Fruit Trees!

We have been working hard on the yard.  J's aunt Peggy came over one Saturday and we spent all day getting the front yard whipped into shape.  Shin and Heather ended up stopping by that day so Heather kept Zuri busy (and had an eye out for Kai) while Shin helped us in the yard.  It was so nice to have all the help and we were able to get a lot done.  We have pretty much given up on the back yard for this year (the previous owners had let it go for several years, so we have our work cut out for us).

One of the things that took the longest was getting this ivy into shape.  As you can see, it had crept up onto our house.  It had become entwined with the aspen trees (which aren't in the picture), and had even grown right over a stubborn rose bush.  I say stubborn rose bush, because one vine of the rose bush snaked up along the fence and actually poked itself out over the ivy.  It was really cool to see.  



Here is the after:  we have since evened both sides out (horizontally and vertically), and the ivy has started creeping back down the fence.  When we started working on the ivy, I was trying to just clear it away from the house and create a nice path through the archway/gate, but J's aunt said that we need to be aggressive with it and clear away all the dead undergrowth.  Once we did that, we took most of the ivy away, but she assured us that it will grow back with a vengeance (remembering how the ivy took over in Georgia, I believe it). 


I wish I had taken more before pictures of the yard, but here are some after pictures!

 We dug out a nice area along the front base of the house (preserved the grass and moved it to the backyard) and along the fence line to the backyard, got out all the rocks and weeds, planted flowers, and afterward put in mulch.  We had some extra flowers at the end, so we potted them!


Around the base of our pine tree there was no grass growing, so we dug out a nice section, got rid of all the pine needles, pine cones, rocks, and weeds, and put in mulch.  It looks so much better.  You can see where there is still some patchy grass, but we are working on getting that all nice and filled in.


We haven't managed to get the grass on the right front side of the house to grow (over by our willow tree).  Our sprinkling system doesn't extend to the other side of the driveway, and we really don't use that area of the front or back yard.  I want to put in a tiered garden next spring in the backyard area just east of the shed.  J wants to put the garden on the other side of the house, but I want the area for the kids to play--especially because that is the area where we spend our time.  J is just worried about the sunlight because of the shading from trees and the house, but the grass is growing nicely there, so I don't think it will be a problem.  

Another perk of all our trees besides the fabulous shade and beautiful scenery, is the fruit!  Our trees are starting to bear fruit!  In fact, our cherry trees (we have two) have pretty much ripened (and oh, are they yummy cherries), and the others are well on their way.



Our plums may not be much to look at right now, but I am told they are delicious!  There are two plum trees, but one looks a little sickly and isn't bearing much fruit.


Apples are growing nicely!


We may only have one pear tree, but I think it has the most fruit out of them all! 


I am excited for all the fruit.  Looks like I will be canning because there certainly is a lot of it.  We have also discovered a possible raspberry bush hidden by the ivy along the back fence.  We cleared around it, so hopefully it will grow.