The House Reno on Mercy

I learned a lot about Sun Mapping my garden in order to better understand how and where to plant flowers, shrubs, and trees. If I were to plant a tree or shrub or flower in the sun, and if the plant cannot tolerate sun, the plant would die. This information also guided me when it came to understanding the plant's need for water. For instance, The front, south-facing side of my house was much warmer during the day (no shade) than the west side of my house. The plants need much more water in this area. The west side of my house has shade until late morning (when the sun actually came over the house), and again more shade toward late afternoon (after 4p.m.) because of the trees. The plants in the shade need much less water. Of course, the front of my house is also more protected than the west side of my house by the house itself. The rock area also adds to the heat build up.  early-morning shade late afternoon shade This is probably close to 7pm at night in August, Alaska time I used ...

  Goals I want for my garden When we started the yard renovation, we targeted areas that might be vulnerable to natural elements (rain, snow) so we laid rock around the house foundation. Our second goal was to reduce the noise from the freeway. We added plants along the west back fence to reduce noise. The following are our new goals: A play area for kids and animals (pets) (football, corn hole, etc.) Attract birds and pollinators Ease of maintenance for mowing (decrease lawn size) Add planter beds on the deck in the back yard Incorporate swing set into the garden to reduce noise pollution and improve the view of the yard Add a trellis to the west fence to reduce view of neighbor’s yard/home Expand the fire pit area and put in an area for golf practice Hide unsightly gas pipes on the back side of the garage in the back yard Add a screen to the spa deck area (prevent neighbor viewing) Add additional two feet to the east side of the wood fence (backyard) to re...

This past year, our second year in the house, we redid the decks; painted the window frames;   removed some of the structures we did not want; added raised garden beds, and a living fence on the far west of the property as well. We also expanded another garden bed due to tree damage. Removed the smokehouse/shed Stained the decks We added a rock layer to the newly raised garden bed area on the west side of the house.    Enjoying the spoils of my hard labor Before spruce was removed After the spruce was removed   (note: the tarps are so unsightly) We painted the front door in the autumn 2020. You can see the tiger lilies are doing great! We also painted the trim on many of the windows and had the fascia covered with white metal trim (the door hasn't been painted in this picture) Caulked the windows after painting Striped the windows in prep for painting My husband also tore down the steps inside the garage and build a new larger platform and step area. It makes ge...

Yard after reno: The result was quite a change to the appearance of the property. In the first picture (below), you can see we added stone around the house. We also moved some of the plants from the old flower garden and added new plants In this photo, you can see the rock foundation, new sidewalk, and new garden bed much better. When we selected the plants, we did not realize how dark they were near the old deck. The plants stand out really well against the gray of the house but not the deck. So we redid the decks (white paint rails).   In this photo, you can see the side deck with the new rock foundation and plants. We also moved a few of the barrel planters from the front to this side to soften the deck lines. This is my morning coffee spot in the summer. Unfortunately, the sun does not hit it until past 10am, as it is on the west side of the house. In class, we talked about views, my goal is to improve this view even more. In the goals list, I dream of expanding the plantings a...

When we first bought this house we knew it needed some yard work. The following pictures show the property before we did anything to the yard and outside of the house. The first year we revamped the front flower bed, walkway, and gravel drive. We hired professionals to get what we wanted to be done fast. However, we did do a few things ourselves, like re-install the fencing, gate, and garden bed. The picnic table was falling apart. We had to demolish and remove it.                    Below is the side deck before the plants, gravel, and barrels were placed.    In the picture with the jeep (below), this was the view from the garage into the gravel driveway before the drive was expanded. The garden was in the way of getting into the garage. I have included a picture of my hubby digging post holes after the gravel driveway was expanded and the old garden before it was moved. Some of these plants were moved to the house founda...