Berm Beauty

 Berm means "artificial ridge or embankment".

Our berm was created in the middle of our yard when I was working on the house,

before we officially moved it.  There were rocks in a circle around our two large

sweet gum trees in the front.  The problem with that?  Large weeds and small

trees grew inside the perimeter, making it look trashy.  I needed to remove all the rocks,

but where to put them that wasn't a huge distance away?  So I made a berm of rocks

between the two large trees in our front yard.

 It has taken two years (three summers) to fill in the cracks

with dirt and plant perennial succulents (I am not sure this red tipped one is perennial.)

 I saw something similar to the rock berm with succulents at

Powell Gardens near Kansas City, but this is the first time I have

tried something like it.  I am thrilled with the results.

 Last weekend I emptied the 30 gallon pond and put most

of the water on the berm (we haven't had rain in over a month.)

 All of the plants were so appreciative and looked so good today --

that I had to take some pics.

Our Property Is A Rock & Fossil Show

Some of the (many) uses for rocks around our property:  

Flowerbed edging

Our actual house and shop building are built from local stone

 Natural walls

 Piled around the chicken coop so critters can't burrow in

 Large accent rocks

 Walls and tiers for gardening

 Birdbath (now planter)

 Pillars beside our driveway 

Berm

(And now you know why we named the property "Stonecrest".)

On the next post I will show you the fossil show segment.

Happy Easter

"You are the God who performs miracles"

My Husband's Corona Virus Isolation Project #1 -- Mini Pond

 My husband may be home for awhile with the virus outbreak.

We both are definitely going to have to find projects to stay sane.

So this is his first CVI (Corona Virus Isolation) project --

a 30 gallon pond in our front yard.

 First he dug the hole.

Very hard with our rocky soil.

While we have rocks galore, none are smooth.

So he had to go to a hardware store to get some smooth stones.

The daily rains are filling it for us.

 We have had the pump forever, waiting for this project.

But he had a hard time getting the tube up through

the bottom of it so that it will come out the spout.

It still needs some touches.  We plan to add plants

and some small fish. We'll keep you updated as it progresses.

 This is part of the stone berm that the pond is connected to.

I hauled each of these stones into position a couple years ago.

The succulents that I tucked in are doing great --

they look this good after a mean winter!

I also tucked in some moss last fall.

So pretty!

Working On The Little House In The Ozarks -- May 10

 This whole week was supposed to be hot --

humid and high 80s.  So when today turned out a little overcast,

I really went to to town.  (Well, I didn't actually go to town.)

There are flowerbeds on the left and right sides of the front porch.

I thought that this one was finished, until a hummingbird about

attacked me because I was wearing pink.

It made me think I needed to insert a few bright annual flowers.

And I mowed!

I know the novelty will wear off,

but first time out I wore a silly grin while sitting on my rider.

Working On Little House In The Ozarks Day 16

 So, this week I am working on the sunroom.

I should just keep recycling this photo,

because today I patched, sanded and primed.

And it looked like this.

Tomorrow I will repaint the white trim.

And it will look like this.

Wednesday I will roll the walls.

 And it will look like this.

I like the white walls, they just needed a refresher coat.

 And I played outside a little.

I am working on two rock gardens.

(Who am I kidding? Every garden

around here is a rock garden).

The one pictured above has three tiers,

and today I just worked on the bottom tier.

 This doesn't look like much, but it will.

I am creating a stone "berm" using rocks that

were around the trees and light poles.

Eventually I will add soil and succulents.

Here you can see the location of the "berm" to the house.

The area on the right of the berm (with concrete) has an 

electrical outlet.  So I might be able to incorporate a fountain

or water feature.