HOUSE: Newburgh

Garden progress.

Evan and I spent three solid days (minus some well-timed thunderstorm downtime) working in the garden, and the results are really satisfying. It’s actually starting to look like something out there! Considering the garden looked like this (remember that dog pen, Adam?!) when we bought the house and like this just a couple of months ago, I’d say this is quite an improvement.

We made a gravel path!

First we painted some pressure-treated wood with special outdoor stain, then we made a rectangular frame with stakes on the bottom.

Then we dug and dug and dug for a really long time, and smacked the dirt down flat with my new favorite tool, a hand tamper. We took turns. Evan’s turns were longer than mine. I’m not very strong!

Landscape cloth went on top of the dirt, and then we poured in 5 of the 6 bags of gravel we dragged into the garden through our basement.

SO EXCITING! A path! Which goes nowhere! (Eventually we’ll put something at the end.)

We also planted lots of stuff, so the Japanese Maple isn’t lonely out there anymore. On the left (shady) side, there are three Rhododendrons, an Azalea, Baltic Ivy (which will eventually climb up and cover a good portion if the fence), and a bunch of Pachysandra that I’m hoping fills in nicely and gives up some good ground covering. On the right (sunny) side, there are two Black Lace Elderberries and three Big Daddy Hostas. Everything is still pretty small, but I’m sure a year from now it’ll be looking lush and full.

The next steps are the stone patio and the vegetable garden!

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26 Comments

  • Reply Janelle June 2, 2008 at 3:30 pm

    I love it! I want a backyard/garden. Your blog makes me want to get real place.

  • Reply jeff-nhn June 2, 2008 at 4:02 pm

    Looks great and so professionally done.

  • Reply Jen S. June 2, 2008 at 4:07 pm

    That’s wonderful. I’ve been watching your progress with great interest! It’s definitely been inspiring.

  • Reply Belinda June 2, 2008 at 4:19 pm

    anna & evan – it is looking great. what a huge difference. you both must be very proud of yourselves. i personally adore the path that goes nowhere!. i am so excited for your vegetable garden & finding out what you are going to plant.

    well done, i hope you treated yourself to some yummy post gardening dinners!.

  • Reply David June 2, 2008 at 4:24 pm

    Wow, you guys are quick! It is going to be amazing, I can already tell.

    (p.s. Hi Anna!)

  • Reply Anna at D16 June 2, 2008 at 4:26 pm

    Bee, to reward ourselves we went out for ice creams (twice!) at a weird/great old place we just found near us, Dairy Island. Vanilla soft serve with butterscotch and Oreos. YES. mmm

  • Reply nicole June 2, 2008 at 4:38 pm

    yay!!! what a huge accomplishment, and you still have more room to play with. i absolutely love the gravel garden path with the edging and your plant selection. things really should fill out quite well over time. what an eden you two will have! those two little pups are going to feel like they now have a whole new place to explore.

    honestly, i don’t know what i would do if i had that much space right now. i’m so bitten with the gardening bug that i surely would overdue it. i think you’re pacing yourselves really well and seem to have such a well thought plan for it all.

    bravo!

  • Reply Anna at D16 June 2, 2008 at 4:46 pm

    p.s. Bonus photo of me wielding the tamper!

  • Reply Adam June 2, 2008 at 5:39 pm

    Wow! I am very impressed! Yes, I do remember that monstrous dog pen, I thought that thing would kill us taking it apart! Your garden looks lovely, and it will continue to get even lovelier! I am doing a bunch of landscaping myself, building sandstone walls with multilevel mini gardens and what not, as I have been invited to be a stop on the Canton-Potsdam Hospital Guilds first annual Garden Tour June 21! I am so excited and nervous! I’ll have to take some pics and upload them to my Flicker account, it will give me a reason to start using it! xoxo

  • Reply JJ June 2, 2008 at 7:17 pm

    I looks incredible!

    I am so inspired!

    I am going to send my boyfriend out this weekend to remove our junipers so we can make the front yarden something fantastic!

  • Reply Jo in NZ June 2, 2008 at 10:25 pm

    I went out and bought a rake and a spade this morning: vegetable garden, here I come! I want you to know how much your changes are inspiring others to get to work. Even those on the other side of the globe. Thanks so much for this blog. I love it.

  • Reply Housegirrl June 3, 2008 at 6:42 am

    This looks amazing! I love the step-by-step shots of the gravel path. I wouldn’t have though of the trench and cloth and tamper. Thanks for the inspiration!

  • Reply Mary-Laure June 3, 2008 at 7:24 am

    I soooooo wish I had a garden! Yours is going to be fabulous!

  • Reply Kathy June 3, 2008 at 7:37 am

    That looks great! You guys are flying!

  • Reply lesley June 3, 2008 at 12:32 pm

    a cute and very anna garden 😉

  • Reply lesley June 3, 2008 at 12:33 pm

    >SO EXCITING! A path! Which goes nowhere!
    lol. you should paint a tiny tiny word on the fence at the end.

  • Reply jennifer in sf June 3, 2008 at 8:55 pm

    Congratulations on all the progress! It’s looking great and that hand tamper looks like a good time.

  • Reply monique June 4, 2008 at 8:24 am

    You have been so busy! I love the garden project! I also love what is happening in your bathroom and…hello…Fritz is a doll!

  • Reply Claire June 4, 2008 at 3:19 pm

    That is so striking. I love it!

  • Reply heather June 5, 2008 at 2:55 pm

    it’s nice to see your progress – it’s really coming along nicely! it’s encouraging to see what you’ve done especially since i’m closing on my first house next week and the back yard is currently a jungle! now i have hope that i can get it under control myself, taking some small steps and moving at my own pace.
    cute photo of you – where did you get that adorable garden hat?

  • Reply Anna at D16 June 5, 2008 at 3:09 pm

    Heather, the garden hat is made by Sloggers. I found my gray one at Target for $3.99, which is way cheaper than they are elsewhere! I have a pair of their gardening clogs, too — very cute, they don’t look like Crocs.

  • Reply stacy June 9, 2008 at 1:07 pm

    You appear to be making good progress on the back yard. Can’t wait to see the end result.

  • Reply izabug June 11, 2008 at 12:29 pm

    your garden looks fabulous! thank you for sharing the inspirational images!

  • Reply s. moss June 28, 2008 at 10:00 pm

    Hi.

    Have you been to Homespun in Beacon NY (on Main Street)? You might like to visit and see the back yard. I just found some photos on flickr by moxiesinclair

  • Reply Anna at D16 June 28, 2008 at 10:24 pm

    s. moss: Yes, I’ve been to Homespun (excellent food!!), but I haven’t seen their garden. Maybe I’ll try to stop in tomorrow and take a look. Thank you! 🙂

  • Reply Ludivine July 11, 2008 at 6:26 am

    Hi Anna!

    New pictures of the garden? I am curious to see its development and if you need some advice, feel free to ask, I’m a landscape architect!:)

    By the way, I sent you a message on Flickr about your chairs (the French girl!)

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