The first garden in 2009 was a disaster of weeds and clay. Thanks to the internet and the many gardening books my research lead me to raised bed gardening and it's been a joy since. My family growing up always had a garden so when I married and moved to this home it was the natural thing to do. It's become a place of healing and better therapy then I ever imagined. It's constantly evolving and spreading and may soon include more of the front yard. Watch out neighbors!
Monday, March 25, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Architectural Rendering Class week 3
Tried out new marker paper but it doesn't absorb ink at all. Wish I could find a happy medium (no pun intended) between the card stock that absorbs so fast and this paper where the ink sits and won't dry.
Recognize the yard?
Serenity in the Garden: Simple, Elegant Garden Design Secrets
Serenity in the Garden: Simple, Elegant Garden Design Secrets: Simplicity and repose are the qualities that measure the true value of any work of art." - Frank Lloyd Wright Simplic...
Love that quote.
Love that quote.
Shady Side Yard New Collage
I'm trying to make my collages closer to the real thing now as we get closer to the possibility of installing some (stress SOME) of this landscaping.
This is the current side yard sorry state.
This is sort of in perspective.
It's just impossible to represent the landscape using this
method and maintain correct perspective. For instance the back fence in the
collage below is shorter than in the photograph. However, I see now that the
house doesn't even look the same so I distorted it or didn't use that picture?
The weeping willow, sigh... I've gone back and forth trying to
decide if that's a good or bad idea. If I was to put one anywhere that's the
most logical spot. It's the lowest point of our yard and the neighbor has had
trouble with water in his basement. I
suspect the water drains from our yard or did before. We have re-graded it and
before the entire backyard sloped toward him. Good for our water level bad for
his. Now I notice we have standing water where the pool was last year. It
doesn't help that the grading was done for the ground but we haven't added back
the gravel, patio, pool, etc. that will bring that back up. However, I think
there is still going to be some water heading toward that corner so what better
than a willow to soak it up. But I'll have to prune it every year to keep it
fairly manageable. My understanding is they grow fast.
So there's the
meandering dry stream bed. I would rather have more uniform sets of plants in
groups so it'll be neater still not so random. Since repetition would be
soothing. Hopefully I can start to put this in after we get the pool back in.
If I get too carried away it'll be trampled by the frontloader.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Introduction to Garden Design Over
Well the class was only 4 weeks and wow did that go quick. So our week 3 and 4 assignments actually were working on a yard he gave us not out own.
I used POWERPOINT to add shapes and patterns to the picture but week 3 I must admit I wasn't getting it. Plus he really wanted them redone with pencil and tracing paper. So I read, re-read, and read again his explanation of what he wanted and hopefully got a lot closer.
This is actually the re-do I did beginning of fourth week.I missed the part about the shapes needing to overlap especially at the house. I also didn't get that the shapes represented hardscaping and/or lawn til second try. Ooops.
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| So clearly these sucked since they didn't overlap. |
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| Actually later I found a design of his that I thought this looked a lot alike .But again I didn't overlap enough. |
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| I made this using floorplanner.com screenshot images put into a collage of sorts. |
OK this is what he wanted. If at first you don't succeed try, try, try again.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Survey of Site Assignment
So using triangulation, yes not strangulation, to figure out where everything exactly is was fun. I sketched in the grade lines as well but they were not obtained in the accurate fashion recommended due to sogginess. Everywhere I walk in the back yard mud pit I became more and more encased in mud so I had to abandon it before getting that done. But the teacher, or tutor as called in UK, said to not sweat the details at this stage if something was very difficult to do or as in this case would put lots of mud in house and ruts in yard.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
So how much of the yard is shade vs. sun?
So in designing your yard you have to know which plants for full sun- part sun/part shade- full shade. BUT that's different depending on the time of the year right? And then when trees fill in the shade changes from when you planted in spring until mid-summer. So I thought maybe I could calculate the sun path and know for sure what is in shade when. Might be easier to just photograph this year but here goes nothing.
Peoria is at 40.6936° N, 89.5889° W. Basically I'm going with 40° N then. Especially since I found this great diagram for 40° N.
OK then looking at the front of our house we're then looking West. Sun then travels up over parent's house and our front yard is pretty much full sun and then over house and sets on back yard side. Vegetable garden is on South side which would be all full sun if it were not for neighbor's backyard tree that is getting bigger. Backyard has no trees in our yard (we have absolutely no trees, just planted a couple ornamental ones but pretty much no shade from our side) but neighbor to the West has 2 very, very tall trees that have a fairly small canopy considering there size. But they do cast some long shadows over backyard.
So this isn't even correct as far as angle because it's 2D. I will probably need to make a little model to look at the effect of the sun on veg. garden and backyard pool to really now.
Peoria is at 40.6936° N, 89.5889° W. Basically I'm going with 40° N then. Especially since I found this great diagram for 40° N.
So this isn't even correct as far as angle because it's 2D. I will probably need to make a little model to look at the effect of the sun on veg. garden and backyard pool to really now.
But hey something to think about.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Time for New Header
I was thinking about making a new header and forgot I already made a bunch so I could change it up more frequently. Isn't that artichoke beautiful!!!!
So I don't think I've put up a possible design from floorplanner.com in awhile either.
Turns out the class I'm taking is pretty basic. If I want I can take a more advanced version and get the input of John Brookes (MBE), well known landscape designer, author of 24 books and designing for over 50 years. Check out the artichokes in this picture! http://www.johnbrookes.com/portfolio-details.asp?p=4
So I had to submit a picture with text describing my yard.
I thought a change in background would be nice as well.
So I don't think I've put up a possible design from floorplanner.com in awhile either.
Turns out the class I'm taking is pretty basic. If I want I can take a more advanced version and get the input of John Brookes (MBE), well known landscape designer, author of 24 books and designing for over 50 years. Check out the artichokes in this picture! http://www.johnbrookes.com/portfolio-details.asp?p=4
So I had to submit a picture with text describing my yard.
I thought a change in background would be nice as well.
John Brookes An Introduction to Landscape Design
First week of being an online student at www.my-garden-school.com and just turned in my homework. No one else appears to have turned theirs in yet. I hope I did it right. I submitted the current site info for my yard and a mood board for the feel I am hoping to achieve.
The site information was specified as photo(s) and written description covering where it is, what kind of house, soil, etc. What you want to do with it...
The site information was specified as photo(s) and written description covering where it is, what kind of house, soil, etc. What you want to do with it...
I won't bore you with the written part but here is the mood boards which to me are like more orderly collages.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Great Quote from Jan Johnson's Blog
Simplicity and repose are the qualities that measure the true value of any work of art."
- Frank Lloyd Wright
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Time to name the rest...
http://incitegardening.com/2010/10/whats-in-garden-name.html
Interesting blog post about naming different parts of the garden. Well Ember's Garden is what I called mine or at least the vegetable garden. But what about the rest? I thought I could name the other side when it's done since it's in the shade, Slim Shady? But I've been calling it my zen garden or Japanese garden in my head since that's my intended theme.
Then I have the Rock Garden in front yard far corner. Hmmm I'm going to have to think about this.
Well maybe I'll name the areas of the yard after a the kind of garden it'll be and later a more creative name that goes with that. So Slim Shady would also be a woodland garden having plants such as described here:
http://gardenthymewiththecreativegardener.blogspot.com/2013/01/shade-loving-plants-for-woodland-garden.html
with some Japanese garden elements.
Interesting blog post about naming different parts of the garden. Well Ember's Garden is what I called mine or at least the vegetable garden. But what about the rest? I thought I could name the other side when it's done since it's in the shade, Slim Shady? But I've been calling it my zen garden or Japanese garden in my head since that's my intended theme.
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| Rosalind Creasy's edible garden |
Well maybe I'll name the areas of the yard after a the kind of garden it'll be and later a more creative name that goes with that. So Slim Shady would also be a woodland garden having plants such as described here:
http://gardenthymewiththecreativegardener.blogspot.com/2013/01/shade-loving-plants-for-woodland-garden.html
with some Japanese garden elements.
Sow What, Sow When?
The Garden Planting Calendar
Okay,
now here are the cold, hard numbers, along with specific plants:
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Every Day a little longer!
Sunrise and sunset in Peoria
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Rising and setting times for the Sun
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