Reclaiming The Back Of The Backyard

I couldn't haul any more compost today because I had to drive my wife to the eye clinic in Bangor this morning. Sometimes, depending on what they do, she can't drive home so I have to go with her, and the compost area was closed before we got home. I did nearly finish with the brush pile this afternoon though, burning some of it, and adding the rest to the lupine areas that I'll be creating behind the shed. I probably won't complete those until next year, when I can maybe start harvesting some of my own compost from the bottom of the pile. I think the town compost area is only open until noon on Saturdays, but I am going to try to get one load, anyhow, to finish the one area that I do want to complete this summer.

I decided that I am going to use some mulch on the three walkways in the back. That might reduce the problem with weeds growing through, and absorb water so that the walkways don't become streams. It will also be easier walking on mulch than on mud. Plus, it will look prettier.

 

These are the walkways. I'll be filling them in with mulch, to keep the weeds down, promote drainage, and make it easier to walk.


Unless Michelle finds something else for me to do Monday, I should be finishing this section up then. It will take a couple of trips to the town's compost area and I didn't get up in time for that today, since it closes at noon on Saturday.


This will be two sections behind the shed, which I'll probably leave until next spring. Most of this came from my two brush piles, which are done with, by the way. There's just some small stuff left that I can use as kindling for my firepit.


I decided to layout another section for next year.

 

After I finished work on the backyard, I decided to water the plants and the compost pile. When I was about halfway through, it started raining heavily. For a moment, I considered that I didn't mind working in the rain so I may as well finish. Then my brain kicked in.

 

Okay, I've finished this one. I might add a little bit of peat or soil along one side, where some of the old wood is showing, but it's pretty much done, and seeded.


Of the first five sections that I did, the first two are growing the least well. Probably, I didn't add enough soil to those sections. I'll let it go for this year, and add a couple of inches to these sections in the spring.


This is the section I added to cover exposed roots from the tree. I added a section to the east of it, connecting it to my oldest compost pile, which had rooted so bad that I couldn't harvest it.


I dug as many of the roots out of it as I could and added some manure, compost, and peat to it. This was my first compost pile.


Lastly, this is the site of the compost pile that I did away with this spring.

Besides making the backyard pretty, it should reduce the water that drains into my backyard during the rain, as it would run into my yard from the tracks.

 

I have one more tiny section at the top of my first section that I am going to add, just to even it out at the top but, otherwise, I think I'm done with it for this year, although I think I'll pick up some mulch tomorrow to put down on the three walkways, if only to keep them from becoming streams during rainstorms. And I need to rearrange my ladders and some of the clutter on that side of the shed, so that I can more easily get to the middle walkway.

I am thinking of planting some milkweed this fall, but I'll plant it along the railroad tracks, which isn't my property, although I'm sure no one will mind, and milkweed is used by Monarch butterflies, but I don't have anyplace suitable in my yard for it. They feed almost exclusively on milkweed, and one of the reasons why they may have become so scarce is that counties and states regularly mow along the roads and highways now, which is where milkweed has traditionally been the most prevalent. They probably won't grow, though. I planted some along the ATV trail on my property up north but they didn't survive the winter.

 

I badly underestimated the amount of mulch that I was going to need. I thought five bags might be enough for all three walkways but, as it turned out, that wasn't even enough to finish the first one. It will take at least two more bags to complete this one, as even the parts that have been mulched will need to be thicker. By the way, the pieces of board and wood in there are staked in place, so that they can provide for easier walking, given that it's a pretty steep incline.


Then, I will need mulch for these two paths.

 

Okay, this took a lot more mulch than I had thought. It took eight bags just to finish this one. Of course, this is the widest, by far. It's also steep, which is why I staked some boards and small logs into the ground to act as steps, of a sort, so covering them required a thicker application.


This is my middle path. It's much narrower, but this is what I have with two bags of mulch, so I'll need two or three more to finish it. The third section is much longer but it has only one small rise, so the mulch won't have to be very deep. I'm going to start with five bags on it but it may require more.


I added one very small section onto the lupine garden at the top of my first section, for the sake of symmetry at the top.

 

Okay, the middle walk is done. It took two more bags of mulch. I might extend it a little further forward.


Three more bags in the third walkway, but I'll need a lot more. Even what I have here isn't deep enough. I have a long stretch along the fence to mulch in. Although it won't have to be very deep in this part of it because it's packed earth, gravel, and concrete, it's still a long stretch.


Eventually, I'll fill in the area between what I have done and the walkway with soil and compost. Maybe I'll get the ambition to make a few more trips to the town compost area, but otherwise, it will have to wait until my compost pile is ready to harvest because I'm not buying any more. This area is heavily shaded so I don't envision a whole lot of plant life, anyhow.


Next spring, I'll put down some logs along where I have drawn the lines, and fill that area in with soil and compost, too. That would complete my backyard projects, or at least the part that borders the abandoned railroad tracks. Well, that and finishing the two sections of lupine that I am going to plant behind the shed next spring.

 

I finished the third walkway. True Value was out of red mulch so I had to buy a different brand from another hardware store, so it looks a little different, but no biggie. Before the summer is over, I guess I'll pick up another bag of red mulch to fill in a few of the thin areas. Probably, I'll haul some compost from the town compost pile to fill in the area between my old compost pile and this walkway, just so that it doesn't look stupid.

 

Getting ready to add some soil and compost to this small space between my third walkway and my old compost pile. I may not even plant anything there. Other than whatever I add, there isn't any soil here - just rocks and concrete.

 

I think I'm going to cover over the lupines that are coming up in the first section that I did. They aren't growing well, although they've had more time than the others, and I think it's because I didn't add enough soil and compost. Lupines like several inches of soft soil to get started. If I cover them, most of what's there now will probably find their way to the surface again anyhow, but I'll plant some others. So it will be back to the town compost pile for me because I've already gone over my budget for bagged stuff. There's already manure compost in the soil, so I think the free stuff from the town should be enough. Maybe I'll add a bag of peat moss since that's pretty cheap.