HOSTA LA VISTA, BABY! - CHALLENGE #15

HOSTA LA VISTA, BABY!

Ooops. Sorry, I guess

that really should be . . .

HIDY HO!  IT'S HOSTA BOB! 

Yeah, I know – he ain't no Arnie but those ARE real live hostas behind him.  And his name REALLY is Hosta Bob. Kind of a grim-looking sort of guy – doesn’t really look like he enjoys what he’s doing.  But apparently he does.

I’m sure that’s what my neighbours must think when they see me out in the yard. I sometimes wonder what those living around me are thinking when they see the weeds out back. In fact, just the other day, my next door neighbour must have been feeling a little sorry for me.  He offered to take my bags of weeds and toss them for me.  Now to figure out how to get him to do the weeding - :)

I think the most appealing part of my yard is the front – no grass. We have pretty much designed it to be maintenance free.  With all the bark chips and shrubs . . .  hardly a weed to be seen. When we are gone – no tell tale signs to strangers that we are away. 

Since I have pretty much nothing to do in the front yard, I love it. It's the the backyard that has been the thorn in my side (so to be speak).  Actually, I've got plenty of those, too. The yard is quite sloped so trying to keep the grass green has been a virtual nightmare.  Quite honestly, short of cutting the grass and the occasional pruning, this poor yard has been on its own for a lot of years.  In the past, the boys’ activities from spring to early summer have kept us busy until holiday time and by the time we've returned from those . . . the leaves were almost ready to fall.  Hard to get motivated at that point. 


When you are working full time and have sports and family taking up most of your free time, the last thing you feel like doing is going outside to do yard work.  At the end of a busy day, raking, cutting, and weeding is not something you really get all that fired up about - at least in this household, anyway.

The weeds make me crazy.  Who in the world decided that weeds were such a bad thing?  Seriously, they grow better than anything else in this yard.   

I’ve never really been one to love spending time on my patio with all the creepy little ants (can’t stand those things) and since I’m not a sun worshipper, there really hasn't been much attraction to my yard.  Between hail and forgetting to water, potted plants on my patio and deck generally have not fared well at all.

I had such high hopes for this little guy - the beautiful pansies were flourishing and blooming!  Then I went away and left them to the fate of my family  . . .

You’d think we would be condo people, but there really is something quite therapeutic about looking out onto your own landcaped space.  Thankfully, this yard is smaller than some we’ve had. Having been homeowners nine times, we've been fortunate to have had large spaces for the kids to play in.  In most of those yards, we've had to plant vegetable or flower gardens to help fill the space. 

Now, in the past, I had always fancied myself to be somewhat of a vegetable gardener. I use that term loosely. What started out as a lovely idea soon would soon turn into a hobby farmer’s nightmare.  Those cute little plants all neatly lined up in their nicely tilled soil didn’t take long to become completely out of control.  They grew and they grew and they grew!  I may have been all thumbs at this gardening venture, but they were definitely green!  With 4 kids, a big house, and endless housework/yardwork, the gardens were often left to fend for themselves. 

Somewhere in here are vegetables!

I was extremely hopeful when we purchased our current house - an unfinished yard - we could design a maintenance free yard!  Just grass and a few trees, maybe?  All I knew was . . . I wanted as little yard work as possible. With my husband's work schedule, coaching and attending our kids' sports, his commitment to the yard was pretty limited. We needed something easy to care for. What started out as great ideas (rock retaining wall, concrete steps down into a lower yard, shrubs, trees, and pockets of gardening areas) . . . ended up becoming a huge headache.  That flippin' yard took on a life of its own.  If you are not around to prune, weed, water, and baby it all, it quickly can get out of hand.  Now, this has been 12 years in the making, so you can imagine how much things have grown!  Truly, fall and winter are two of my favourite seasons - no weeding and no yard work!!  

Surprise, surprise . . . this is the first year that we have actually had some real summer time to work on the yard!  I must say DREAD is the word that comes to mind when I think about what’s out there.   

I have two sisters - both blessed with some real creativity and our mother's gardening talents.  Their yards are quite different from each other's, but both are lovely and inviting. 

My sister in BC lives in a small town - very rural and folksy.  The feel of her yard reflects that. She has amazing hedges and fruit trees, a comfortable wrap-around deck, cute little gardening decorations scattered here and there, and a rustic little greenhouse that sits as a focal point in her backyard. Her husband's impeccable handiwork is evident wherever you look. She loves to "poke" around in her gardens and her appreciation for pretty and quaint is evident.  She enjoys being out there - it is a place of escape and tranquility for her.  I only get to visit a few times a year, but each time I see it, I get this inexplicable urge to do something with my own space back at home. By the time I get back to Calgary and see the crazy amount of work awaiting me . . . the urge passes.   :)

Imagine having these in your yard!!

 My other sister lives in a small city in Manitoba, where summer heat and mosquitoes can be intense. To take full advantage of the the season's awesome weather, they have created a fabulous back yard - great landscaping, a fire pit and hand made deck chairs!  Her husband also built an amazing screened-in patio - perfect for those warm Manitoba summer evenings.   It's strung with cute mini lights and filled with random things to make it a cozy place to kick back in with friends.  Her yard is small but perfect.  Just the right amount of flowers and veggies. Recently, she started a little herb garden.  In fact, that is what inspired me to finally jump into this Challenge - her little herb garden - so do-able. 

I may not have the stamina (or perhaps interest) in turning my yard into a park-like setting, but I surely can change my attitude about its potential. Staying on top of things (that's code for being consistently regular in being out there) and taking a genuine interest in making it a more welcoming place to want to be, might be impetus for change.  I have been testing out an old family pitch fork and it's quite amazing at how adept I am becoming with that thing.  I doubt I will ever become the avid gardener my sisters are, but I think that with a different outlook, I could take our yard from being simply weeded and pruned to something appealing and enjoyable.  Who knows where a little hard work, bling, creativity, and determination could lead . . .

               Self Contained Herb Garden                                 A Little Bling!

                         

                            

                                 

. . . and you never know, I might even get on-board with this whole outdoor thing!

         Food for Thought:

Some of my new best friends (at least Mondays-Fridays)! 

Join me next week when I take on the daunting challenge of 'No Cheating!'  I am cringing, just thinking about this one!

Images by: mlive.com; vegoutwithlinda.com; en.wikipedia.orgfritzmonroe.com; dipity.combackyardsandgardens.com; laundryontheline.wordpress.com; http://www.decorativecountryliving.com/christmas/pages/christmas_2010_071.html;
1.bp.blogspot.com; screamingsardine.net;