Finally, Planting!

Okey dokey my blogger friends. Last year I let you in on my master landscape plan. Now it's time to update on what we were up to all summer. What better way to warm up on a cold day like today than to think about landscaping?! ha ha

I started with the trees and shrubs (although other projects seemed to keep popping up). I had the yard graded away from the house for proper drainage (at $85/hr this only cost me $170.00), and had the local utility companies mark any underground gas and power lines.

I placed my order with a local tree nursery so my order was ready for me to pick up. It's a small time saver but it was less hassle than walking through the nursery myself, picking each item. Cause I'm lazy like that.

I made myself a "planting map" complete with measurements from the property lines and the spacing between each plant. Of course, all of these trees and shrubs will grow to be quite large so, the spacing will look a bit odd at first. It's important, though, to make sure they all have room to grow based on their expected spread, or you may end up overcrowding your plants. It's not pretty, (or proportionate ha ha) but here's my map:

As we measured, I marked the location of each plant with marker paint (such a clever can, that can be held upside down).

I bought a couple of spades and Mr. Mel and my strapping nephew, AJ, got to work. It took us a few more weeks to get them all done but we ended up planting 55 trees and shrubs. FIFTY FIVE! That's alot of holes, people!

After the delay of a few weeks due to monsoon-like rain, we were able to get to work on the front yard.

We had the yard graded and had to bring in 20 yards of topsoil to bring up the grade (our yard had to be brought up about 5"). The topsoil was an investment we didn't think we'd have to make right away, but I'm glad we have it done. One less thing to do down the road! The patch of bare ground near the front of the yard is a ditch area where I didn't want to waste $ putting in topsoil for now. The top of the yard, nearest the house, was left bare for my patio block project.

I can't wait for spring to see how many of my plants survived our brutal winter. I also have landscaping updates a couple of projects on deck for the front yard once the snow melts, stay tuned for that!

What we planted: 

• Swedish Aspen
• French Lilac
• Greenspire Linden
• Tower Poplar
• Sugar Maple
• Colorado Blue Spruce
• Brandon Cedar
• Golden Ninebark
• Goldenrod Potentilla
• Little Kim Lilac
• Tinkerbelle Lilac
• Snowbelle Mock Orange
• Red Leaf Barberry
• Thunderchild Flowering Crab
• Autumn Blaze Maple
• Russian Almond
• White Cedar
• Alpine Currant
• Medora Juniper