I planted pumpkins in the new flower beds by the coop and they are growing!
I have no illusions that these pumpkins will survive without some fencing. Well, the foliage might survive, but we have way too many critters afoot in the area for the actual fruit to ripen without being eaten. First, though, I will see how well they grow in this area, then I’ll puzzle out protection from wildlife.
We have progressed to the next stage of the front garden bed rebuild. To recap, I dug out a few yards of dirt to remove the plants that had taken over, we purchased several yards of bedding soil and my husband amended it with chicken compost and refilled the bed. He set up the drip system and planted three kinds of Liriope, a flowering grass.
The next step is to put down mulch. The Turks Cap is the only native. Liriope does well in this climate, though, and is low maintenance, which is what we need.
The crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) on our front fence is happy to greet the Spring. This Texas native does well in sun or shade, is evergreen during mild winters, and blooms repeatedly throughout Spring, Summer, and Fall.
This sounds like a plug for the crossvine, but it is not a paid promotion. This is honestly one of my favorite plants in our yard. It is a superstar.
In looking for four-leaf clover, I found a different kind of leaf in another patch in the front yard that has inverted curves on the sides of the leaf, which make the leaves look hour-glass shaped. Clover is a good nitrogen fixer for soil and good companion for grass. And makes for interesting discoveries.
We have some bedding dirt left over from the front flower bed project, so I used left over stone to build new terraces between the house and the coop where the land slopes.
This was about all the stone and dirt I could haul in a day using a wheel barrow. The plan is to fill both new terraces with dirt, then maybe plant pumpkins.
Critters and Craft 