Julie’s New Herb Garden

Julie’s New Herb Garden

 

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Welcome to Julie’s NEW Herb Garden

This is my particular project that I do every year in the springtime.

Some Bulbs to Replant

My Garden Shoes  🙂

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My own little private section that is mine, and mine alone.

This is the sunniest part of our backyard.  The sun rises to the left, (east), and the sun sets to the right, (west).  And the front of our home faces north, while the back of our home faces south.  Therefore, the front and the back of our house never sees any bright light.  Only the sides of our house does.

Our backyard is fenced in and private, which is how we like it.

When you enter into our backyard from this gate you immediately see a small rocked in section. 

Here I have a lovely red ginger plant.

We like to have “sections” in our backyard, and not some continuous landscaping.

The Trellis

The trellis Gordon made from scrap wood he bought at Home Depot for about $10.00.  When it comes to most anything creative, the creative part always outweighs the expensive part.

I always love to have things that “climb” in my herb garden, therefore I do have a few trellis’s.

The Many Pots

Some of these pots we found on the side of the road where people no longer wanted them and dumped them there for us to find.  🙂

A Nice Sunny Patio Section

I have a variety of herbs growing here in pots.  I prefer a potted garden as opposed to having them growing from the ground.  They don’t tend to get the weeds when I do this, or the sometimes flooding when we get lots of rain.  The pots have good drainage.

Green, Green, and Green…..

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Our Kumquat Tree

What I love the most about having an herb garden is how it contributes to our health each and every day.  Preparing a meal and going outside to gather some herbs to add to it, is just so satisfying.  Something perhaps that my ancestors did when cooking.

Fresh Herbs are cancer killers too!  So eat up!

Also, just whenever I go outside I always sample of few herbs.  I consider it my daily dose of vitamins.

My Heliconia

This is not the Heliconia that I know from Hawaii, but it is a cousin that I adore.

Facing My Herb Garden

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Click Here for:  Julie’s Herb Garden

This is my Original Herb Garden

You can see my current Herb Garden’s Origins Here

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An Osprey, Fish Hawk

We have many Fish Hawk’s that swoop into our backyard.  Sometimes they may claim a squirrel, a snake, etc.  But most of the time they just look so majestic and beautiful.  As you see here in our backyard oak tree.

This particular snake crawled out of a pot on our lanai.  Lucky for me that he/she is small.  We live with snakes here in the south and most of us know to tread lightly when doing yard work.  We also learn how to identify snakes so that we know which ones are poisonous.  This little one is a black racer.  But, notice how he/she straightens itself out along that straight edge?  Snakes tend to do that a lot which is why when we walk down steps we need to look ahead.  My deceased step-father took a step out of his house without realizing a snake was there.  The snake proceeded to bite his jeans and boots.  It was a poisonous snake and luckily for him he was wearing thick things the snake couldn’t bite into.

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2019

 

Every year I do the garden a bit different. 

This year showcases that. 

Lily of the Nile

I thought these were so lovely that I just had to give them a try.

I just have added some Lemon Grass.

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From Far Left……

To Far Right……

Herbs, Flowers, Succulents and Bromeliads

This year I added some pretty hanging plants to the trellis.

Coming in and out of Focus

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Starting from Scratch, Cleaning up the Herb Garden from 2018 to 2019

As you can see in the photo above, my herb garden always survives, but it’s not beautiful.  So, every spring I clean it up and make it more beautiful.  I tend to always have my tried and true herbs but the colorful flowers do sometimes tend to be different.

I made the decision to get rid of the red ginger plant but I did salvage some cuttings to hopefully grow my own.

The start of my spring 2019 herb and flower shopping.

Beautiful Hibiscus

I do have a lovely hibiscus growing in my herb and flower garden but the squirrel’s so LOVE to chew on the new buds.  Now that we have the new enclosed lanai extension I am able to have my beautiful hibiscus in the bright sunlight without the squirrel’s being able to bother them.

Filling my Trunk with so much Beauty

Inside My Car

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The Clean – Up

Again, every year I go through my Herb and Flower Garden and do a clean up.  I remove anything dead, or with weeds, or loaded with leaves, and I just clean it all up by putting things into trash bags for our “Yard Debris Pick Up” days.

These are the TWO Herbs that survived and thrived through the winter months.

Rosemary and German Thyme

(Perhaps they were just in the right place (in the garden) at the right time (during sprinkler season).

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The BEGINNING of my many garden purchases.

I have many interests in life and therefore I have many interests in the garden.

My Variety of Herbs, Flowers, and Succulents

The Beautiful ORANGE Easter Lillies

Garden Projects, Projects, and more Projects….

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All Cleaned Up and Ready to Start Planting

In every single pot that I have, there were lots of EARTH WORMS!

What that means is that the soil is as close to perfect as it can be!

We don’t use those chemicals on our lawn like many of our neighbors do.  Those chemical’s cause cancer.  Children that play on those lawns are getting cancer and dogs are getting cancer of the mouth.  I do wonder if they have Earth Worms on their properties?

The Garden is Coming Together

This usually takes me 2 -3 weekend’s to get it all together and complete.

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Banana Plant

I love this plant as the little blooms look like mini green bananas.  And, I only like to eat Green Bananas.  I developed that habit from our time in Hawaii.

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Jasmine I planted to grow up the trellis.  It also smells heavenly as you walk by it.

I believe this is the Mandevilla Vine

Bougainvillea to the right, and Mandevilla Vine to the left.

  It is beautiful!

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The Skink in the Pot

When I was cleaning out pots for my herbs and flowers I came across this pot that housed this skink.  At first I thought it was a snake as it is very shiny with a thick body.  I didn’t see the legs initially.  It jumped out at me!  That was his/her pot and I was disturbing it and the skink didn’t like it!

While I was working in the garden it kept following me around.  That is when I gave it the pot back and he/she backed off.  🙂

You can have the pot!

Hope you are Happy Now  🙂

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It is Spring, Outdoor Screwing can Commence…..

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On My Outdoor Bench…..

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I have such a variety of lovely things that I am currently planting in and around our backyard outside.

I love nice pots, plants, bulbs, you name it!

A Wine Bottle of Succulents

I am very much into succulents now.  When I saw this wine bottle of succulents I just knew that I wanted it.  I was mad at myself that I didn’t think to do this first.  🙂

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A Work in Progress…..  Our Lanai Extension

This is where all my Springtime projects take place. 

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This Area….. BEFORE…..

Click Here For:  Julie’s Side Project

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I do have this pot of succulents that will feature in this section.  🙂

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Highlights on our New Lanai Extension

Our Monk, Before he Passed…

Monk loved our backyard.  You can see him standing in the sunlight.  He loved the sun in his old age.  It made him feel good.

A Planter Full of Succulents

Some of our Topiary’s and My Peach Tree

(I suppose it’s OUR Peach Tree but seeing as how I am the Georgia Peach…..)

Normally, a peach tree needs another peach tree to germinate and grow peaches. 

However, this tree does not.

I just cannot believe how big they are getting.

Forming little butts and all.

When I went outside today, April 23, 2019, I noticed this peach had fallen from the tree.  It was soft, and sweet and ready to eat.  But look how small it is?  Regardless, it is delicious!  But no fuzz though.?

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Our New Lanai Extension

We do love it and can’t wait to do all the things that we have planned for it. 

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2018

Herb and Flower Garden

I believe this is a Belgica, deliciously scented, early Dutch Honeysuckle.

Our Pineapple

Sadly, whenever we do have a pineapple to sprout up some critter that enters our backyard always eats it.

  Oh well, such is gardening….

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Belgica

Planting the Belgica to Climb Beautifully

Getting the Herb and Flower Garden Assembled

Just Working On It

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My Personal Backyard Equipment

Bottle of Water for Drinking, Squirt Bottle of Water for Squirting me in the face when I get hot, towel for sitting on, towel for wiping away the sweat on me, visor to protect from the sun, Garden Gloves, Mini Shovel and Clippers, Blue Bucket for gathering things to discard in the garden.

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The Heliconia

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Still Working to put this Garden Together

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I always love adding some color to my herb garden.

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New Gutters

Do you see that line on the wall in the two photos above?  That line indicates where our down spout (I think that’s what it’s called) used to be.  But now you can see it on the other side of the fence, on the far right in the photos above. 

When we had our lanai extension built we needed to install new gutters.  But the men, and even Gordon okayed them to be in the same spot that they were originally.  (I’ll get to why that is a bad idea shortly.  Just keep reading.)

The New Gutters Above my Herb Garden

The New Down Spout Outside of our Backyard Fence

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Climate Change in our own Backyard

The bamboo shades above are only there to show you this side of our original lanai.  The bamboo shades top, and the messy, wet floor you see in the photo below.

Do you see all that water?

The trellis here is just to the other side of the screen.  In this view I am looking at it from inside the lanai facing my herb garden.

And from this view I am looking to the inside of the lanai from my herb garden.

This is the “ceiling” of our new lanai extension and see all that rain?  The new gutters cannot even handle all that rain and it is spilling out over the them and onto the photo below.

See All the Water?

This Screen Door Leads to my Herb Garden

Look how flooded the area is.

Notice all the water all along my herb garden retaining wall?

Last year, 2018, starting from May until September we had rain most every single day. 

And I don’t just mean a nice shower, I mean a HEAVY DOWNPOUR!!!

We didn’t use our sprinklers for about 5 months.  Didn’t need to.  Our backyard was this flooded most every day.  Gordon chalked it up to “Our neighbor’s need new gutters.  That’s the problem.”  I pointed out to him that we bought this house in 2006 and never have we had this water problem before.  Also, never have we had this much rain before.  I believe that this is going to be our new normal and we had better adjust to it or our home is just going to flood.  This water will eventually make it’s way inside our house. 

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My New Herb Garden Design Idea

Once the men we had hired finished building our new lanai extension it was up to Gordon and myself to get everything else back in order.  We did have to tear up a section of my herb garden for this construction and now it was time to put it back.

Gordon and Monkee

It was my idea to build the retaining wall up along side of the fenced in lanai, as well as our original design along the outside of it.  It is my hope that the water will have a harder time entering into our lanai when we have these torrential storms or hurricane’s.

You can see Gordon building the retaining wall here.

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My hope is that this will help prevent all that water from coming into our lanai from this direction.

All Finished!

I did have Gordon to extend our herb garden to the screen door here. 

Now we have more room for planting in this section.

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Which Brings me to the Gutters

I was the only one that thought of this.  Extending the gutters and placing the down spout outside the fence to help ease all the flooding that we have inside the fence.  I do see it as remarkable that me, a woman that knows nothing about this kind of thing, is the one that had the better idea.  So, the message that I am bringing to you is to not let self doubt deter you in any way from presenting a good idea that even the professional’s may not have.  You are the employer that hired these people to work for you, and if you have a better idea than they do, then suggest it and make it happen.

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With the Herb Garden borders complete it’s time for me to do my thing with all the pretty and delicious plantings.

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Always think about color and whatever makes you happy when you garden.  🙂

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Gordon is the hardest worker that I have ever known. 

He always give 100% at work, at home, in the backyard, the garden…..

Remember our Key Lime Tree?

Well, here it is!  It did survive our moving it to pave the way for our Lanai Extension.  But most of it died and we had to cut it back considerably.  But, it is still alive and should eventually produce those great Key Limes that we love so much. 

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My Snake Hose

I found this at Home Depot and I knew that I had to have it!

It sprays this excellent mist that is perfect for my herb garden, or ME when I am outside working and hot as heck!

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Happy Gardening…..

Julie

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View My Other Herb Garden and Project Pages:

Julie’s Herb Garden

AND,

Julie’s New Herb Garden

AND,

Herb Cocktails

AND,

An Herb Garden Redo

AND,

Julie Garden Blogging

AND,

Julie’s Backyard Wildlife and Gardening Blogging

AND,

Julie’s Side Project

AND,

A Picnic In The Herb Garden

AND,

Julie’s Backyard Wildlife and Gardening Blogging Continues

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