Hallson Gardens

Share what you are doing in your gardens for 2013.

We have started the year off with a bang!!! Our 72 foot chain link fence came down during the mid December winds so we today started
to remove it, PVC slats came out first and the guys are removing the chain link today so that Monday the new post will go up. After the chain
link is down I get to remove all the pine needles so that the crew doing the fence has a clear look at where it goes. More photos to come!!

Redoing adding the photos the old way.

Did you move the file? When I tried to post it for you it said the file was moved. Any who, onto the garden! I am expanding my vegetable garden. I have a spot behind my shed that's grass so going to dig it up and expand. A portion of my garden got turned into a new Hosta bed that runs along the fence. It gets quite a bit of shade and always had trouble growing stuff there. No pictures though, not going to wade in the foot of snow to get them lol.

Thanks Owen, didn't move them, just don't get how to do them from Photobucket. Well we finished taking down the fence and cleaning out
the area so they can get the post up on Monday. Thank goodness our youngest came to help or us old folks would be back out on Sunday getting
it all ready! We are really tired tonight!

That's a major project! It will be nice to have a new fence in. I don't have anything specific lined up for this year. I have some mulch piles that need to be dispersed. Asked DH to move them with the skidloader to the far side of the yard where it needs to go, and he has 'forgotten' about it as many times as I've asked him to do it. It's likely that I will end up moving it all one wheelbarrow at a time, because I need it first thing in the spring, and if he drives the skidloader over the yard it will make a huge mess. Fortunately, my garden is pretty well established, and there's no big expansion plans from here on out, just maintaining. That takes every bit of energy I can muster during the growing season.

LindaP, I think I would rather do the wheel barrel instead of having the yard messed up big time? I am dealing
with the mess of two workers and having a hard time keeping up. We are on hold due to the material on the fence
hasn't arrived plus we have turned really cold!

They just finished the fence, had to sent the fence into the yard 6 inches due to the retaining wall as they couldn't put the posts near it
so I can now if needed walk on the other side to clean it. We are really cold so I'll clean it off when it warms up. It's still really muddy out
back so it was covered with mud, thank goodness I have a hand brush and a bucket of water or there would be no photos! Sorry, tried from the PB site and it didn't
work, trying the old way. Now to pay for this and do the rest later.

Very nice! I'm going crazy not being able to do anything in the yard here. But with a foot of snow on the ground and temps averaging in the low teens, I ain't going near my yard!

Owen, I hear ya! We have been hovering around freezing all week and I've been only going out a half hour at a time. Just to cool here to be out. I will have to do some
re landscaping after what I found today, some of my day lilies were yanked out!! I really love all the white out there but when the sun shines, finally . . . . . the glare was terrible.

karma, that's a big improvment on your old fence! I can see how the white would be a little glaring, especially in winter when there's not much green to break it up. Maybe some trellises with vines to add a little green to the fence?
It will be okay for the skidloader to move the piles. He can go through a path and out to the other side of the windbreak, which is a grass border along the cornfield. Way out away from the main part of the lawn and garden. Then he can make his turn there, come up and dump, and there will only be a couple of ruts from the skidloader turning. It would have to be done when the ground isn't wet.
I do have one project that has to be done this year. We finally got a new roof on the old stucco milkhouse that I use for a potting shed, and now I have to get in there and tear out the old ceiling that has dropped to just over my head in a few places, and reorganize the contents. I haven't really been able to use it for several years because of the bad roof and leaking, so it's just become a pile of stuff that is not at all organized. Time to fix that in the spring!
No working outside today. It's only 1 below at the moment, but the windchill is at about -18. No snow on the ground here, or it would be a lot colder. The drought has continued, and even worsened, over the winter, so we've had very little snow.

Thanks LindaP, we have one clematis growing up the north fence and Rose of Sharon spaced ever 8 feet. I'm seriously thinking of putting the Lilac cuttings out back as we will be digging up the Rose of Sharon due to where the fence had to be placed. I just can't see it growing on both sides of the fence. I'm also looking at some ground cover for the other side of the fence. I'll have some spring digging to do as a couple clumps of day lilies are history too. I think I have repaired all the tracks made but will have to wait until next week rain hits to know for sure. Deep cold out here is keeping me inside these days, air inversion!!

So the skidloader can go around your yard and main gardens? That is a good way to do it then. I know when my gardens are tracked it's upsetting and one works like heck to get it back into shape! Wish I was closer to help out on the ceiling, sounds like a lot of fun!! I'm getting good with demolishing but have to watch those ladders! Hope you are getting some of the snow I sent your way, this deep cold isn't what I wish on anyone!

kHT, my son helped teach me how to post photos from Photobucket: bring up the exact picture you want to post on Photobucket and you will see on the right side a box entitled "Image Links." There, to the right of IMG Code is a box starting with (IMG)http//. Just click that box and it will say "copied." So you go to your forum post and right click on your mouse (exactly on the left hand margin of the spot you want your picture to appear and the number of the photo will come up. When you "preview" your post, it is then that you will see your picture. You will only see numbers for the photo until you preview or submit.

Garden projects for this year: My husband built a wood deck---the only choice we had considering we have a large maple tree that he built around. Now the garden around it needs to be elevated since we had extended the deck size and the garden seems too low. We are removing some of the older plants and adding grasses, heuchera and lots of hostas! One thing I want to do is to add height to the garden in order to cover up the fence and retaining wall. I am thinking about adding some half barrels, or a wooden planter box to the side of the deck (by the fence) in order to add height and interest. We also have an old chain link gate which I was thinking of painting and then attaching to the fence and have a clematis or vine grow on it. (I saw the idea of an old chain link gate being painted and added to the garden in a library book I picked up about garden "junk." I also want to use our old bird bath to put a pot on to add height. I unfortunately threw out the chipped top, but still have the bottom. My husband says that he can make something to attach to the stand part and I will used it in the middle of the garden somewhere. Lots to think about. Just not sure what to do. My mind is just spinning with thoughts, probably because there were so many years of ill health in the family that needed our attention and now I can devote more time to something that I love.





And the deck needs staining I think and the retaining wall is being replaced with new timbers as the old are falling apart.

rufie, I was in the same spot last year. I had been taking care of elderly parents for a long time, and was looking forward to getting caught up on so many things that just got shoved into the 'later' column. Then my husband had a huge health crisis in 2011/early 2012, and then some major life decisions that took a lot of thought and energy. Finally late summer and early fall I was able to get started on some things. I did a lot of maintenance that had been put off, and got my garage cleaned out, things like that. It's hard to know quite where to start when there is so much to catch up on. It sounds like you have some good ideas, and I hope you can get a start on some of them this year.

We are really enjoying this new fence!! But this weekend we have to find something to put on the other side of the fence due to setting the fence into the yard
8 inches off the retaining wall. I have garlic planted by the wall so this could be fun finding something to allow it to keep growing. I won't be going to that side
of the fence much so I'm thinking maybe river rock?

Nice, very nice
Hope it have settled in to the garden with plants and just the little bit of patina givng it the white but smooth color

Do you have a picture ?

What is so nice about this fence is it just takes a little soap, water and a car brush to clean. They say every 5 years but I do it yearly to keep it white. There is a
glare off this if the sun hits it right but the privacy is priceless!! I have yet to work on the other side. I can't decide if I want to plant something, put river rock down or
just put the bamboo slats down? The pine needles are plentiful in this area. It is still a work in progress.

We currently are doing the phase 4 of this PVC fencing project. Photos to come. Yes, there will be another phase after this.