The Backyard: My Big Dilemma.

As the weather warms slightly and thoughts turn to yard and garden, I am faced with a dilemma... what type of easy yard or garden do I want? Don't laugh. My world is small, so the same goes for my 'problems'. I am a lucky girl. 

This is our first spring in the house, and the yard is almost a blank canvas. There are trees and such, but no really defined spaces. I want to do a seating area, and maybe a pergola, but also a bird area. Since it is still too early to start the actual work, what with the icy rain (but not snow) outside my window, I feel fairly confident in my landscaping skills. Come April, I will probably give up and call someone to lay pine straw and forget it. In the meantime, I will plan.

So, let's go through several garden styles and see what might work...
Maybe a lovely Japanese garden with a shallow pool and some rocks and bonsai, and those little ball-shaped bushes. That would be pretty. They don't grow in that shape? I have to trim them? Have you seen my skills with a trimmer? Nope.What about a Chinese sort of bamboo thing? Bamboo is invasive? How invasive? Oh. That's bad. Next! What about the one I call an English cottage garden? Too fussy and I am not a huge fan of roses. French formal? Too...formal. Rock garden? Um, no. What about a hedge maze? That would be super cool. Oh, that requires planting hedges in a certain pattern, and letting them grow for years and years? But I am more 'instant gratification', and less 'patience is a virtue'. Oh, and plans sort of make me itch. No hedge maze. Water garden? Mosquitoes and drowned chipmunks are not my favorite.

I guess I will have to create my own style. Rats. That doesn't sound easy at all. 

Let's start with a bird area. I love having bird feeders in the yard. Not ALL of the feeders, just a few. There are loved ones who have ALL of the feeders in their yards, and it takes them hours to clean, fill, and protect the feeders from invading hoards of squirrels and raccoons. (Spell check says the plural of raccoon is raccoon. I like to put an 's' on things. Sort of adds character.) I love spending time in their yards, taking advantage of their hard work, but I am not ready for that type of commitment. My mother-in-law's 'Season of the Grackle' was enough to show me I didn't have what it takes to go full-on Audubon. (That was the sequel to father-in-laws "Battle of the Air Potatoes". Not directly bird related, but yard beautification related, which leads to bird happiness. Blood was spilled in that one.) Up to this point, my way of attracting birds has been pretty basic. Put out some black oil sunflower seed and some fresh water, and something will come. Might take a couple of days, but it has always worked for me. To really provide for them, you need to get some bushy stuff they can use as cover. I do want some cover for them so I will have to get...a shrubbery! Or two. I have a couple of baths and a pedestal feeder that match, and I would love to plant some flowers that would draw in hummingbirds and butterflies. 

Birders generally seem to dislike squirrels. Evidently, they will run off the "desirable" birds and make a mess. I have heard tales of how squirrels will sneak into our attic, chew on the electrical lines, and kill us in our sleep, but I suspect this is propaganda put out by the "desirable" birds. What the heck does that mean? I am excited when I get any bird.

Just because I haven't seen a Xantus's hummingbird out back doesn't mean I am a complete failure.  (They are strictly found in Baja and I am not, but the reference comes from The Big Year... really fun movie.Don't let the title fool you, it is more than a quest for birds. Do you think the combination of Jack Black, Steve Martin, and Owen Wilson would lend itself to a serious documentary/drama?) Anyway, I happen to like squirrels and chipmunks, so I am not interested in discouraging them. Maybe I should get one of those little corn holders? I do have the tube feeder in the tree, but that story is for another time.

This morning I discovered the fountain we purchased two houses ago. It must have gotten moved out of one of the Pods and just put in this little corner beside the house. I could put it out in the yard and probably run electricity out to it. (By "I" I actually mean "someone not me".) That would provide the water sound and movement birds like. And it is not deep enough for chipmunk death. Added bonus: I wouldn't have to dig a huge hole to put in the pond I wanted. Yippee! So, we have bird baths, a pedestal feeder, a fountain, and some really awesome tools for planting flowers. But what else do I want?

A seating area sounds nice. A place to sit and read a book, listen to the birds, and just enjoy the day. Should I get a fire pit? Would we ever use a fire pit? Probably not, although they look cool. Definitely, want a little table. A hammock? Maybe that should go in the kids' section....

The kids have a spot picked out off to the side where the climbing dome can live, along with the sandbox they are too old for but insist they will use, and any other kid stuff that comes along. You know
what would be awesome? One of those big outdoor chess boards! It could sort of be the transition from kid to actual garden. Maybe use the flat area to the back of the property as a croquet field? Oh, and the kids want a small veggie garden in their section. They know the critters will harvest anything that grows, and it will ultimately become a weed garden, but I will consider it.

So, I think I have narrowed down what elements I might want, and at least eliminated garden types I don't. Now to go to the financial guy and see what my budget looks like, Oh, budget...something else that makes me itch. Unfortunately, when it comes to large expenditures, I don't get to just do what I want...