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| Farm front yard |
I just thought I'd share a couple of pictures of parts of our yard. This is the front yard as seen from the driveway looking toward the future barn site. The house is to the right, 2nd Family's back pasture is the fence to the left.
Below is where I was standing to take the above picture, and I just turned to the left to take a picture down the driveway. To the left in this photo is more of our property and the fence line along the driveway is the side of 2nd Family's back pasture.
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| Farm driveway |
When I'm finished mowing on the zen machine, we love just walking around and looking at it after it's all neat and cut. It makes us feel like we're in a park, ha.
You can see however why we want color. We have green, lots of green. Now we want reds and yellows and other flower colors. The next outdoor project, once the garden is up and running, is to start planting flowering bushes around the property. So many of my Inspiration Thursday posts deal with flowering color and this is why.
Sometimes it's just so overwhelming because it's big and we look and think "we're do we plant something first?" One lonely bush in the middle of the yard? Ha. I'm thinking the fence line in both places is the best place to start.
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| COLOR! Image from Sunsetliving.com |
I love those long green allees. They are very restful and park-like but, you're right, they need color. Since I live an hour SW of Houston, I'll tell you what grows well for me. Since I live on 2 large lots, I try to plant things which do not require lots of water. Crepe myrtles, antique roses, viburnum (your bees would love it), day lilies, amaryllis, yaupon hollies (berries in the fall), bottlebrush are some of the low maintenance plants for me. Niches of benches, birdbaths, garden statuary, a gazebo would break up the long lines. The Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, Texas is beautifully landscaped and would give you tons of ideas and they also sell the plants you would need. They have a Southern "Bottle Tree" there which is lovely. A Bottle Tree is not a plant - it is a Southern tradition - a pole with branches on which colored wine or other bottles are placed.
ReplyDeleteHappy Gardening!
Texas Rose
It's nice to see a wider shot of your property. Beautiful space! If you didn't love mowing so much, I'd suggest you put in a wild flower meadow, which is what I'd personally do if I had that much land since mowing as never been an activity I've looked foward to. Here's a great video on wild flower meadows.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ibC700lUM
I know what you mean by color. This year I'm growing a ton of perennial flowers from seed and hope to have a proper cottage garden one of these days.
What are some of the wildflowers that like to spread in TX? I'd plant those and let them do their thing to naturalize. Here in MD black eye susan (State flower too) is great for spreading, also shasta daisy, day lilies, Siberian iris. Choose plants that bloom at different times.
ReplyDeleteLiving in the High Desert with oh so much brown I am in love with all your vast area of green. It does look like a park and a wonderful place to wander in. I think your idea of beginning the color at the fence line is good. Just not so near the fence that the neighbor's cows and horse eat your flowers. You are my favorite "farm" blog and I enjoy reading dozens of them. Keep sharing your beautiful land and home.
ReplyDeleteMy neighbor used to plant canna bulbs every year. They produce large plants with beautiful foliage and red blooms. The down side is they have to be stored as to not freeze. I also second the wild flower field look. You will always have fresh flowers for your table, porch, neighbors, ... I also love the vast green field look. I would personally plant a horse there:)
ReplyDeleteyou have a great piece of property! just how big is it? it's a real blank slate. you can do almost anything you want! i like breaking up long piece like you have into separate rooms. i love moving from room to room in a garden
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed with your mowing, your grass looks like velvet. Ours never looks that good though maybe its because we just want to cut the damn thing and move on. Lots of good suggestions above, I can see a dog running around on it. Not something you can leave at the country house while staying in town though. LOL.
ReplyDeleteOoooh, Cannas! They have amazing foliage and come in red and yellow (among others) colors. They can be tall so are great at the back of the border or along the fence.
ReplyDeleteI love the vast stretches of green. However, I love color. I am torn with which I like most. However, I would NOT plant anything that did not come up the next year. Well, if you were just sowing seed, that would not be so bad. On a farm I would expect fewer ornamental trees and more trees with fruit. Maybe grapes for eating, jam, or wine would help a bit in breaking up the green. Since flowers are food for the soul, flowers/color and fruit trees/bushes/vines seem appropriate. This area looks like the perfect place for a small orchard with pecan trees, also.
ReplyDeleteThe hardest part is the start! I have no doubt you'll do something wonderful with the space.
ReplyDeleteI see infinite possibilities and trust you will have lots of fun with it, no matter what "it" is :-) Hope you're well, happy, and enjoying your gorgeous, green Spring!
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