Just a girl with a hammer
Blog URL:
http://justagirlwithahammer.com
My 1938 pre-war ranch was a foreclosure I bought in 2009. It had been vacant for four years and neglected for at least ten. There was half a garage door, a non-functional sink in the bathroom, a mildewing basement, the original furnace (which no longer functioned), a new roof but no gutters, and a cracked kitchen floor.
I'm fixing almost everything myself but my real passion is gardening.
Invaders from hell
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- Published on Thursday, 28 February 2013
Authors: Heather
I've been removing popweed this last couple of weeks. I get it really bad in my hell strip and in the area under my neighbor's Doug fir. Despite the fact that I try to remove every last seedling before they set seed, I must manage to miss one and it shoots ten thousand seeds out when the wind gusts. And then the next year it's...
A favor
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- Published on Monday, 25 February 2013
Authors: Heather
Holy shit! This little house-repair-diary-turned-garden-blog-turned-why-can't-I-sew?-repository got nominated for a JDR blogger award. The prize is $500, which would buy a lot of plants. Or a lot of crushed basalt (for a project I have planned for March).First of all, thank you whoever nominated me. I really, really appreciate it....
Is it enough?
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- Published on Monday, 25 February 2013
Authors: Heather
Not too long ago I wrote about the difficulty I'm having with the area under my cedar tree and a bunch of you chimed in with some really great ideas.One of my favorites was Laurrie's suggestion to let the ferns develop into a large swath, "But make it a nice big sweep, not just a few." So I added eleven sword ferns to the four that...
Garden bloggers' bloom day February 2013
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- Published on Friday, 15 February 2013
Authors: Heather
I'm kind of in love with this moment in time. My Mahonia x media 'Arthur Menzies' is still blooming.
Sweet box just started to bloom. Sarcococca ruscifolia.
My Oregon stonecrop is making the prettiest rosettes and mingling so nicely with Sedum angelina.
My Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata' is about to smell really great.
My hellebores...
Yard, Garden and Patio show: Foliage First
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- Published on Tuesday, 12 February 2013
Authors: Heather
Dan Hinkley held a packed seminar "Foliage First: Exquisite Hardy Plants with Great Folial Interest" at the Yard Garden and Patio show. This was my first time hearing him speak and I found him totally charming. He started the talk with a joke about flowers where the punch line was, "You have to bend over to enjoy it."He had a...
Yard Garden and Patio Show: New True Grit
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- Published on Monday, 11 February 2013
Authors: Heather
This weekend I hit the Yard Garden and Patio show and got the shot in the arm I needed to get me really excited about spring. I only made it to two seminars, sadly, but they both were great. I headed over to the Right Plant, Right Place seminar (Dan Heims, Terra Nova Nurseries). I was feeling sort of "pfft" about it, but the main...Best laid plans
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- Published on Friday, 08 February 2013
Authors: Heather
In the backyard I have a mature Western red cedar that has thwarted all my under-planting attempts. I've tried a number of natives, few of which have thrived. Of course, I never bothered to plant things that could survive with almost no water. One lonely hosta looks great until August, at which point it dramatically keels over. The...Oh happy day!
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- Published on Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Authors: Heather
A couple of weeks ago Greg and I went down to Restoration Hardware to see the farmhouse table we've been eyeing in person. My secret hope was that I'd be like, "Meh. I liked it better online."They didn't have any farmhouse tables in the store, so my plan backfired a bit. We ended up talking to one of the sales reps for a long time...
Earthquake safety
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- Published on Monday, 28 January 2013
Authors: Heather
This last Saturday was the 313th anniversary of the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. We had a blackout dinner party to commemorate and to encourage our friends to get ready for the next one. (I blatantly stole this theme from EmilyStyle, who hosts an annual party for the anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It's a great...Agave update
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- Published on Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Authors: Heather
Loree recently asked how my agaves were handling their first winter in the ground. They were planted back in May in the berm. I amended the soil with chicken grit and mulched them with gravel.I'm happy to say that so far they are doing great. No black spots or rot as of yet.
Of course, we have many wet months still to come. My...
