One of the fundamental parts of our backyard design was to put in some raised beds for flowers and veggies. Not only do they provide happy healthy soil for veggies to grow, we also felt they would give some definition to what was becoming an open expanse of a yard.

We first showed you the beds here where we placed them during the “dig” phase in order to have a place to put the dirt that we were excavating.

One last recap of the yard post-tree-removal, pre-raised-beds:

Mmmmmm tree stump

Well, here’s the story of their design and construction.

Firstly, we searched online to see if there was a simple design that we could use that was more than just pressure treated lumber or concrete. We wanted something that would add a little texture and height to that side of the yard. I went to one of my go-to sources, Sunset Magazine’s online site and found a couple of articles with just what I was looking for. We chose this design because we liked the sturdiness, but also practicality, PLUS it had a set-up to create a hoop-house for cold weather growing that was fairly hidden. So, we set out to look for materials.

Being the cheap eco-friendly gals that we are, we went to the logical first source: CRAIGSLIST. First we searched for the exact types of lumber that the plans called for. No dice. So then we putzed around “materials” “household” and “home and garden” to see if there was something we could repurpose: and JACKPOT! A fellow about 15 miles away selling enough sections of an old cedar fence that we could reuse the members and improvise.

Something like this: although this isn't the actual craigslist photo, i just pulled this off google.

Pros: The cedar was already seasoned a couple of years, so the naturally rot-resistent wood had become a little bit hardened to the elements. Plus, for a reasonable price we would have MORE than enough lumber for all the beds we wanted this year.

Cons: The individual lumber pieces were a little bit thinner than we would have like (1x wood instead of 2x, e.g.) So, we’d have to double up on the supports a bit. Also, the craigslist ad was selling the fence in large sections (approx 6′x8′) to transportation would be an issue.

Long story short, we beat out other interested parties, broke down the fence sections into individual pieces, and brought home our loot.

We modified the dimensions to fit our vision for the yard, including a stepped pattern for visual interest and to accommodate different types of plants. Then, we began assembly with 2 1/4″ coated deck screws (to make sure that the hardware won’t be a point of failure). A crucial element of the design is building the posts several inches longer than the sides of bed so that they can be effectively anchored into the ground.

Not us, nor a dad, nor a neighbor. This is the sunset man since we were slackers and didn't take pics of the actual construction.

After initial construction, we placed them in their approximate locations and begun to dig post holes. This proved to be a little tricky because of the previously mentioned heinous root structure throughout the yard. We had to modify several of the locations because there were massive pieces of locust trunk buried beneath the ground. Ugh. Pretty much anything closer than 3′ to the fence is un-usable ground for us.

Preliminary placement (phew, a lot of digging)

After placing in the ground and making sure all sides were level, we stapled in some weed barrier fabric (Nothing fancy – just enough to keep some of the stray grasses from getting in our way later).

Weed Block!

Then, we started the process of transfering our newly amended soil: equal parts top soil and compost (along with straight up manure once we ran out of compost and got cheaper more resourceful).

After planting either bulbs (in the case of the dahlia bed) or the seed starts, we spread mulch that we had from the tree stump grinding to even out the soil, enhance water retention, and prevent weeds.

Here is a last picture showing the hoop houses that we installed later. As the design shows, we installed 6″ lengths of 1 1/4″ diameter PVC to the center supports on the beds. Then, we inserted 1″ pvc into both ends, bending to create plenty of clearance for the plants below. They aren’t tall enough now to cause issue with the visquene cover, but in the fall they may be and we want to be prepared for that.

PVC installation; Photo Credit: Sunset Mag

Hoops! Ignore the scattered yard clutter

So, with a little elbow grease, we have four raised beds to start our garden. We did learn, though, that while we thought these 4 beds would provide AMPLE space, we had more dirt and more plant starts than we had room to fill. So, next year we’ll probably expand by a couple of beds.

And here, a photo to show some of our happy little plants starting to grow!

Onions!

Its been about a month since we took an afternoon to kick-off a bachelorette party with a lazy sunny canoe, and to be honest i had sort of forgotten i took these photos. But now that the sun is out most days i am reminded of this early kick-start to summer. Look at those clouds!

Darling Ducklings

MORE darling ducklings

Traversing the Montlake Cut

Happy Bride!

D!

Dana and the twinsies (not pictured)

Turtle (quite the day for wildlife)

Cottonwood like snowflakes in May

drifting under a bright blue sky

I know i need to get all these things posted to an online album sooner or later, but work and travel and the house have been so crazy lately it just seems to sink to the bottom of the priority list. Probably doesn’t help that we share memory cards sometimes so the pics are always floating around between 2 cameras, lol.

I know we are JUST beginning to experience summer here in the great Pacific Northwest, and that these knit slipcovers really are the epitome of winter, but i couldn’t resist sharing.

How FABULOUS are these chunky hand-knit slipcovers?  What a great way to add texture and coziness to a room.

Etsy seller BiscuitScout also sells wonderful hot water bottle covers, sunglass cases, and pillows. Check it out!

First of all, lets take a quick trip through memory lane.

This is our house when we made our offer April 2009. Pretty nice, at first glance.

But then by the time we got our keys: ack! IVY! and ack! Locust trees! Really, there were a lot of out of control things encroaching on the space. We could do so much more. So we had some helpers over to get rid of the ivy and we paid to have the tree removed.

Here is the yard March 2010. At this point I started to freak out that we had created a desolate wasteland, but really, it was just a blank canvas.

While we still had massive amounts of firewood to deal with, the next goal was to move forward simultaneously with three things: Planting a slim bed against the house to give a flowery backdrop for our new patio, Start digging a depression for the patio itself, and Place the raised beds to make best efficiency of the removed dirt.

In order to make the most level patio we could, we would have a total assembly of about 6″ to match up to the level of the grass. 2″ concrete paver, 1″ fine sand, 2″ quarter-minus crushed rock. So, we needed to remove 6″ x 200+ s.f and while making a space for the patio, we’d also have all the fill we needed for our new raised beds. Sweet! Paying for dirt is a sort of demoralizing experience, so we’re glad we were able to just amend what we had.

The bed against the house went in pretty easy. We basically just had to till a swatch approx 24″ wide and create a border with stones we found around the yard (someone thought it was fun to bury giant rocks once upon a time!).

Just the beginning

Filled, first plants, and mulch (leftover from the locust stump)

Next, we built a couple of the beds (more on these in a second post), got them placed in their spots, and begun to dig, sift the soil, and mix with equal parts compost to achieve a nutritious well draining mix for both veggies and flowers.

The digging was, well, tougher than expected. Because of the way locust trees propagate (sending runners from the roots), it looks like our entire backyard is crisscrossed with roots. Some as big as 4″ in diameter. Since the tree is dead and gone, it was no problem to cut all the roots out, but you had to stop shoveling about every 3 minutes to remove a root and then moved on.

So, we dug, and dug, and sifted, and managed to fill all 4 beds well before we had completed the excavation. Then finally, we had achieved a pad approx 6″ below the finish grade. Huzzah!

ready for graveL!

Ready and waiting for gravel and sand delivery, paver pick up, and the heavy lifting!

In the meantime, other parts of the yard were actually looking nice (and not like a giant mudpit!). Here’s proof:

Hostas and the Hellebore

This bed is starting to fill out

Just thought i’d throw out some photos I stumbled across today that made smile (in a Design Nerd sort of way)

Firstly, a kick-ass urban townhome. Channel glass is my favorite yet-to-be-used material, and the application here is terrific.

MMM Channel Glass. Photo Credit Unknown

West Elm Fall PreviewI think i might have to start collecting oil lamps to make a centerpiece like this one. SO PRETTY A unique exterior lantern idea. Photo via Martha Stewart

 And lastly: Usually i’m not a fan of patterned sinks because they tend toward overly thematic, like meditteranean, or mexican traditional. But, this sink from Kohler has such a subtle yet modern design that i think it could work very well in many types of bathroom design.

Pretty Pretty