First off, I’m sure some of you will be a tad underwhelmed by the glory of our yard. Let me explain, having a yard in NYC is awesome, but it presents some challenges…
1. We have no storage space for a lawn mover, not even a manual push one. We have to use a “weed whacker” to mow the lawn, it then goes in a plastic bag and we store it in a closet. The yard is much bigger/deeper than it looks in the pics. It’s back breaking to weed whack.
2. With the Fiance’s 3 herniated discs, much of the lawn maintenance falls on my weak back. I’ve already got a a few full time jobs.
3. People litter. Sad.
All that said, I hired a helper this morning to try and kick the yard’s ass. He wasn’t the most sprite youngster I’ve ever met, but it kept me motivated and I kicked some butt. We picked up all the garbage that had accumulated over the winter, “mowed” the lawn, tilled the soil, put in an additional 3 x 8 foot planting space, tackled the nasty Japanese Knotweed, put down weed sheeting and planted a TON of flowers, plants and veggies.
See my awesome White Trash spot here? It’s smack dab in the middle of the lawn. Yeah, I know you’re jealous. Dream Big!
Two years ago some bird pooped out or carried over some rather nasty bamboo. Japanese Knotweed. This stuff will take over entire villages and has become a huge problem particularly in the UK where it’s changing eco-systems. We pulled out as much root as we could find (it goes deep and it’s soooo thick!) and then put the sheeting over it to try and kill it completely this summer. So yeah, I get to have that black sheet swamp for Summer 2009. Jealous? I considered putting mulch on top of the black sheeting but figured that would look just as stupid, be costly and be a mess to clean up. So we have this lovely assortment of “things with weight” to hold down the sheeting. Look closely, there’s some doozies in there. Sigh.
So what did we plant?
More than a a dozen tomato plants. Various kinds.
Corn. Lots of corn…
2 large containers of Cilantro
10 Strawberries
10 squash
2 Snap Dragons
3 Hostas
12 French Marigolds
Some big eared tropical looking thing. I can’t remember the name.
16 Petunias
The *to do* list is growing. Help!
I still need to put in my basil, lily of the valley, lavendar, morning glories and jalapenos. I also need more potting soil. Ouch, my back. The yard furniture needs to be hosed off. Oh, didn’t I mention? NO HOSE! There’s no water hook up. I tried to do the kitchen sink to yard thing but it was a big mess. So, we have to manually carry buckets out to the yard to water everything. Slosh! Slosh! I’m hoping to build a water bucket thing this summer to capture rain water and build 2 more veggie beds.
EDIT——>
Hit Home Depot and picked up the baby blue adirondack chairs. Now to get some kicky pillows for them…and a patio umbrella…
May 16th, 2009 at 11:01 am
big eared tropical looking thing = Caladium (very pretty one). What a challenge you have for a yard! No water hookup? That’s enuff to make one start drinking first thing in the morning. You are so brave to weed whack. I would have given up long ago and used randomly placed landscaping stones and moss. Sorry about the nasty, nasty bamboo that got pooped into your yard; I am so jealous about it. It would look lovely with the creeping charlie that got pooped into my yard and won’t go away.
May 16th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
I probably would cover the whole back yard in gravel and call it art.
May 16th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I only used a weed wacker in my Brklyn backyard. Way easier to deal with than a lawn mower. It only took 30 minutes to do it — worst case scenario. My opinion re morning glories are they are pretty, easy to grow … but you will never need to buy seeds again. They take over everything unless you are extremely careful. I’d skip them. Would also suggest soil testing as NYC has issues with lead in soil in some neighborhoods. I only grew veggies in containers. I think Brownstoner had a bit about that lately.
May 16th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Yeah, I’m with the stone-scaping too. Are you just way too ambitious or what? Although . . . saving on gym fees by hauling water may be a wise economic choice.
May 16th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I’d hate to put all gravel down, kinda nice to have some grass. I love morning glories, they could take over the entire yard for all I care! LOL
Just got some cute chairs at Home Depot. Yay!
May 16th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Other than the black swamp….It will look nice when it all fills out.
I too love morning glory and have never had issues with the store bought ones taking over.
May 16th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Okay, changing my mind. I like morning glories too. They come in so many colors now.
May 16th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Re the big earred tropical thing,caladium, would like a bit of shade please.
Black sheet swamp 2009. Add a layer or two of cardboard under it, yeah ya gotta move everything first, or put a 3″-4″ layer of mulch on top of the plastic, or both. That single layer of plastic isn’t really enough to kill off something as persistent as knotweed. I’ve seen weeds pop right through that plastic! Plus it will deteriorate in the sun and be useless before the summer’s done. A slightly onorthodox way of mulching over the plastic is to leave the mulch in the bags and lay them flat to cover everything. Next summer, yeah leave it there that long, just move the bags. No messy loose mulch to clean up.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news or more work but I’m a passionate gardener and I’ve dealt with a weed or two or three thousand! Everything else looks great.
May 16th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
I’d tell you caladium, but I’m a bit late. Me thinks it will die if you don’t find lots of shade and keep it wet all summer. Love the digs. Fill enough pots with flowers and nobody will notice the plastic carpet.
May 16th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Sunflowers! Along the fence! C’mon now.
p.s. Never heard of Japanese Knotweed.
May 17th, 2009 at 6:57 am
Re: Caladium
YIKES! The stupid tag on it said “Full Sun” which is why I bought it. There is no shade in the NYC yard, full exposure. Grrr. Ten bucks down the crapper.
May 17th, 2009 at 9:32 am
I love caladium but always seem to kill them. They seem ordinary to everyone else and a dark shady mystery to me. ??
Impressive effort on your part – and though it’s not big, it seems many NY’ers would be envious of the space you’ve got!
May 17th, 2009 at 10:57 am
Caladiums are definitely shade lovers. Some can take SOME sun, but I don’t think any of them like full sun. I would’ve suggested making it a house plant but they are poisonous to kitties. Do you have room in your office/cubicle at work, in a smaller pot? Or take it to the upstate house?
May 17th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
As soon as it stops raining (sprinkling, I’m a weenie) I’ll go and un-pot and re-pot the Caladium and bring it to my office.
Thanks all!!
Picked up some cute throw pillows (Better Homes & Gardens line @ WalMart) today for the baby blue chairs. On the hunt for a good/cheap patio umbrella.
May 17th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Actually, if you still have the tag and can verify this is the correct cultivar you may be in luck with it in the sun: “Caladium ‘Florida Cardinal’) produces red heart-shape leaves broadly bordered in green. The plant grows 12 inches tall and is part of a thicker-leaved caladium series bred in Florida for sun tolerance. Zones 10-11.”
May 18th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
K Jean-I think you would be better off with large patio stones, maybe leave a 12″ border of grass along the fence, easier to cut with the weed wacker and just use large pots with lots of different color, maybe stain the fence red?? That way the greens of your plants would pop!! You can plant perenials in pots too!! I would come help!!
May 18th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Dude, you are on crack. LOL