Summer gardening...

I'm enjoying it more this go round

I took this photo in my Backyard Habitat.

Two-thirds of our yard on the south side is devoted to Backyard Habitat. I've planted primarily native flowers and bushes from the Portland Plant List (PPL). Much of what I planted last year did not survive, but many things did. Our tree in this area is a Turkish Filbert (hazelnut) is not on the PPL, but will provide the tree canopy required for Backyard Habitat. It should also provide hazelnuts for wildlife at some point in its life.

Flowers include native bleeding heart, yarrow, bee balm, fireweed, and salal. Bushes include Himalayan honeysuckle, Douglas spirea, red twig dogwood, and two types of raspberries (golden and black cap). All the red raspberry bushes died. I also planted four lilac bushes. Not native, but my favorite flowers are lilacs, so ....

North side yard before the wood chips and plantings. I took this photo.

We covered most of the area with wood chips. I outlined a path with tree branches. I added a nurse log and a couple of stumps. Nature provided us with grass popping up, dandelions, and a blooming ivy that is so hard to kill.

Right now the entire yard (all three sides) has weeds and grasses that survive without rain. But some of them, such as plantain, dandelion, and self-heal, provide sustenance for the pollinators and we are reluctant to take the down.

Needless to say, we do not use Round-up or any other kind of poison.

The front yard has the big old pink dogwood, which provides most of the shade, as well as a weeping cherry tree we planted last year. The fences are lined with climbing roses which will eventually cover the fences. The roses bloomed this year even though they are still in their infancy.

Our dogwood blooming this year after plenty of water last year. My photo.

Our front yard when we moved in, fall of 2021. I’ve already planted bulbs in this photo.

Here’s the after photo:

The front yard contains a hammock, a swing hammock, a glass top table with an umbrella, and three plastic chairs.

It also contains a hummingbird feeder, a birdbath, a big ceanothus bush which will become huge if not kept pruned, a rosemary bush, iris, peonies, lavender by the front door that spills out onto the sidewalk, two miniature rose bushes, ajuga, native ground cover, and a sterile butterfly bush.

One of the many rose bushes I planted. This one is one of the Cecile Brunner climbers.

The north side yard has three more miniature rose bushes, a variegated Hosta, two veggie gardens, a red maple tree, a crape myrtle tree with lavender flowers, a big red climbing rose, and two more lilac bushes. At the front of that side, next to the sidewalk, my daughter planted several kinds of ornamental grasses.

One of the several ornamental grasses my daughter planted.

Our hens Lola, Ida, and Lizzy spend eight hours in the front and south side yard every day. Their coop and chicken run are at the rear of our house. That area was formerly a dog run. I planted hops to provide a bit of shade at one end. We also added an awning for shade and protection from rain and snow. But that area gets so hot by one pm that we let them out into the yard. They run around, dig, scratch, find bugs and worms, take dust baths, try to catch flying insects, and generally have a great time. During the week, I go out with them for two to four hours until my daughter gets off work, then she goes out with them until their bedtime.

Our hens bring so much joy and delight to us as well as to the neighbors who walk by. Children are always especially delighted to see chickens.

This week, I was sitting in the hammock chair, watching the chickens, enjoying the butterflies, and watching the breeze blow the weeds and grasses around, and I felt like I was out in a meadow. When I gardened before, I couldn't sit in my garden without seeing, and being distracted by, all the "flaws." Now I see nature. I see bees, birds, butterflies thriving in our garden.

I was all set to dig out every single plantain in our yard. When the grass dies down as it does in the summer, only the plantains and meadow hawkweed stand out. They seemed to be crying for a weed eater, but then I saw a bumblebee going from plantain to plantain, getting nectar from the few sparse petals.

Plantain is actually an herb (as is self-heal) with medicinal properties. Still, we could do with fewer of them. And Meadow Hawkweed is not a good thing to have. So come the fall rains, I'll be out there digging these up.

Hawkweed is the one with the “dandelion” head.

For now, I will enjoy summer by acting as I did when I was a child. I'll get comfy in the shade and read a book. I'll also enjoy the chickens. I'll share in their joy.

Hens are camouflauged at the bottom of the dogwood tree. You can see I have many options for getting comfortable.

Here is my “meadow.”

Please share your own summer joys with me in the comments.