Saturday, August 22, 2009

Overgrowth/undergrowth in the garden


Good morning everyone ~ Hope your weekend will be a good one.

I took a little walk around the main garden area this morning and decided to take some pictures of how overgrown things are around here. It's just too dang hot and humid some mornings to even go outside and do anything, so I do nothing, thus the overgrowth keeps on growing.

I did mow and weedwack the driveway and front little lawn the other day and took a picture of the drive because it looks nice, to me. Things always look better right after you do them, and if you don't get a picture then, stuff overtakes and gardens, etc. look unkempt.

I have weeds, grass, plants that spread by tubers, runners, etc. all fighting for space and recognition. :-) Tomorrow morning I hope to get out there early to at least make a start. We'll see how much gets accomplished before the sun starts blasting the space.

I wanted to get out there so bad this morning while it was cool, but I am working today, and did not want to get all hot, sweaty and red-faced. Not exactly the kind of picture you want to portray in an antique shop. :-) So, for my morning gardening fix, I've been moving the hoses around to water, since it is one of my two days to water with sprinklers.

This is looking west, gate to sidewalk/street on the left, the patio is behind the shrubbery on the right.



This is also looking west from the patio, main garden at the end of little sidewalk.


This is looking south, standing in little ally-way between house and workshop(right). Tork is walking ahead of me, letting me know she's around because it's time for breakfast. :-)

There are mother-of-millions plants all along that sidewalk on the left, and spiderwort and ferns spreading out into walking space also.


Here is our driveway. I'm standing just inside the gate. You can see our huge almost 11' fiberglass swordfish on the back fence. We found him in the trash on the next block.


Next shows my shed with bougainvillea, Louis Phillipe roses and crape myrtle growing up and over. The boug and roses do need trimming back that's for sure.


The next picture shows the back shed with my potting area to the right of it.



Below is a picture of the potting area, looking west. I haven't worked back here in months, and DH put a lot of flower pots from another area that he was cleaning up, here. There are weeds, pine needles, and vines back here as well. I did start on this area the other day, but didn't take pictures of that yet. I want to wait until it's all cleaned up again.






I have a LOT of work to do, and now that it's starting to be a tad cooler out and the sun isn't directly overhead frying everything in sight, I hope to get things looking good again.

That's it for now.




Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

***

The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due,

not a garden swollen to a realm;

his own hands to use, not the

hands of others to command."

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Sam Gamgee


9 comments:

Miss Gracie's House said...

Your roses (shown below) are just gorgeous!
Rene'

Anonymous said...

Garden is overgrown here too! Makes me look forward to the cooler weather.

MizLiz said...

I love pictures of your gardens. They always make me want to go out, roam the paths and explore.

Nell Jean said...

It's that time of year, ample rain means everything grows, including grass and weeds, but the lushness is wonderful.

L. D. said...

It is all so enjoyable to see. Your climate is a wonder to me as I don't live in such a climate, just like my brother's in Arizona is magical but nothing like mine. I see snow coming and maybe you will cool off to get those weeds. My entire garden will die off flat as if it were not there but that is going to be another month and a half. Love the music, I am sitting here with a cold from walking in the very cold rain at the State Fair. 65 degrees in Iowa in August, That is disgusting. Take care, your gardens are beautiful.

Gayle said...

I love your paths. I'm a path-a-holic and have saved numerous pics on my computer of beautiful ones. I have added your paths to my collection and thank you for inspiration. The 2nd pic is great!

sweetbay said...

Your winding paths look so inviting. It's been hot and muggy here too and parts of the garden look very neglected. Can't wait for cooler weather!

tina said...

It's getting cooler here too. I am liking it very much. Love that swordfish. I can't believe someone would toss it! Haven't they heard of freecycle?? Anyone could put it to good use. You have it displayed perfectly.

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Good morning everyone ~ Thank you all for your lovely, encouraging comments. I do appreciate them all and your time in visiting here.

Miss Gracie ~ Thank you ~ I love Penelope. She is easy to grow and is such a delicate, wonderful color. She has a really nice scent also.

Thrifty Country Woman ~ Cooler weather will be so welcome by many of us. We still have September to go through which is pretty miserable too.

Marti ~ Thanks, our property isn't large, 1/4 of an acre with a house, a small barn, a workshop, storage building and two small sheds. I have garden rooms and they keep me plenty busy. Some of our paths lead to 'sandford and wife' areas if you know what I mean, so I don't show where those lead yet. DH is in the process of organizing iron, etc. some we will get rid of the rest will be categorized and stored.

Nell ~ Yes, the rain sure has made things grow like crazy, especially after being in drought conditions for the past three or four years.

L.D. ~ Sometimes I wish my gardens would take a nap, so that I could relax, but living down here where the tropics begin, stuff just keeps on growing year round. ~ Sorry you have a cold and hope you are soon feeling better.

Gayle ~ I've seen some of your paths, and once you create one, you will create more. It's an addiction of sorts. Up front I've used roll roofing and shingles for paths in and around the main garden. It's cheap, a lot of it 'found' discarded in trash piles. If it works why not use it? Works for me. Not classy, but the price is right. :-)

SweetBay ~ Thanks. August and Sept are bad for some of us, and cooler weather is something we all look forward to. To me your gardens are lovely whenever I see them.

Tina ~ I just saw your picture this morning with Nina, Skeeter and Anonymous. How neat that you all got to meet one another. ~ Down here there is a lot of great stuff to be found 'curbside shopping'. I'm a Pisces, so when DH told me about the swordfish, I had to see it. So we drove over to the next street to see it. What a monster. It hung out the back of our van, and we almost wished we had left him in the pile, but he adds whimsy to the end of our driveway.

Have a great day all ~ FlowerLady