Mike takes us on a walk around his yard:
We built our home in 2010 in the Long Meadow Farm subdivision and it backs up to Oyster Creek. The back fence and about 20’ of the side fences are wrought iron so everyone has a continual view of the back yard. The yard was sodded, 4 new Live Oak trees were planted and minimal landscaping was added to the front yard by the builder. My wife Linda has a firm belief that if anything is done outside in the yard, it is the man’s responsibility. I have always enjoyed gardening but when I retired in 2015, I joined FBMG and also had lots of time to fulfil that responsibility!
Over the years I have added gardens for both beauty and function. The flower gardens are a mixture of annuals and perennials. The front is fairly conventional. I added a rock border to the two main beds on either side of the front and around the trees. I fill the beds around the trees with annuals while the two main beds are mostly perennials with some annuals. They include begonias, dianthus, caladiums, vinca, butter cup, and Penta’s. I like to keep trying different annuals. Some of the perennials are Texas Mountain Laurel, Yew Podocarpus (great at xmas), Japanese Blueberry tree, Indian heather and Amaryllis started from Linda’s mothers garden.
In the back I also outlined the beds with rocks. They are also filled with a mix of annuals and perennials. I also added three fruit trees, lemon, lime and tangelo, a 4’ by 16’ raised bed vegetable garden, a rain barrel and a 4’ by 8’ greenhouse. The greenhouse is used to start annuals in the spring and to house some of the potted plants in case of a freeze. Tomatoes is the main crop in the vegetable garden but includes items like cucumbers, various peppers, strawberries and various herbs. Some of the perennials are Esperanza, Dwarf Bottlebrush, Canna, Abelia, Pineapple Guava, dwarf Pomegranates, firecracker plant, bougainvillea. Some of the annuals Zinnias (not blooming yet-NBY), hyacinth Bean Plant, Gomphrena (NBY), Dianthus, Penta’s, begonia, cosmos, vinca, blanket flowers (NBY), snap dragons, cosmos, impatiens, salvia. There is a large variety of cacti/succulents some of which bloom beautifully. I have a weakness for volunteers which sometimes makes the gardens a little messy! I also like to harvest seeds and start the next years plants in the greenhouse.
We just lost our Schnauzer, Olive, and we are going to plant an olive tree and put her ashes beneath it.