Yesterday, Paul's dad asked him where he could get the hookup for big landscaping boulders. I guess he thought Paul would know, since a lot of his projects involved giant rocks! Paul said he didn't know where the contractors went to find those big rocks, and mentioned how hard they are to acquire and place - since they weigh a bazillion pounds, you actually need heavy equipment to bring them in and place them. So, what if you decide you don't like it right there? Like, that turns out to be the perfect spot for a hot tub or something? Ha!

I guess more and more people are turning to fake rocks for those very reasons. I was checking out some of the selection on the Artificial Rocks Factory site, and they have some pretty decent looking fake rocks! We used to have a friend who had an outdoor speaker inside a fake rock, and it looked ridiculously cheesy. It looked like something from the original Star Trek set, from one of their expeditions to another planet! I sort of figured all fake rocks look, well, FAKE, but the newest generation of artificial boulders is pretty high quality. Check it out:



They take molds from actual boulders, which is why they look more realistic, I'm sure. And they aren't made out of fiberglass or polyurethane, they're constructed from construction-grade cast stone. So they probably look and feel more realistic, too. I'm not sure if you could sit on one for your senior portrait or anything, though!

Labels: landscaping

Hey, did you notice the difference in my shrubs in those two pictures of the yard? They were just taken a couple of weeks apart, and my Russian sage is WAY bigger in the second picture! And, I absolutely must point out that my irises are blooming!! This is the first year they've bloomed. I know they usually don't bloom the first year, but I planted them in '04, so I was thinking I had a dud iris bulb! I was SO pleased to see it blooming like crazy!! I was so worried about my shrubbery after it was buried under three feet of snow for two straight months, but it looks like it mostly bounced back without any permanent damage.

Labels: landscaping, shrubs, yard

We have one of the most pitiful lawns on our whole street. It makes me sad to see it out there, patchy, barely green, dotted with dandelions - especially compared to the lush, thick, deep green lawns of most of our neighbors.

I see them out there, fertilizing and mowing all the time. They had their sprinklers on a month and a half ago. We just turned ours on for the first time on Sunday. Hey, our yard might look like hell, but at least we're conserving water! Right? Sigh.

What do we need to do to have a nice lawn? We can't spend forever and a day on it, either. That whole "two sets of twins" thing throws a wrench in our plans, every time. How often do you need to fertilize? And do you water before or after? Can we get away with only watering a few days a week? We are in a drought area, with mandatory water restrictions. I'm not sure how our neighbors are getting away with the irrigation they've got going on, unless the restrictions don't go into place until June or something.

Help?

Labels: landscaping, lawn