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Hello Jim,
I’m a list maker also,so much to get done in a day,and yes I cross off my accomplishments.
Now I understand why you use soaker hoses. You have a well on your property. Do you have a filter system on the well? I know very little about wells.
I have a totally landscaped hill in my back and side yard. There are high powered rain birds that throw the water back and forth up the hill. Everything else has a sprinkler system. You are correct the sprinklers give a good dose of water on the patio, and retaining walls, as well as dirt areas. There is no pool, or spa, but I do have large water features That require cleaning daily. I use a skimmer, then I’m sure many gallons of water to keep the level up.
During the fall and winter months I drain the water features, and tarp everything.
Saves a little on the water bill.
Your property must really be a labor of love. Why would you even think of moving in the future?
About the raised flower beds, very interesting. Are you going to build one?
I would be interested to buy a pre-made one. I worked with all the roses today, and cleared out old dried plants from the ceramic pots. I stop when my back starts to kill me.
I should go on line to see who has the raised beds.
I used to plant vegetables, but insects and wild life took over. Have yet to eat a fig from the fig trees.
Stay well.
Funcountess
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@funcountess I don't currently have a filter in the water line, but I plan to put one in this year. The pump company did some work on the well both in 2018&19. One thing they did was install an automatic shut off so the well doesn't empty completely.
Gardening is good therapy for me, being out in the sun, being productively active. This has been a good year for my yard work, as I have been doing jobs in March and April that I don't usually do until June - weeding and spring cleaning, final prep on the planting hills, and getting the water system in place. I always pick up the soakers and winter them in the barn, so they last longer.
When we bought the place, the previous owner had started building a water feature, but I didn't like the way it looked or its location. I had a man grading the quarter mile driveway and putting gravel down when I first became the owner, and I asked him to dig up the ugly mess with his backhoe and put everything in a pile out of sight. It's become my resource for rocks and dirt when I need it somewhere. I'm glad I didn't ask him to haul it away. Now it's a mixed bed with two yellow and one white flowering potentila, white peony, snapdragons that come up every year, some iris, coral bells, wild prickly poppy, artemesia, daylillies, daffodils, tulips, sand mounds of succulents and kinikinick, mostly protected by a large pine tree. I just tuck new plants in when I get them. No outdoor work today because it's been raining. I don't mind a day off. The work will still be there tomorrow.
I've never done raised beds. Our son made some as a father-daughter project this year. I don't think that the bale beds would work for me. I fenced in a 50x50' corner of the back yard to keep the deer and dogs out, and filled it with permanent trees and shrubs and perennials and reserved areas for vegetables. They coexist well. Some things I have to keep pruned back because they encroach on the paths.
Moving to town isn't something we plan to do until I get to the point where I can't keep the place up. If I die first, it would be best if I could have an estate sale, so our kids wouldn't have to deal with so much stuff. My father lived until he was 76, and my mother was 84. My wife's family lived quite a bit longer, so odds are she'll outlive me.
So, the plan is to stay put as long as we can. I call it our final resting place.