Proactive gardening

When we began gardening we weren't prepared for a lot of things. That first season was spent reacting to issues rather than anticipating and proactively preparing for issues. As a result we learned a lot, especially what not to do!

Some of the 'fixes' we made last year were last minute and not always the best approach. This year we're working on improving multiple aspects of our gardening. I updated a little about how we were working on improving on cost of plants and plants in general. In addition to these updates I really wanted to update the structure and landscaping around the garden so it was more visually appealing.

Last year we were faced with a pretty serious bird problem mid-season and our quick fix was bird netting suspended by PVC piping.

Although the fix worked (except for the time a pair of birds got stuck under the netting), it was not visually appealing or all that functional - we had to unpin the net and climb under it every time we picked veggies.

Finally, the area where we put the garden is a no-mans land as far as grass goes so its a muddy mess most of the time. In addition to wanting something a little more aesthetic, I also wanted to make the space more functional. We had some extra dirt from removing the beds and trees in the front and we had extra stone that needed new homes.

I suggested that we use the dirt to build up the area around the beds and use the stone to make it easier to walk around and to decrease the muddiness factor. I also found a nice image online of a garden with netting and the husband designed an inexpensive frame for the large garden. Here is the garden so far.

 We need to attach the netting but the frame is built and only took us (mostly the husband) a few hours one Sunday afternoon.

 We now have a door into the netted area.

 

 The new bed and the rocks.

I think its starting to look a lot better and is definitely going to be easier to deal with now!

Now some close-ups!