A few garden projects

I agree … a glorious piece of heaven!! Your pool house is really cute (an old woman word for, hubby look at this can you build me one!! I love all the functions it serves along with it’s charm. The flower beds are colorful and full and filled with a few of my favorites. :-)

We downsized last fall, house and yard wise; which is working out well for us. However, I find that I miss all my old flower beds that were filled to overflowing. (Those beds get to be like old friends.) 32 years of sweat and love put into that yard. BUT, that’s okay. I am enjoying (not sure how much hubby is though – hahaha!) the “new” house and beds we are creating. I have a few more years till they will be the way I want them; but getting there is half the fun!!!

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

I love your pool house and you have a beautiful garden.
I could do with more colour in mine.
We have downsized our house, but the garden is still quite big.

-- Derbyshire------- English Countryside

My in-laws live with us. They have a nice attached apartment and without their help we could not afford to live here. The MIL is as sweet as honey, a tad nosey but my guess is that all mothers are.

The FIL is a whole new ball game. stump smart, perpetual maintenance but under his crusty exterior I have seen the odd kind moment.

The father in law thinks he is a gardener, but in fact…..........he’s the worst I have ever come across. He thinks “Round-Up” is a form of weed control. he has no idea what plants are invasive, what flowers when and for how long, nor how high they grow. he thinks the ability to make a square or a circle means that he is artistically inclined….............he can literally drive one to drink. perhaps when he was younger his flower beds looked good…............but now, they are a chemical experiment gone wrong.

he also has homing pigeons. Not one or two but maybe 100. Nothing against homing pigeons but they are a filthy bird. The fece and left over food bring in rats…........lots of rats. Couple that with a habit of just throwing garbage where ever he drops it, burning things that shouldnt be burnt, The inside the coops are so many wires and extension cords, heaters, fans, I am shocked that it hasnt burnt to the ground. he is truly a walking wreaking ball.

last year was the first year that he gave me control of the veggie garden and the gardens at the front of the house (mind you, there is still a bit of the Berlin Wall between his side and mine). In due time, he might come around,put his feet up and just enjoy life.

he loves fish ponds and now has three, each one slightly uglier then the one before it, all lined up in a row and my bet is, the curse of the chinese (goldfish) are going to cause quite a stentch this spring/summer. There are thousands of them and because there are so many, they will drain all the oxygen out from the pond and die…........the little waterfalls he has leak about 500 gallons a day and for some reason he feels compelled to heat one of the ponds through the winter. I unplug it when he goes to Florida for the season and plug it back in on his return.

Did I mention his ducks….........I always wanted ducks but after one summer of his ducks, I am convinced they are the filthiest, most disgusting bird on the planet. The stench would stop a swine in its tracks. I cant even eat duck anymore.

All that said…..........I would rather stay here, with all the problems ,trials, and tribulations, then move back to the city.

Small yards, small gardens…...less work, same reward.

There are a lot of gardens here…........and I mean a lot. The pool area has the potential to be stunning but the in-laws rug rat dogs have free rein, they trample everything so for that one…...I throw in the white towel.
On the exterior of the pool fence is another garden

-- Central northish Ontario

Hey Greenthumb,

You are just south of me. Sounds like you have a project on your hands with the FIL. Nothing wrong with the Berlin Wall until you can claim boundary.

Your gardens look great as well as your pool house.

Good luck this year with the round up experiments.

-- Living on the level... Central Ontario...1.25 hrs from TO.......Zone 5a

YOU POOR THING!!!!! Can I type between the tears of laughter!!!! Your story is the main reason I want to NEVER move in with any of my children and their families. All of are used to doing things our own way; and to give that up is d—-mn hard.

Greenthumb, you sound like an upstanding, honest, hardworking man who loves his family … I think “now a days” you are rare. Your wife is a blessed woman (along with her mom and dad).

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

haha I picture my Mom with her Roundup.. and pulling out all my periwinkle because it was just growing everywhere…
I picture my uncle (now deceased) burning everything and everything and all his little quirks, which we won’t go into.
I picture my Mom with her lined up red, white, red, white, red, white annuals … and I smile. She’s now in a trailer house at my brother’s. :)
But… the yard was immaculate when she was here! Farmer through and through and a hard worker. She’s 80 now and I know that I couldn’t keep up with her. And I’ve replanted some periwinkle. It shall grow again!

And now, to YOUR gardens. Stunning.Definitely heaven and you can sit and enjoy them proudly.
The pool house – you should post something about it at LumberJocks.com. Very inspirational with all the elements that you have included.
I love the second picture. That is the style of garden that I want in my backyard. Now I just have to select which plants I want to use to create the look.

Great pictures/story. Thanks for sharing

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

never a dull moment here and thank you for the kind words.

might I go on for just a bit.

Two years ago I painfully hand extracted every single weed from one garden, even lifting the perrenials out, shaking the root system to remove the roots of weeds. Half way through the FIL walks up and says “Why do that when I can just spray it all with “Round Up”“

I explain to him that “Round Up” cannot distinguish between perrenial flowers and weeds and he replies with “Hummphhh”

Next day I finish it and he comes up and says “Dont know why you did that, I sprayed er with Round-Up this mornin”

he planted a tree this fall (he plants a few trees, not one is vertical, rather sloping to a 45 degree angle and anchored by chain to an ugly piece of re-bar pounded into the ground so far it might meet China) right next to the taps.

He hired a guy to put in a sprinkler system. very nice system. the company did a great job,perfect. he gets home after they are done and is angry cause it isnt working and I tell him that it is on timers, set to run in the evening and early morning. he mutters curse words. next thing I know he has the wrong screw driver and is down into the control systems breaking all but a few sprinkler heads…......but alas the sprinkler heads he adjusted pop up and none to my surprise the sprinkler heads are doing a fine job of watering the driveways and sidewalks. next he takes the rain gauge (the rain gauge is part of the sprinkler system so that when it rains the system doesnt turn on)off the fence and puts it under the overhang of the pool house. .............and then he cant figure out why the system turns on at high noon while its raining?

he is miticulous about his sections of his sections of grass and every year he does the same thing.

1: adds so much fertilizer that it almost dies, burnt to death.
2:Grass makes a comeback and he pulls out the propane weed killer (a very effecient method of killing weeds where one takes the wand, pulls the trigger and spot burns the weed) burning every weed but never taking the finger off the trigger leaving mole like trails of black burnt grass
3 cuts the grass so short that by August it is nothing but dust.

he has a parrot. It eats what he eats. Chicken wings, burgers, lasagna, bacon, ham, steak and he really has no idea why he needs to put a needle into the poor things chest to draw the fluid out so that the skinny balding parrot that squacks nothing but curse words, doesnt die! )keep in mind that the vocabulary of the bird was learned from me as I offered to babysit it for 6 months while he and his wife were in Florida and he hasnt asked me to sit the bird since?

Did I mention the flashing that he nailed onto the roof, smack dab in the middle of the roof and then covered all his eaves trough with flashing so that the rain cascades over the trough and not into it.

he once had an orchard but the sheep he bought ate the bark off the trees and the trees died.

he once had 100 head of cattle but neglected to fence them in and the local town got tired of dodging cows.

he returned his big screen TV…..........twice, because it didnt work…......it worked just fine but ya gotta put batteries in the remote.

and yet…........I accept the fact that when I boil it all down.

my problems are rather small.

MsDebbie

half the fun of a garden is finding out what works where. My FIL is allergic to lilacs, roses and hay.

I planted Lilac everywhere, my roses are incredible and I might be the only man on the planet that actually enjoys cutting 14 acres of hay…....weekly.

My wife told me once when we first started to date “I love my Dad but he he’s just not that smart”

When we all moved in I told her that she was wrong, that he might just be the smartest amongst us and she shot back this puzzled cock-eyed look at me and didnt reply.

Go figure!

Cheers

-- Central northish Ontario

lol oh my… I think you win the prize!!!
The good news is that grass will grow again; trees can be dug up (cut down and used for woodworking projects), new ones planted, etc. etc. etc.

The roundup story though… I’m still crying over my periwinkle, I think I’d still be spitting nails over this. All that work—for nothing…........ but it is a good story to tell!! Makes the rest of us feel good about our parent stories!! :)

Keep the faith.. keep the faith!

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

ROFL!! Sounds like a great ecological war you’re waging against your FIL! We had something similar with an obnoxious neighbor once, I wound up planting mint near the fence and it nearly took over one of their beds. Great fun…

-- Living on the square...Metro Detroit

No words … just more tears from laughter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

That is the funniest thing I have read in a long time. Ever thought of writng a book. Think about it you have known him for only a part of his life imagine if you could get all the other stories.

-- Living on the level... Central Ontario...1.25 hrs from TO.......Zone 5a

bncprez….........guessing your in Orillia?

I have had a colourful life so far.

On his good side. he bought us a 1952 Ferguson T30 tractor, one of the first with hydraulics. With came a brand new 5’ mover, and a 5’ snow blower. I have since added an airator, packer,5’ grader and single furrow plough.

When my body no longer lets me do what it I am employed at…........I just might write a book.

Cheers

-- Central northish Ontario

the book would be really entertaining. You are a good story writer, that’s for sure!

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Definitely a story teller, dont wait until you are too old to write it, jot things down now, as when you get older you forget things and I, like everyone else think it would make a great story.
I had a post office for 19 years and everyday there was something new.
I used to say I could write a book and now I wish I had jotted things down…...the book wont get written.
Maybe you could give us a chapter or two on here,
Thanks too for sharing.

-- Derbyshire------- English Countryside

I like the way you re use things. I love to hear your story. I work with the elderly and they are a treasure but in some it is burried deeper.

-- horsetail, Fergus, Ontario

We probably all have some “treasure hunting” to do!

And yes you should write a book!
Actually, if you take all the stories you have here, you have already started!!
And your FIL sounds like a great guy!!! He is giving you all the “material” needed for a book!

-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a