Spring Yard Tour 2013

Now that we own a home, this is really the first time that I know that we will be in a place long enough that I can take the time to work on our yard. All of our previous homes we have ended up either moving in/out at the beginning or end of summer. So, this is the year I am going to attempt to keep our yard looking somewhat pretty and functional! There are several flower beds in our yard and I know I am going to need to keep them as low maintenance as possible. I am also starting a small vegetable patch in our front yard in the sunniest spot I could find. Conveniently, the sunniest spot was a patch that was a good size for our vegetable garden, so last fall I pulled a bunch of things out and got it ready. Here is the tour of our yard...

Here is the to be veggie patch complete with cold frames and a little wattle fence I made with some prunings.

Some romaine lettuce in one of the cold frames.

The pond I have mostly drained. I was given some water irises from a friend, so I will be filling this in and planting them here. I'll also use some river rock to help fill it in.

The side of the front yard.

Side yard with the circle garden and a flower bed. There are a lot of tulips coming up here.

The circle garden. This is my favourite part of our yard right now.

The berry patch. This needs a lot of work.

The backyard complete with a massive tent. It currently houses our wood, but I really don't like the look of it. My sister has all sorts of ideas for it... she thinks it is wonderful. I need to prune these trees very badly.

Another flower bed. There are a lot of tulips and irises here currently.

The side of our carport with a crazy clematis. I'm not sure how to maintain it. Ideas? 

I forgot to get a picture of where the spuds and zucchini will be planted, but other than that, that is our yard! I'm really enjoying mucking about so far. Hopefully I still have fun with it this summer! I'd love some ideas for the yard if you have any and I'd also like to hear some suggestions for shade-loving, low maintenance plants for the yard.