We want ... a shrubbery!

Summer 2009 is set to go on record as The Hottest Summer ever for Central Texas. I do not have grass, I have dried hay. What better time than now to decide to change the landscape! Pull out that grass, pull up those...... well that's all we really had. Neither my husband nor I have ever been one to get into gardening but I've decided now is a better time than any; I'm a recent stay at home mom, we have a new puppy who has not only decided to surprise us on a nearly daily basis with rearranging the backyard but has also decided to aerate the backyard with really big holes placed... we'll go with... capriciously. With my decision to stay at home and recent turns in the economy, I've decided since our yards (both back and front) need new landscaping, we might as well embrace the urban homesteading trend and turn our garden into a modern day victory garden. A victory against the battle of rising prices!

So this is the beginning of a very long tale and hopefully one that I will see to the end.

Between the back and the front yard, the back is the more pitiful one so I've decided to start there. I've started in a corner and am working my way around to the other side. My goal is to complete phase 1 by June 21, 2010.


And what is Phase 1? It is:

• Soil testing completed
• St. Augustine grass gone from backyard
• New ground cover planted, taking route and prospering
• The basic layout of what will go where will be decided allowing me to move into phase 2

Phase 2 is:

• Identifying suitable plants
• determining if in-ground or containers would be best
• Planting and maintaining
  

So we are off! I don't want to pull all the grass out at one time and then have to deal with the subsequent recreation of the dust bowl thus I'm working in sections. As I get an arbitrarily big enough section ready, I'll test the soil. I'm in the process of looking for a soil testing kit and have come across a nifty site. Since I'm new to gardening I'm not familiar with local nurseries that support non-ornamental gardening. I know I can take a bucket of dirt to a state agency or even Lowe's and have my soil tested for free or near free but I found a soil testing kit for under $10 and I figure it'll be a good investment for future use.

And soon... shrubbery!