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Ok, so today's main event was going up to the turf farm to get 33 rolls of turf sod to put down in the yard. By the "real" end of the day, this is the scene we had in the back yard.

Oh wait, also had to go to the recycle depot and drop off all the plastics, and some no-longer-used electronics. And, just for another surprise, we had to take the dog to the vet because he was suffering from a couple of issues this morning. First, he was barfing all night, and then this morning, some sort of bump on his chest that was bleeding. Nice. Oh yeah, Mom and Bev stopped by as well for a quick visit before they left town. Busy day.

The turf project went pretty well. I made 2 trips up to the turf farm on Blenkinsop to get the sod, and Lance installed it in the yard. So nice to have a clean scene out there....

I've been at it again - networking water through the yard. This time, we're aiming to roll out some turf in the back yard, and I wanted to lay in the pipes and sprinkler-heads before the turf goes down.

So, the project rolls out in fairly simple phases : design, plan, acquire resources, execute, test, close-out. On this project, I did the design last night. I finalized the plan this morning. I went out to see the guys at Westech Irrigation around noon to get the parts I needed. They're awesome. I went to the Full-Service counter, and went over the plan with the one of irrigation consultants on site. He gave it the OK stamp, and helped me shop for all the parts. Awesome. I came home to execute the installation of all the tubing and sprinklers, and was done by 1700. Good stuff.

Luckily I've done this type of thing before, so my past project experience in this area was a true asset. As I ran the system test, I slugged back a frosty, bottled beverage, and thought about drafting the project close-out report. Things look good so far......

Had to order 5 yards of lawn blend from Macnutts this weekend. We're doing yard renovation this spring, and are eye-balling some grassy spots that we want to build. We've been doing some work to clean-up and beautify both the front and back yards. So far, Lance has been working the back, and I have been doing the front. Rehabilitation you could call it. Since the construction crew left, things have been a little rough around the property, and now is the time to turn things around.

So, you might remember the last time we hauled in a pile from Macnutts....it was the 20 yards of top soil for the front-yard rehab at Stewart Ave. This time they sent a dump truck that was not quite as big. A bit of a bummer for the delivery trucker in that he went all the way to Stewart Ave. first because of a failure in address management at their HQ. A bit of an identity attribute management problem, yes. No probs though, as he soon found out that his real destination was to James Bay.....

As you can see hear, Lance is putting his back into it, and one can appreciate the scale of what 5 yards looks like. Quite a do-able job for 2 dudes in one day....

Got out there today to start putting in the path. Had to dig a trench 18 feet by 4 feet by about 8 inches deep. That went pretty well given we softened up the ground yesterday. I need to set the grass pavers on a compact bed of gravel, covered with sand. I went out to Victoria Landscape Gravel Mart and picked up a bit of sand for the job. The clerk there was surprised to hear that they had a web-site - then recalled that it was set up a number of years ago, and might not reflect what they have on site now. Hmph. Perhaps they need a content-management solution?

By the time I got home the day was drawing to a close, so I packed up the tools and decided to work on it again next weekend. I'm quite glad we got as much done this weekend as we did. Having a small yard like this, you can really make a lot of progress in a short amount of time. I've sketched out the landscape plan for the front yard on one of Charlotte's colouring pads. We're going to have the path, planter beds along the fence and house, and grass in the rest of the space. I should be able to get the irrigation system in for the grass in under 1 day. Nice.

Now that Reg is retired, we can hang out more and do fun stuff - like start on the landscaping project in the front yard! Yea! He came down on Saturday afternoon with a roto-tiller, and we got to work on getting the front yard all tilled up.

There were some pretty nasty stumps to dig out from the box hedge that used to be along the front sidewalk, so I took care of those while Dad roto-tilled. We got lots of concrete lumps out of the ground which was good. Stashed stuff there from the construction project, etc.

There's going to be a pathm made of grass pavers, from the front gate at the sidewalk to the side-gate near the house. Called Slegg and they had some, so we bombed out there to Sooke Rd. and picked them up. Good trip - we got 18 loaded into Dad's pickup, and hauled them home.

Reg then stayed for dinner - neat! You see, this is usually not possible under normal circumstance - but now that Dad isn't "working" on Saturday, we can hang out - and work!

Been offline for a bit here. Not only the usual busy-ness taking me away from the keys, but I did an Ubuntu upgrade on my main machine, so that took me some cycles to re-org.

A major missing activity from this summer has been the gardening. What with the move, the flat boxes sitting around, and all the rest of life going on, there has been ZERO cycles for gardening, a favourite seasonal past-time. I haven't ventured to ANY of the nurseries, until yesterday. Stopped at GardenWorks out in Colwood today to pick up some potting soil and pots. Need to get some things re-potted that we moved. They had some wine barrels out there, and I scored 2 of them. Very cool, weathered-wood effect. Goes nice in the side-yard next to the house. I put a big hydrangea in there when we got home. Ahhhh. The dirt.

I see there are a number of online resources out there on the topic of wine-barrel gardening. Cool.

Our front yard, once a lush, green garden was flattened in the construction project. One of our favourite plants was a fiddlehead fern, long since covered by concrete, rubble, and junk. Over the past few weeks, various specimens have been poking their heads up through all the debris. A peony has been coming up, some nice groundcover, and the fiddlehead has made a return in the past few days. This guy seems very determined to grow, as he managed to push his fiddle up through some very tough ground. Before the guys started cleaning up the front yard today, I dug up the fern, in hopes of saving it to replant in the front-yard when we re-landscape it.

We're having some sort of weird extended chill factor this Spring. Brrrr. Not quite the usual spring-time warmth in the air. Still the spiked chill of winter in the air. But, the chestnut trees on our street are coming out. Always a fabulous annual display of pink blossoms. Actually, I'll get some pics on here when they're in full bloom. And I'll take the shots from upstairs, where the upper terrace is quite close to the treetops next to the house. Gives a bit of a tree-house vibe to the 2nd floor. You know, when you look out every window, and see a tree or 2...or 3....

So here we are a little over 5 weeks into the grass-growing phase of the project. Time for the first cut, so got out there today and gave it a bit of a trim.

...small little blades of grass now appearing.....saw them tonight, by getting down real low and up close to the soil.....very weeny shoots.....grow grow grow....!

Ok, so today was the day I finally got the grass seed sown, and all rolled in out in the front there. *whew*

Yeah, I know it is a little late, and it is really freaking hot out there, but what do you do.....I borrowed a lawn roller and seed spreader from Kim, which really helped. Being a first-timer in this whole ballgame, I followed the directions pretty close, so hopefully it will work out. The soil has been spread, enriched, and levelled. The turf-starter fertilizer has been applied. The ground has been rolled, seed spread, then raked in to the top 1/4", then rolled again. The irrigation system is in place.

So, apparently, if things germinate properly, we should be seeing blades in 7 days or so....

Oh yeah, I got my water-use permit from the CRD too.....so I can water it every day....gonna need to....definitely....

Ok, been out doing a small irrigation project in the front yard. Let me tell you, I am a hack at it. Yeah, I got pieces and parts of pipe and tubing, and sprayers and stuff. Neat. It's like setting up a network of water. Water networking is cool. You shoulda seen how cool it looked today when I blew this pop-up sprayer right off the distribution line. Wahoo! Seems the joint didn't hold against the pressure, so I rebuilt that bad boy, and then it worked out.....

Go to National Land and Water Information Service, and check the Year 2000 Plant Hardiness zone tool. It is a Java-based app that allows you to drill down into a Canadian region and discover the hardiness zones. Looks like the Southern Island around Victoria is 6b, 7a, 7b, and 8a.

Taking a tour of the Irrigation BC site right now. Wonder why their Landscape Irrigation Scheduling Calculator has no Victoria selection in the pull-down menu....?

Yah, ya, I'm on it. I know the grass needs to be cut, so I got out there and did that today. You can see here the bushy, grassy situation in the backyard. And the rhodos that are finished their shows.

After the morning routine was complete, J and C headed off to town, and I stayed at the shack to cut the lawn, do some weed-eating with the Grass Hog - oink, snort. Also filled some deep holes the dog had dug, and worked a bit more old sod out of the front yard next to the cement walk.

Check out this hose action : I went to the front tap, the one pushing over 120 PSI, to filll my tiny and sad and leaky watering can. The garden hose kinda got away from me, and I ended up blasting my crotch with a good and mighty splash of water. Nice. I look like I went my pants. So I go inside to change, and somebody knocks on the door! Aieee!

So whadya do ? Go change pants like quick, or go to the door, and hope that they don't notice that large wet circle around your privates ?

Well, you go answer the door, of course.....sheesh. It was the dude from Integrity Sales with the 3 yards of organic sea-soil and peat-moss top dress mix! 30 minutes earlier than scheduled! Yippee! He was in a hurry to make the drop, so I gave him the nod on where to do the dump, and then wrote him a cheque. I'll have to change into dry pants (and briefs) later. So I go outside, and Kim and Diana were there. I politely explained that I really had not wet myself. I'm sure they believed me, because I do not usually do such things.

After guests cleared, I changed pants, then collected some wood scraps to build a grader. I'm near the point where I want to flatten and smooth the front yard areas prior to grass seeding. I need a lawn roller (thanks, Kim!), and a grader to level and smooth the space. So, I fashioned a grader from a 4x4 post, 2 2x4 lengths, and some rope. Went into the front yard to try it out, and it is working good enough to smooth out the bumps. Cool.

Got the phone call from the team around 4 PM. They were on the way home. That means it's time to stop and make dinner.

So let it be written, so let it be done.

Got around to moving that 1 yard of bark mulch today. Finally. Well, it's only been sitting on the driveway for about 10 days or so, getting nice and wet in the rain, then steamy in the sun. Ahhhh.

My cold feels like it's going away, and I was feeling pretty good, so I pulled a few weeds out from around the garden bed in the back that has one of the hydrangeas and the rhododendron. While that was going on, Darcy was over, moving the expansion tank for the boiler in the crawlspace.

My aim for today was to spread the mulch around in the front, so I had to pull all the weeds from the front garden bed first. I did what I could to ignore my neighbour's snide remark about how "there wasn't much that you can't pull out". Whatever. He's made a number of helpful comments lately.

Jason popped over for our weekly lunch gig, so we hit the 6 Mile and grabbed a table on the patio overlooking the Millstream Creek.

Back to work on the mulch, and got it all off the driveway, and where it should be....things looking much more tidy now....

Last task today was to adjust the setting on the pressure-reducing valve in the crawlspace to increase water pressure in the house. We're up to about 60 PSI now, which seems to be a bit better....

One of this week's garden features has been the blooming of the poppies.

We've been watching this one recently, and it just pushed its pod off over last weekend, revealing an amazing orange brilliance. There are 2 patches of poppies in the yard, one next to the hydrangea under the back of the plum tree, and the other patch is over behind the fence, in the dumping zone. Yah, I had planned to get some sorta raised garden beds going out there behind the fence, and grow vegetables. The dog can't get there, and it is pretty much a full sun location. However, that task is still on the list, behind many many others. The poppies back there are nice though....I call it the dumping zone back there, as that is a convenient spot to dump piles of weeds and other garden detritus from around the place. Helps to cover up the invasive blackberry, too.

Moved that 3 yards of top soil around the boulevard this afternoon. Things looking quite tidy now. Ran out of landscape rocks too. At last. Had to use a bunch around the natural gas utility access out there. Curb appeal on the rise....

Because you never know when you need to compute such things. Soil Calculator.

Sea Soil - Who we are!

Seeding a Lawn

Went looking for info on residential landscape irrigation, and ended up on the Wes-Tech web site, a local firm. Found lots of handy info on that site, and a real nice animated GIF on the home page - a definite web browsing bonus.

Yes, I have a few more cycles available to do fun things like play with little C, and ponder about things like irrigation systems.....so yes, I guess the leave has begun....

Eventually made it to the annual UVic Plant Sale up on campus. Pulled in for the second half, and managed to find 5 nice plants including a japonica, rhodo, rose, hydrangea, and heather. In the final moments they begin to take offers on whatever is left, so that was somewhat tempting, but we managed to keep a lid on it. I'm sure if the truck were a little bigger, we would have walked out with that nice dogwood tree that was left....

Good weekend in all.....went out to the adventure pool at the Juan De Fuca Rec on Friday....always lots of fun over there with our little water baby. Yeah, she has taken to the water quite nicely, and even goes on the big water slide with Mum....Lance tried out the slide too - and by the time he got to the bottom of the chute, was looking quite relieved.....

Saturday was a little cold and chilly for our walk through Rockland....pups were well-behaved on the haltie. We started and finished at the Art Gallery, so went in and saw the Inuit carving exhibit up there right now. Quite nice.....came home and felt like I needed to make a large pot of winter soup....so did a massive pot of yellow split-pea soup....from one of the Moosewood books, of course.....in between the clouds and rain there were a few sunbeams gracing the yard, so I got out to cut half the lawn late that afternoon. Set the mower on extra-high setting to clear the large tufts of grass tickling Oscar's bottom out there - you know how high that is....

Sunday was a little more sunny....we had D and A and wee L stop over in the AM. See, since that privacy conference, I can't even bring myself to identify who it was over at our place. And, I didn't even ask our guests if it was alright that I publish their whereabouts here. Hmmm. Reminds me of how I used to keep a personal location tracker on this site....why would I ever want to reveal to someone where I was....? Anyway, Sunday we got out for a nice walk with pups and babes in the Finnerty Gardens up at UVic. Lots of rhodos out right now up there. I heard the garden was a little early this year, so went up to see - and certainly surprised to see that some of their rhodos are already done...! Yes! Charlotte really liked checking out all the blooms up there. Came home to finish mowing the lawn, and other tidy-ups in the yard. I am so delighted to see the massive pile of weeds out over the back fence iin the dumping area.....lots and lots of dandelions....pulled out by hand, or with my dandelion puller....very handy tool....I'm sure my neighbour is watching and thinking I am crazy for trying to manage the weeds without nasty chemicals....*sigh*

RHODO UPDATE: we got 2 in the backyard in full bloom, and 1 more just starting. Several of Al's are already peeking, probably due to the feedings of super-juice he has been giving them. On this side of the fence, we are waiting for 4 more to come on.....

On Monday, Justine did an AM hookup with J over at the coffee shop, and I went downtown to pick up the tax docs, prepared, and completed. The bad news from the tax man is not as bad as I thought, so some relief there. We then cruised up to Cowichan Bay for a lunch with Mom and Dad. Grant and Dar were there too, so we got to see the whole crew....the easter bunny had been hopping around up there, so we came home with a few treats....

Note to self.....

One rhodo so far in the backyard, coming on with pink blooms. Started about last weekend, so end of March....should check back to last year to see where we were. Magnolia also coming along nicely, after some recovery from root scarring during the water main install. I knew it would come back. Rhubarb bouncing back well. Blossoms on plum tree have now blown away....many leaves now opening in a green eruption. All 4 hydrangea coming on, especially the newest one next to the bird feeder. Nice. Grass really long, yet to do first mowing....that will be fun. Large cedar next to fence quite dry, and not looking healthy. Al is concerned, of course, and wants to reduce canopy width to get more water to ground. Not a great idea, as the canopy provides privacy. Have started a sequence with a soaker hose to remedy. Also turned the down-spout around which will help a little, although rainy season should now be over. Peach tree showing lots of growth, could be another bumper crop. Both japanese maple bouncing back. Lost one small dwarf tree in front bed, got too dry last summer. Need irrigation loops in there, need time. Daffodils almost done. Tulips coming on in front bed, and several spots in the back. Must have been Jane's bulbs? That fuschia took the winter quite well back next to the lavender, which is a relief. Barberry doing OK, but its neighbour (forgot the name) looks questionable. Just trimmed back the perennial growth from the daisy, which is so wide now I should really divide. It's about 4' across, and really healthy. Could use a few in the new front-yard garden? Weeded the entire front yard over the past 2 weekends, and have rid one boulevard bed from weeds. The other bed is really choked hard with grass and strong weeds, some with very deep roots that take large effort to remove. Garden Bandit coming in very useful now. Took on too much last summer before Charlotte was born. Didn't finish the landscaping as planned, so will take another crack it that this Spring. Rose climbing front ironwork is doing really well, but apparently I need to prune it back now. Will refer to pruning reference for tips. The heather on this property has taken a beating. Flowers now yes, but most plants are flat in the middle, with only flowers around the edge, so not sure what happened there, but lots of nice heather in bloom all over Vctoria now.

One of my favourite markers of spring is the blooming of the plum tree in the backyard. You can see the little buds start to come on in February, and it is such a relief to know that the long, dark, dreary, cold, bleak, wet, miserable, and depressing winter is soon to be over.

*whew*

Seems these winters are getting tougher to weather as I get older.......anyhoo....the plum tree takes off in colourful splendour around the beginning of March, and this month has been quite nice to see the explosion of thousands of little blooms on its branches. Since moving in, I have not pruned this tree, and we've seen a lot of new wood grow over the last 2 years, so this year, the blooms way up high are nice to see. We'll see what Al has to say about when/why/how the tree should get pruned some time this summer. You see, he has emerged from his winter hibernation period, and just today asked me when I might be getting around to pulling all the weeds out from the front yard and boulevard. sigh

Took this shot here during that brief bit of snow we had between Mar 8-10th. About that time the blooms were heading for their peak, and then they got dumped on with that snow that stuck around a bit. Kind of an odd sight, one that we don't see often here in Victoria.

Hmmm....seemed to have a few clouds roll in for the solstice yesterday, and things got a bit rainy. Was not outside last night enjoying the solstice by moving dirt around the yard. You know there is just something so appealing about ringing in the summer season by working the land a bit....

Just in case you were wondering what 20 yards of top soil looks like, then here you go. Called up Macnutt's up on Interurban and got this load delivered this morning. As you know, many projects are underway here at the shack - this one is the landscaping project. Going to re-landscape the boulevard (with the Town's blessing) and re-do the front yard - lawn begone!

20 yards is delivered in 1 full load of your typical dump truck. So, I'm going to go out now, and move it around a bit....

Got this tip from John on a site hosted at the UBC Botanical Garden where they can help you do plant ID. Cool.

Got lots done so far this weekend....on Saturday AM, we took OTP down to Dallas Rd. around 8 AM for some fun with other pups....that walk is nice and easy on Justine, as the path isn't all that treacherous - Oscar and Winston played with the bouncy ball while we talked to Winston's owner, a local apprentice carpenter. We usually meet interesting folks while we are down there having play-time with pups....

Did a road-trip up to Duncan after that, and stopped in to see Reg at the store and have some lunch. Also stopped in to see Mom on the way through Cow Bay, then stopped at Grant's place in Mill Bay. Everyone, except for Reg, was out busy in their yard on Saturday...! Too bad Peros the Cat got freaked out by Oscar the Pup and ran up that big tall tree. Luckily Peros came down a few hours later, after our bad old pup was gone....

Speaking of yard work, we also got some of that done yesterday....

more...

Went up to the annual UVic Plant Sale up at the McKinnon Gym yesterday morning. Had some time to kill while Justine was at yoga, so thought I would make my first-ever trip to this event. I will certainly be coming back next year, because this sale is a BONANZA of goodies for the garden. See, I thought I would go in there, and just "have a look". Well, there is something for everyone in there, and it wasn't long before I was looking for a shopping cart. I even had stuff parked back in the 'holding area'! We're in the market for a few shrubs to fill up a few spots here and there in the yard, so I got lucky and picked up 5 shrubs that claim to like full-sun conditions. Yippee!

You'll probably notice from driving around Victoria that lots of rhodos are putting on their yearly show right about now. No wonder the big meeting of the American Rhodo Society was recently held in our fair city. Could be time to do a little rhodo road show, and cruise around checking out all the lovely blooms.

This specimen here has recently put on quite a show up in the top of the backyard. Justine did quite a nice job on feeding them all last year, and I dead-headed quite hard to promote strong growth this year. You'll also note that this bad boy is squished underneath that tree, so there is some talk about moving it to another, more spacious location....hmmm.....also, you'll note the camelia up in the back corner there....also nearing the end of its flowering period, and now dumping tons of pink flowers all over the ground....