Raised Bed Expansion

We decided we needed more raised bed garden space. On the east bed, we had a demarcation line of stones separating the garden from the adjoining mulched landscape. On the mulched east side of the stones, the soil was essentially clay and John had not put in any compost, as he did on the west side. We decided to reroute the separation line to not quite double the size of the east bed (probably added about 100-120 sq ft). We left every other stone from the original demarcation line (as stepping stones) and I rerouted the wire anti-bunny fence. Today, we rented a mini-tiller (Mantis 7262 from Home Depot) and purchased six cubic feet of a Scotts humus and manure mixture.

I was not surprised to find the little tiller did not have the capability to bust through the clay soil surface. I got out the spade and loosened the surface which gave the tiller a fighting chance. It did well after that in turning up the clay. After I dispersed the humus/manure, I used the tiller to blend it all together. Turned out better than I expected and I did not hurt myself too badly.

Before

After

After

Now we should have plenty of room for the asparagus, globe artichoke and celeriac. T also found a Wormwood, Silver Mound (Artemisia schmidtiana) which she planted on the east side of the pond.

Not surprisingly, John (landscaping) never showed up this week as he had promised he would and we have not heard from him since he called on June 30.

Fishy

A week ago today, we introduced six goldfish into the pond. Happily, we have seemingly six happy goldfish today.
 

John (landscaping) called last Thursday saying he would be stopping by to review the status of the backyard landscaping this week.

A Golden Moment

We have spent the last few days cleaning up the garden due to our absence. The vegetable raised beds look good. The tomatoes are starting to fruit, the leeks are growing nicely, there are some baby zucchini and the chard, which we harvested severely before our trip, has leafed out again. Yesterday we added some new squashes, cantaloupe, okra and a new type of pepper (super chili). T says that is about all we can plant for now. We still have asparagus, globe artichoke and celeriac we have not planted yet. We will find spots for them. We don't know for sure, but since there is no evidence of rabbit attack of the chard, perhaps the marigolds are doing their job.

Zucchini

I sent John (landscaping) a note on Sunday telling him we were home and he should stop by to discuss the status of his work, at his convenience. We have not heard anything from him yet.

Today we bought our first fish for the pond. We bought six goldfish, three common and three Shubunkin. Each is about 5-6" in length. According to what I can find on-line, they could grow to a foot long and live for 10-20 years. I added some more detoxifier to the pond before introducing the fish. After introducing these first six fish, the pond is so big and with the stone bottom, it is hard to see them. We easily could accommodate a couple of dozen of these fish, but we thought we would see if these first six survive.

The parrot feather, horn wort, water hyacinth, iris, rush and water lily all seem to be alive and healthy. Even one of the pitcher plants is still functional. There are several dragon flies that seem to be enjoying the pond. T says that is a good sign. We will need to get some additional water lilies and/or hyacinth to provide some shade, hiding places and snacks for the fish.

The Scottish moss and Irish moss both seem to be doing OK, The Irish moss is propagating much more so than the Scottish.

Home Again

We arrived today from our Orlando journey. The backyard is not in bad shape. Our neighbor said he mowed our lawn once and filled our pond twice. The gates have not been fixed. Our neighbor said it has been very dry during the month. Accordingly, it started raining the evening we arrived home.

The chard was cut back before we left...it is back

The dill and cilantro are out of control

The Hydrangea does not have the pink we expected

The demin n' lace Russian Sage is about the only color in the backyard

Overall, it could have been worse...we have some weeding to do

Update

Since arriving home from our Mediterranean cruises, we have spent a lot of time (and money) populating the landscaping gaps in the backyard. We came to the conclusion that the leakage in the pond will not drive us to dismantling it so we could go ahead and put plants in and around it. We will hold off putting any fish in until we return from our Florida trip toward the end of June. Over the past week, we have planted almost 50 plants.

As for completion of the landscaping work that John promised would be finished and perfect before our return? It is neither complete or perfect. The saga continues.

Holiday

We left for a three week cruise on April 2. Today, we are on the Seabourn Odyssey, 12 days into our 14 day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona. We should be sailing through the Straits of Gibraltar tomorrow. In Barcelona, we board the Oceania Riviera for another 10 day cruise before spending a few days in Athens. Then back to Houston before heading home.

Atlantic between Madeira and Portugal

Before we left town, John promised us they would continue working on the back yard and definitely would have EVERYTHING completely and perfectly finished before we return in mid-May. He also promised to send pictures of their progress.

About a week ago, after not hearing anything from John, I sent him a note asking about progress and the pictures he promised to send. A couple of days later, I got a response implying they had found another hole in the upper part of the pond and he would send pictures as soon as he found someone to show him how to do so.

I hope he will keeps his promises this time. By the time we get home, we will be over six months past the originally promised completion date for the landscaping work.

April Fools Day 2016

John's crew came by today and planted the Red Twig Dogwoods. Look good!

They also planted T's Columbine and Knock Out Rose, here shown being inspected by Spenser.

Kevin never showed up this week. I am going to give John keys to the garage and the security fob which will permit him to disable the security system while we are gone. John said he would like for us to not irrigate any of the zones, except the raised beds, while we are gone. I will adjust the controller program accordingly. John said he will stop by often to check on things. Wally said the same thing. Wally also said he thought we should water everything three times per week. Hope they coordinate. I have updated our security protocols so that John is the first person the security company calls if there is an alarm. We are second.

Garden, Windows and Irrigation

We did not see Kevin yesterday or today to work on the pond. We got about 1" of rain yesterday with pea-sized hail. This was enough to raise the pond level but not enough to reach the overflow port.

John left a message saying he could not locate the two Red Twig Redbuds we had wanted. He suggested we go ahead and buy them at the nursery at which we found them and John would plant them along the north fence. T assures me that they will be beautiful. We got three Arctic Fire (red) and two Arctic Sun (yellow).

Todd (Marvin windows) called to say the parts for the west and south sunroom doors will not arrive prior to our departure on our cruise. I told him we would call him when we return.

Wally showed up to commission the irrigation system. He relocated the sprinkler head at the southwest corner of the lot, tested the entire system and gave T and I a tutorial on how to operate the Rain Bird control system. There are thirteen zones in the system.

Morgan (east neighbor) came over to ask if we wanted him to mow the lawn while we are gone. I told him we did not want to impose and that we thought it would be OK. He said it was no problem and he would be happy to do so. Very nice of him, but if we travel as much as we hope, we will need to line up a lawn care company.

Garden and Windows

Next week we depart on our European cruise. This week the goal is to get the plants, that we have been growing inside, transplanted into the raised beds and get the irrigation system operational. Last week I told John we needed to have Wally to come back and start the irrigation system. This system has never been completely tested due to the previous cold weather. John said he would be talking with Wally as well as Joe (concrete) about acid washing and sealing the walkways. Not too surprisingly, despite come beautiful weather early this week, no further word was received. Yesterday, I sent John another note saying we needed to get Wally to put the irrigation system into service. John responded that he would call Wally and we could expect him to be out yesterday afternoon. He never showed up. If he doesn't show this week, I will put the system into service myself.

I called Kevin, as requested, on Monday to update him on the pond situation. He was here last Thursday and did some investigating around the upper basin area. We refilled the pond and started the circulation on that day. I told Kevin that we still lost water at about the same rate and that I did not believe anything had significantly changed. Kevin said he would be out later in the week to continue his investigation.

Yesterday, I called the Marvin Window dealer concerning the south door, which has a loose handle. I called them to just find out what size of Allen wrench was required to loosen the handle set screws. I tried a 1/8", which was too large, and a 3/32", which was too small. The dealer suggested that he just have his technician (Todd) come out since we are still under warranty. I am glad they did. Todd found the spindle on the south doors to be bent (Todd said it was an installation issue), which resulted in the latch being difficult to operate. I asked him to look at the west door as well because it also is difficult to latch. He did and found the same bent spindle. Todd did what he could, but he said he needed to order some parts. The west door especially is still difficult to latch, much more so than the French doors on the east. Todd said he would discuss this with his team and get back with us. We may have to contact them upon our return.

Update:

Kevin never showed up, but Wednesday afternoon John did appear. He said he would work with Kevin on the pond issue. He said, again, he would get with Wally about the irrigation. He said that when he talked with Wally earlier this week, Wally said he was not anxious to start the water systems because "they" were projecting temperatures down in the 20's. I told John I had just looked at the forecast through mid-April and it is not supposed to even get down to freezing. We also looked at all the plants and trees. John assured me that the Canadian Red Cherry will have dark red leaves. He thought everything else looked pretty good. There is one azalea that looks sick and the maple on the west fence has some dead branches. John said he would come back later and prune it. I also told John that we thought we wanted to go with Red Twig Dogwoods along the north fence, alternating the Arctic Fire (red) with the Arctic Sun (yellow). I also asked him if he thought a weeping Snow Fountain Cherry (Prunus 'Snofozam' Pendula ) would be happy in the spot currently occupied by the Japanese Red Maple next to the east porch. The literature suggests the Snow Fountain needs full sun. This spot will not get full sun. John thought it would do fine. I told him we saw some beautiful Snow Fountains (probably topgrafted which should get only 5' to 6' tall).

Spring Update

Spring 2016 has arrived. Why is that noteworthy? For several reasons actually. Next to Fall and then Winter, Spring is my favorite season. It is also noteworthy to note that we are still trying to finish our landscaping. We were originally told that the landscaping would be finished by the end of October...last Fall. We have made progress since then, but it is still not finished.

The pond still leaks. On March 8, Kevin (new water feature guy) came out to do some investigation surrounding the pond leakage. This focused on the main pond area. The pond had been stagnate for about a week awaiting the next step. Kevin found some "suspicious" areas and we finally filled the pond to the overflow port and started the pump. The system circulated from March 8 until it lost suction and tripped the pump breaker on March 20. I sent John a emphasizing the inadequacy of the variable speed pump controller enclosure that Wally installed. The controller does not permit the door of the enclosure to close properly. Saturday night, when the pump tripped, we had snow and light rain. It was obvious that moisture had attacked the controller. I told John this is a shock hazard. and needs to be fixed. John later told me he was unaware of the problem with the enclosure.

On March 11, one day before our Texas visitors arrived, I sent John a list of 12 items that need to be completed before the landscaping is deemed finished. That list included:

1. Pond leakage and landscaping
2. Pond lighting
3. Concrete acid wash and seal
4. Concrete repair on garage apron
5. Irrigation including relocation of south head
6. North fence foliage
7. Plant listing
8. Pond pump proof of purchase or a new pump
9. Weather-proof enclosure for pond pump variable speed control
10. Replace faulty plants
11. Written pond warranty 
12. Spring initiation of the irrigation system including tutorial

After several calls and notes to John, Kevin arrived this afternoon and started looking at the upper part of the system. He identified a couple of "suspicious" areas. I refilled the pond and started the pump. Kevin asked me to call him directly to let him know how the system does over the weekend. I also pointed out to Kevin that we had followed his recommendation and procured and applied the "beneficial" bacteria to the pond on March 11. The source of the bacteria was the one recommended by Kevin. I noted that the day after application all the stone surfaces turned green. Kevin thought this was very curious. He inspected the material we used and agreed it was the right stuff. I noted that the instructions said the repeat the dosage a week after the first dose. Due to the color, we had not repeated the dose. Kevin recommended that the second dose be added. He personally put the dosage in at that time.

To hopefully close out our relationship with the cabinetry maker, the bar cabinet door FINALLY was delivered on March 11. I noticed the tint was lighter than the other woodwork. I was told that it would darken with time. I hope so. I am tired of working with this company.