Backyard Floral Explosion!

I have been pretty busy the past few days. Trying to catch up on everyday cleaning, ugh and of course painting the unit upstairs getting ready for our new tenants coming in June. But it's been a nice holiday weekend Maggie and I decided to spend some time outside. The Bridal Veil bushes, actually in our neighbors yard, are in full bloom. The way they hang over the fence adds a lot to our yard's beauty as well. In fact I think we get the better benefit since the bushes try to follow the sun, actually growing over the fence more than in their own yard. It's a little overcast today, expecting rain, I thought I better get the pictures now before the storm brings all the blossoms down. There are a lot of these bushes in Evanston, seems like every other house, in our neighborhood has them, some quite tall too. Just beautiful, the way they look like lace. Too bad they don't last long, usually a good rain brings them down before having a chance to turn brown.


The Vampire Gargoyle actually came from our other house. It sat in the yard for many years, sitting at the back of the yard, under the trees, watching the house,protecting us from evil spirits. Once the Hostas, around him, fill out he will be peeking over their tops like he did before!


Not sure if Joanne mentioned the washing machine before but it's going strong with plants this year. This was also at our other house, Joanne and Ted brought it "home" when they picked up the BBQ grill. Actually looks better than it ever did in the past. I could never get anything to grow in it before. I think maybe too much shade. But now it has vines reaching for the sun, thanks to an added trellis. One of Maggie's favorite spots, in the yard, is in the sand pit just in front of the machine. She usually lays down, spreading out in the warm sunshine. Not today, too cool and no sun!


Better get back to the painting

Box Mom

What -- There's Already a Garden Path There?

I took these pictures of the backyard shortly after we moved in. They're from March 2008. By default, because we had so many other projects to work on, we let the garden do its own thing so we could see whatever perennials there might already be. Big mistake. While there were a few clumps of lilies and such, what we ended up with was a riot of weeds. It was a losing battle, and by summer's end, everything was overgrown. Unfortunately, I don't think I have any pictures of it at that stage, but trust me, it was not for the weak kneed. All sorts of varmints seemed to thrive back there, from skunks to possums to rabbits.

The previous owners had a swing set, so the only real thing I did last year was remove about 15 bags of sand and mulch left behind. (I'd like to draw your attention to the pretty water stain on the garage--that's what happens when folks don't clean the gutter, so let that be a lesson to ya. We discovered it packed with mud and growing trees.)

There were about a dozen or so weed trees growing next to and through the chain link fence.

Some of them were 15 or so years old based on the number of rings. I'm always amazed at how quickly weed trees can take hold. It's something you totally have to stay on top of, or you'll find yourself twisted in awkward angles as you try to maneuver pruning shears between the chain links.

There were more weed trees behind the garage. It was impossible to walk through. It took a couple of days of hacking away at it to remove it all.

A huge, overgrown lilac stood in one corner of the backyard. It didn't produce much in the way of lilacs last year. So this year, Ted and I tag-teamed its removal. Two other weed trees were growing through it, each with massive root balls. It was an all-afternoon effort to remove them. When we stepped back, we realized just how clearly we could now see into the neighbor's yard, and made the decision to replace the tree as soon as possible.

In the last two weeks, Mom and I made great strides in civilizing the yard. We created flower beds on two sides of the yard, alongside the house and along the chain link fence we share with the neighbors. Okay, one of the clematis vines we did chuck into the ground last year, and there is a patch of iris from the previous owners, but everything else is new. The hostas we divided from other parts of the yard and moved here. I love getting "free" plants. For edging, we used the railroad ties that once marked off the play area.

We planted a forsythia in the corner where the lilac stood, and scattered more perennials below it: Jacob's ladder and hostas in front (with a few caladiums for color) and lilies of the valley behind. The forsythia's not blooming anymore, but trust me, it was gorgeous when it did. I'm really going to look forward to this next spring.

The lilies of the valley we liberated from the narrow passage between our house and the neighbors'. We discovered literally thousands of them growing there last year. The picture below I took today; you can see the lilies just starting to fill in. Other wildflowers will appear later in the year. We'll continue to let this grow wild until we can figure out what to do with the space. It's not visible from the street. I like the idea of maybe doing some kind of secret garden, but I'm not sure if the effort is worth it.

We planted more perennials along the chain link fence--a few viney things and hostas. I do love my hostas--they're idiot proof, and take so little maintenance. The bird bath was at my mom's other house. The birds 'round here are fearless, and will splash in it a few feet from where I'm working.

Here is perhaps my favorite "new" feature. I picked up this antique washing machine at an estate sale a number of years ago. I think it was five bucks. Mom fought me on bringing it to the new house because she didn't think the yard had room, but look at what she's done with it. I think it's gorgeous with the ivy hanging down and the the clematis growing up the trellis. More cottage garden and less white-trashy than we feared.

This afternoon's project was supposed to be to add a few limestone stepping stones at the entrance to the back yard. A simple project that shouldn't take more than an hour or so. But noooo. I thrust the shovel into the dirt, and heard a loud "chink" as I hit stone. About three inches down, I found the remains of what appears to be a pathway. Far enough below the surface that the previous owners--who were here for forty years--probably didn't know about it.

So now we're wondering how far it goes. It seems to be constructed from a hodgepodge of components, some limestone, some concrete. It's heading off in the general direction of the garage doors, a straight diagonal line across the yard. I'll dig up a bit more tomorrow to get a better idea of just how extensive it might be. But it would explain the mysterious blocks of limestone we've uncovered in other parts of the yard.

We Inherited a Grapevine, Now We Need a Plan

We inherited a grapevine when we bought The Box House.

It's growing on a length of chain link fence that we plan to remove in order to build a wooden fence and create a more private back yard. Right now, every person that walks by can peek over the fence and see what we're up to--and there's a great deal of pedestrian traffic on a corner lot. I like our neighbors, but every once in a while I'd like to be able to sit in the yard with a book and a glass of iced tea and not have to make small talk with passersby.

I almost hacked the grapevine back this past spring, when we actually thought we'd get our new fence built this year. But we decided not to do any radical alterations to the yard until we've lived here for a year, and experienced the house and yard through each of the seasons. (This philosophy didn't cover the yew bushes; those just had to go.)

So I've been watching the grapes all summer long as they have slowly ripened. I've never tried growing fruit before, and I realize that I'm horribly impatient. I've plucked a grape or two every week to sample them, and they've been tart and bitter and have left me with a dry mouth.

But in the last few days, they've begun to swell rapidly and take on a purplish hue. I tasted one, and it was sweet and juicy and oh-so-summery delicious.

It also had seeds, which I discretely spit to the side.

So it looks like we'll have quite a bit of grapes to harvest this week. I don't have a clue about what I'm doing, so need some tips on harvesting and a few good recipes. And now, after having watched--if not nurtured--this vine all summer, I need to figure out how to get it off the chain link fence and onto an arbor of some sort.

Wild West Show

We love this view of The Box House:

This view, not so much:

Isn't that bizarre? It totally looks like one of those fake Old West buildings from a John Wayne movie. Looks real enough straight on, but peek behind and you realize it's just a fake front.

That's because the roof of The Box House is not flat; we're not as entirely box-shaped as I've led you all to believe.

Traditionally, Chicago winters see a lot of snow. That's a lot of weight to be sitting on a flat roof. So the early designer sloped the roof toward a gutter on one side so the water would drain off. And it works very well. But it ain't pretty. I imagine the intent of the parapet was to block the view of the sloping roof, giving a clean, straight line to the front of the building.

I took these pictures last fall during our inspection. Note that the holes in the membrane were fixed by the P.O. prior to close; I look forward to seeing how they held up over the winter.

That's a pretty big slope, isn't it? If you're far enough along the roof, you could be standing up there and folks on the sidewalk would probably not notice you:

That's Ted (in profile) with our inspector. We've used this guy on two properties so far, three if you count when our condo association hired him for an envelope inspection, and he freakin' rocks. If you're in the Chicago area and need a recommendation, drop me a line and I'll get you his contact information.

So, back to our Wild West facade:

The gray siding encloses a set of porches that lead down to the basement. (The only way to get to the basement is via the porch access; each level has an interior door.) The porches are original to the building, but I'm not sure exactly when they might have been enclosed. They are unheated, so I suspect we'll only use them part of the year unless we get them insulated. The siding is made of vinyl.

We'd like to make this side of the house prettier. During the summer, the trees in the parkway will be flush with leaves and block the view, but for three quarters of the year this weird facade will be visible. It will be even more visible when we take that fir tree out; as much as I hate removing a tree that big, it is growing about a foot away from the foundation. The P.O. already warned us about roots coming into the sewer system that need to be removed every year. (Don't fret, we'll be planting several more trees in the yard, just not so close to the house.)

Do you think growing ivy on it would help soften and hide the vinyl? I like the ivy growing on the neighbor's house, which is visible in the photo with the inspector. But I'm not sure if ivy can adhere well to vinyl. Does anyone have experience with it?

I'm not sure what our other there options are for improving this view. Any suggestions?