Thursday, June 28, 2012

Going Green by Removing the Greens

We moved into our little homestead just over a year ago.  It has adorable front yard with a decent size lawn, rosebushes, and magnolia trees.  It's fenced in so our smalls are somewhat contained from running a muck.  We even have a teenage neighbor who is willing to earn a buck by keeping it mowed.

The problem with it is two fold.  1-It requires quite a bit of water to maintain the lush appearance.  2-It would be the best space to really garden and make a go a this urban homesteading idea.

The conflict is keeping up this image of what I thought a front yard should look like, vs what really suits our needs.  Truthfully, we are rarely out there except to trim roses or wave to the neighbors.  My husband really wanted to plant a few citrus trees, and I really want a vegetable garden.

So we are going to let the lawn go and in it's place have a small grove of citrus trees and begin to build raised garden beds.  If all goes well, we should have things in place for next spring's garden and if we are really on it, maybe a winter garden this year.

Stay tuned for future posts on adventures in woodworking the inevitable ER trip that will come from a novice trying to cut wood and build garden beds.

4 comments:

  1. Is it really xeriscaping if we replace it with things that need water? It still feels like a better choice because we at least get food from it.

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  2. What a great idea! There is a house on Devonshire that did the same thing. Their boxes are awesome and I love checking out what is growing when we walk by. John found the plans for our boxes at Sunset.com.

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    1. I'll have to check out the house. Thank you.

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