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Posts tagged ‘Rain Barrel’

Jul 5

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Our NEW Backyard Sanctuary

This past week we finally finished our back patio. We took a little time off in June to visit France and England (it was a blast). But, when we came home to a giant dirt hole, we knew we needed to get the patio finished. After all, we’ve had the stone since April! To speed up the process I invited friends over for a tea party – giving us a week to get it all done.

The main reason for the new patio (beside it’s beauty) is to have a permanent home for our patio furniture and pots. Since we removed the lawn we’ll also have less mowing and watering. Plus, it’s great for our outdoor movie nights.

We used Tumbled Pennsylvania Bluestone since it’s the same type of stone used on the front walkway and we liked the different shapes of the stones. I wanted our patio to look natural and old – not perfect! We even left a space between the stones so a variety of ground cover would fill the gaps. So far the chickens have only eaten/devoured/destroyed the Blue Star Creeper.

To see my inspiration and before pictures you can check out a post I wrote a couple months ago: My Backyard Inspiration Picture.

Here’s my new patio:

New patio looking towards the house.

View of the back of the garage & veggie beds from the house.

Our fire pit & movie watching area. We've even got a spot set aside for an outdoor outlet.

Raised veggie & herb beds.

Pots filled with Creeping Jenny, Coleus, Bamboo, Heather & Midnight Wine Wiegela.

Coleus, Hebe & Variegated Holly.

Containers full of Coleus, Creeping Jenny, Hebe, Heather, Corkscrew Willow & Bonsai Maple.

Container filled with a young Dogwood, Heather, Coleus & Creeping Jenny.

Our backyard is now low maintenance and sustainable. I love it! Now, we relax.

Dec 10

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2009 Recap in Red

Starting at top left: blueberry bushes this fall; chicken coop and rain barrel; summer night dahlia; audrey grace dahlia; red rubber shoes; double peony; radishes; raspberries and blueberries; raspberry tart; vine ripen tomatoes; veggie harvest

May 9

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Problem: No Rain Barrel Overflow

We installed our rain barrel a couple years ago but never added an overflow. I had grand dreams, at the time, that we’d eventually add a couple more barrels and collect all the water we needed for summer watering. Someday we’ll do this.

For now we’ll just stick to the one barrel and add an overflow hose towards the top to redirect the water into the drain. AND since we’ve waited so long to add the overflow, you’ll notice that our rain barrel is now slightly lower on the left side.

This is where the water overflows down the side of the barrel and onto the ground below.

This will be my project for next weekend. For now, I need to get to work on my chicken coop. I hate power tools, so wish me luck.