land.
• Sun-room - 4+ years down the line.
• Would like to build a small addition to the house that would be accessed through the door in my dining room.
• The idea would be to have a screened in area that could serve as kind of an all purpose room, but mainly to give the cats an area to hang out in and get fresh air.
• I am assuming this would be pretty expensive, which is why it is not happening anytime soon.  But I want to keep it in mind so again I don't locate any garden feature in this area that I would feel bad about destroying later on.
• New Fence - Next Year (hopefully)
• To protect the back yard from deer, and make it more of a private space I want to have a new wooden fence installed.  It would be as high as is legally allowable, hopefully at least 6' high.
• New Rain Barrel(s) - This Year
• Would locate them on the side of the house, connected to the gutters.
• Compost - Start This Year
• Still looking into this, but may go with more than one setup.  Like getting one of those rotating compost drums for some stuff, then having a simple wire setup to use for storing leaves each fall and letting them slowly decompose.  
• Would locate this stuff either on the side of the house, or in the back behind the shed. 
• Not going to be of use this year, but need to get it started in order to have some usable next year.
• Some kind of water feature / pond - 2015.
• Absolutely want something, perhaps a small pond with a small waterfall.
• Need to decide where this would eventually go.
• Above ground or in ground?
• Fish?
• Grow bamboo - Unsure when I would start this, perhaps this year.
• Always wanted to grow bamboo, will need to pick the right species of clumping bamboo.
• Have a half-formed idea of creating an inner garden sitting area that is itself fenced in by live bamboo.
• If not that, may grow it all along the back of the fence, but that would have to wait for the new fence to be installed I would think.
• Trees - Probably pick up one each year
• Evergreens
• Would like to plant at least one fir tree in the front yard.  Have yet to pick a species.
• Fruit Trees
• Apple for sure.  Could go in front, do deer eat apples?  I would assume so.
• Probably pear.
• Other Trees
• I have already circled one or two neat ornamental trees in catalogs, will depend on how much room the fir/fruit trees need.

New House - New Year - New Garden

Greetings to all;

I realize nothing really came of this blog in 2011, as last year's growing season was entirely taken up by my purchasing and moving into my new house. But now that we have crossed into 2012, I plan to re-launch this space as a way to share my gardening efforts and elicit feedback and ideas and so forth.

Some of you may have also received invites to the Google Docs folder and or the Google Photos (Picasa) album. To try and avoid confusion over which one of these three spaces you should keep an eye on let me try and explain how I plan to use each.

• Google Docs Folder --> This folder will house documents like lists of seeds & plants I plan or hope to order, invoices for large purchases, and other nuts & bolts. So not really very exciting, but I wanted to share access anyway in case anyone did want to see that level of detail.
• Google Photos Album--> Here I will post any and all gardening photos, and I do mean all. So for example if I take 25 pictures one morning, all 25 will show up in this album.
• Blog --> This will be a more curated space, so probably the best one to keep an eye on most of the time. If on a given day I post the 25 pictures to the photos album, I will choose just a few favorites to actually place on the blog and will give a more full explanation of each one.

I hope that makes sense to everyone. If you have not received a sharing invite to either the docs or photos areas and want one, let me know. For the most part though just keep an eye on this space, either by bookmarking it or by subscribing.

Can't wait to get started!