Into the Wild – Weekly Musings on our Yard’s Transformation | May 12th – 18th

Yardwork:

• The last of the thimbleberries have been cleared out and transplanted. Fingers crossed they settle in well and avoid transplant shock! The side yard is still a work in progress, but with the plants cleared out, fresh soil added, and rocks placed along the house, the transformation is unbelievable!
• We are thinking about adding slate stones under our firepit to use up what we’ve found in the yard. We laid out the slate we had to see if we had enough, how it looks, and to test the firepit’s location,

Gardening:

• We worked on the flower beds in front of the house. On the left bed, I salvaged any plants we wanted to keep, removed all the weeds and invasive species, extended the depth by about a foot, and took out some soil. For the right bed, I added rocks and filled it with soil. I planted ferns in both beds to add some greenery.
• Re-did the flower bed under the evergreen tree in our front yard by adding rocks, filled with a lot of soil, and planted a variety of Alberta native plants, some Ostrich fern, and Solomon’s seal that I found in the backyard.
• I had hoped to plant the garden this week, but that’s definitely not going to happen. We still have a long way to go to clear out the flower bed and build the garden.

Flora:

• I visited the Callingwood Farmers Market and purchased several Edmonton native plants from Arnicas Wildflowers, including Western Canada Goldenrod (Solidago lepida), Three-flowered Avens (Geum triflorum), Prairie Crocus (Pulsatilla nuttalliana), Wild Blue Flax (Linum lewisii), Meadow Blazing Star (Liatris ligulistylis), and Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium montanum). I also picked up the book Go Wild! with Easy to Grow Prairie Wildflowers and Grasses by Cherry Dodd and the Edmonton Naturalization Group.
• I received my order of Alberta native plants from Wild About Flowers for the flower bed under the tree. I got Yarrow (Achillea borealis), Eastern Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa), Harebells (Campanula alaskana), Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium), River Beauty (Chamaenerion latifolium), Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), and Saline Shooting Star (Primula pauciflora).

Fauna:

• We had an Ovenbird and a Lincoln’s Sparrow in our yard – both lifers
• I snapped the cutest photo of the squirrel that hangs out in our yard. (View from our hammock)

Miscellaneous:

• We finally set up our hammock stand outside. I probably should have assembled it outside from the start—getting it through the patio door was quite the challenge!
• The arch for the back gate has arrived! I can’t wait to set it up and plant the Orange Trumpet Creeper vines. I just need to remove all the cement slabs first.
• We have a large pile of bricks that we found in the side yard that we need to decide how to use.

Thanks for reading! Until next time,
Tracey

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