In 2005, when we first moved into our new home and horse farm in Boones Mill, Virginia, this is what the west side’s grounds looked like:

Once upon a time I’m sure it all made sense. Before it had been neglected for ten plus years I’m sure it was quite something. Aggressive herbs had flourished with neglect, doing some damage to boxwoods and snuffing out weak perennials. A dying cherry tree was cramping a large boxwood, weed grass was busy destroying brick mortar, and so on. The boxwoods themselves were set in a jumbled array that betrayed the vast number of boxwoods present. It still looked nice but certainly needed some attention. The pet container was a gift left by the previous owners to help us capture the half dozen feral cats that lived around the house. Gee, thanks.

I had been tending to the various herbs, shrubs and vines in this part of the yard for three summers. Eventually, I was able to determine what was worth saving and what had to be removed. Then, earlier this Spring Nancy and I decided the time was right to revamp this garden, so I threw out the idea of moving the boxwoods such that they would hug the patio and then follow the brick path that wound its way around the garden through an arbor to the garage side of the house. She liked the idea so I set to work. I was able to transplant 20 boxwoods during the Spring. This fall, I was able to transplant the remaining 24 required to finish the line of boxwoods. Once that was done, I spread a few tons of composted horse manure/bedding and then spread 12 yards of red mulch. This is what the garden looks like now, in 2007:

I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. The boxwoods have handled the transplanting very well. I’ve been monitoring soil moisture and irrigating as needed.

The bedraggled Sage is looking much better now and I hope to watch it bounce back now that it’s not being smothered by Dill, Lemon Balm and Savory. I also sanded/painted the post, added the iron wrought hanger and birdfeeder. I don’t plan on leaving the garden bare. With what little time I have this fall I’ll get a sort of “english cottage” garden started, but the bulk of my plans for the space will have to wait until next Spring.

I’m now working on the small animal barn project, and a few other small projects. More on that later.

Sean

The garden fence I finished last June provided protection for another bumper crop this year. This morning glory was planted in late April and in five months the profusely flowering vines have almost completely covered the entire south side of the fence.

Step 1. Dig one thousand feet of trench.

Step 2. Lay one thousand one hundred feet of 3/4” line. Install three new hydrants.

Step 3. Install six Bar-Bar-A frost and electric free automatic horse drinkers w/ expansive rock drainfields in six different pastures. Clean up the mess and re-install fence.

Step 4. Spend the 80 man hours of labor a year you save by working on other farm projects. And feel good knowing your horses enjoy clean, fresh, water on demand, 365 days a year!

For Sale: Six 70 gallon water troughs. Cheap

Nearly two months since my last blog entry! I have a few completed and brand new projects I hope to blog about. I hope to set aside time for blogging again beginning today. For now, here is a picture of me and my trusty Gator HPX. After 1 1/2 years of service, I’ve only had to replace the parking brake lever (Deere’s fault) and the front right quarter panel (Ooops, my fault). It hauls everything from kids to landscaping gear to crushed rock by the ton. We likes it, it is precioussss to us!