Potting Bench, the Back Porch and New Landscape

I got a late start on the back porch and container planters this year. My cervical spine surgery really put the kibosh on my fun this Spring. We had a cold and rainy May this year which didn't help getting things put together on top of everything else. My husband and I finally got around to doing some outside clean up and then for Mother's Day he helped me pot some sun-loving plants to get the back yard up to speed.

(cast iron rabbit on the back porch retaining wall)

I think I may have only shared one other post of the back porch and yard, and that was early in the season last year. We had a lot to do on the landscape back here to clean it up and make it presentable and functional. The Back Porch and Potting Bench 2019. Things haven't changed too much on the porch except to switch places with the Potting Bench and the old metal park bench. That put the old door (that cuts off a lot of light) directly behind the china cupboard in the Garden Room dining area. It's a much better placement.

So... my husband reminded me how "junky" this all looks from the back view. Well, ok, it is cluttered I admit, but I finally have a place to put my stuff so I guess it may stay for a bit.

(bad pic, so sorry. It's hard for me to get good shots outdoors)

The entire landscaping beds were originally mulch. Maybe 10-15 year old mulch that was mold and bug ridden. so gross. So we had them re-done with river gravel late last year. Now they are much cleaner and tidy looking and my cringe-factor is way down.

We have oak, hickory and walnut trees, actually a few more than I'd like.

They're pretty and offer a lot of shade but they are continually "dropping" stuff.

Leaves, pollen, nuts, sticks, helicopters, shaggy junk with seeds on it.

It goes on and on...

From late March till early June it's constant clean up of the back porch.

My potting bench needed another coat of paint this season to cover up all the critter stains.

We really enjoy the covered back porch. It's really accessible since you can walk right out from the Garden Room through the sliding glass door. No planning, No thinking about it. Just open the door. It's always cool and inviting; most of the time with a nice breeze.

The new plants in the containers were really teensy when I first planted them. They've grown quite a bit, at least to the place where I can actually show them now.

This is my view from my kitchen sink window. The fountain and square concrete flower bed were planted last year with amazing purple petunias. They were gorgeous. But this year I just didn't plan for it, and I haven't been back to find anything else. Right now there is some random Lamb's Ear in there, so it may not get a makeover this year.

The back beds were a massive sea of hostas. Now, I like hostas, but not overkill.

They were pretty for about a month, then terribly unattractive for the rest of the summer.

The deer would funnel back here and eat them.

As you can see there are a few small holdouts

that the clean-out missed. That's okay... I like a few.

We have a really nice mowing guy, but the yard is still a lot of work. Since the trees make a big mess we're constantly dealing with yard debris. And let's not even talk about what it's like when there's a storm with wind and rain. Remember the old game "Pick Up Stix"? yeh. that would be the game we play afterwards. If you missed my post of a few weeks ago out front, you can catch it HERE.