"Gardening"

Let me share a secret with you...*nervously looking around*  I don't actually know how to garden. Gasp! Now those of you who know me might beg to differ, but it's true; I don't really know anything.
In my mind real gardeners just know. They know when to plant, what to plant, how to plant it, how to take care of it, and exactly what to do when. They can look at something, smell it, feel it, and just know what is wrong and how to fix it. The rich soil is in their blood. As for me? I still get squeamish about anything creepy-crawly in the dirt.

So instead I "garden"... yes, the quotations make all the difference. It's more of just puttering around, seeing what works (and what doesn't), and a lot of online research, and I mean A LOT. Every single thing I do know about plants and "gardening" is from the web. My mom will openly admit that she has a black thumb and can't keep a houseplant alive. I think that is because all her focus and attention was on her kids and being a great mom. I have to admit that my own house plants suffered quite a bit when we first got Eva; I killed off five indoor herb plants. Thankfully we got into a routine just in time to plant my seeds for the season.



Before now, all the "gardening" I have done has been in containers. Last year we were in a Townhouse with no yard, so I covered the deck with large containers. (I think the moving guys thought I was nuts for asking them to move massive containers of dirt.) Since we bought our first house in November, this is the first time I am seeing this plant life popping up and my first stab at clearing and maintaining landscaping. I tend to take my mom's approach: low maintenance plants only and when in doubt, clear it out... it will come back if it was meant to grow there. I have no idea what these are (see picture to the left) but they cover the back yard beds. Daylillies maybe? Anyone have these?

So far I have cut down the ornamental grasses, cleared the kennel of all wood chips (so Eva can't bring them inside to chew on), trimmed a huge bush, and cut down another. Now we have a giant pile of branches stashed under our pine trees... I see building a fire pit in our near future!
The next step, besides raking out more of the beds, is to get three trees removed. I know, I hate cutting down mature trees, but these are through necessity. The first is a huge juniper of some sort that was planted two feet from the house... oh look, now it is growing into the house!

The second is probably a beautiful tree of some sort (haven't seen it with leaves on) but someone had the bright idea to plant it six feet from the house. Who does that?! Now it is scraping against the roof and gutters causing damage and eerie screeching noises on the windy nights. 

The third is a cottonwood shoot that is now 25 ft high and growing out of an old stump. Honestly I couldn't care less about this one other than the fact that it is planted right over the gas line... fun.


Don't worry, I am smart enough NOT to remove these trees myself. Anyone know of a good tree removal service? In the mean time I will be working on building a couple of raised beds for "gardening." I do need a place to put my tomato's after all!