Took some time last week to take some updated pictures around the outside of the Haus. The landscaping has really matured and become quite healthy and we've finished a lot of exterior projects and details that really make the house look "done" finally.
View from the street. The large trees in the front yard are doing great. We had a scare with several of them this spring, we think they needed more water than what we gave them over the winter. That won't happen again!
We originally planted the umbrella grass (papyrus) in front of the atrium near the front door. It was too big for that spot. So, we moved it here near the fenceline. It's doing great here.
The rain tank and rainwater collection system is installed and working (hard, every day!). People ask us if (a) "is that a grain elevator?" or (b) "do you brew beer in that?". The state of SC did give us a 25% tax credit on all of the drip and rain water harvesting equipment we bought!
The cypress exterior siding will need some additional finishing next spring. Luckily there isn't much of it to do!
View looking down the driveway. The permeable pavers have proven a good choice. They are fairly "organic". A few have cracked and they aren't sitting poured-concrete-perfect, but they are much more interesting and much smarter than a huge, stupid slab of driveway. The dwarf mondo grass median has been a challenge for less-than-careful drivers who come to visit.
I found a break in the sprinkler line that was preventing the palmettos and this bamboo from getting water. After fixing it and finding the right fertilizer for the bamboo, everyone is doing well and growing nicely.
We finished the edge of the driveway with a black plastic retainer to hold the mulch in place. Works well and looks nice.
The mailbox continues to be one of our favorite design features of the house. The mailman has told us it's the nicest box in Mount Pleasant.
The homemade cast concrete water feature keeps working like a champ too. Originally we added bleach to the water and tried to keep the algae from growing on it. We noticed however the bees in the backyard like to get some of their water here, so we stopped the bleach and stopped worrying about it.
The planters integrated into the front porch grow perennials most of the year, but we added these hot pepper plants we got for free late in the summer. They actually have produced a lot of peppers, and they look nice too.
This is a Japanese Butterfly Maple planted near the rain tank. It's one of our most beautiful trees on the lot. The bark is green. Should grow to 7 or 9 feet tall, someday.
The hosta garden struggled a little this year, but gets stronger all the time. Some of these hostas were moved from Ohio, and those were moved again from Seattle. They have been in the family a long time!
The banana tress is great, but it will need to move this winter. It is huge. If you go back in the blog you can see how small it started out.... maybe 3 feet tall as a single stalk. It has produced actual bananas this year, and they are edible and tasty!
General view of the pond. Fish and water plants are happy, the sound from the waterfall is great and you can hear it inside the whole house with the windows open.
Pond from above looking down from screened in porch. The Graceful Bamboo continues to grow and will grow in all of the rest of its leaves next year, making a huge barrier between us and these neighbors.
This is the Coral Bark Japanese Maple near the pond. Bananas need to move to give it more space. Some day it will be quite large and hopefully shade the pond. The bark is bright, coral red!
Some of the fish. They are really hard to photograph. We originally started with 14 fish, we counted about a dozen new babies since they started out.
One of the day-blooming lilies in the upper pond.
The shade garden. We planted a bunch of hibiscus in the back near the fence after hearing about how much bees like hibiscus.
There is a small "baby" pond back in the vegetable garden. We needed extra soil for the last raised planter, so we had a huge hole in the ground. Why not make a small pond? It is 4x8 and 2 feet deep. It has a flexible liner and an all-in-one German pump and filter system. We are growing lilies in it, but you can't see them here. At least 2 frogs immediately took up residence here, which is awesome. We assume they eat the mosquitoes and other insects that try to drink the water! Eventually there will be some sort of metal humanoid sculpture here when we get around to working on it. Every garden needs a scarecrow, right?
Bees are happy. We harvested about 110 pounds of honey from the hive this year. If we could fit another hive on the lot, we'd get one for sure! We are convinced the bees helped all of the plants grow this summer. We'd like to take credit for being green thumbs, but it's too much coincidence to think new gardeners did as well as we did!
Our interpretation of what a modern bird feeder pole is! All parts from McMaster Carr.
A rare glimpse inside the detached garage. Art on the walls made it look great. Still lots more to do inside here.
An artsy pic of the Trex louvers and the outdoor shower. We love the horsetail reed, but it does like to get out and multiply whenever it gets a chance.
View of the upper bedroom windows. Need to get a huge ladder so we can clean those!
The backyard from the back porch. Artificial grass has been great.
Took this shot to show the porch ceiling. Originally, it was coated with clear Seal-o-Flex. It gathered mildew, and worse, it attracted woodpeckers. I recoated it with 2 coats of Modern Masters Masterclear Supreme in satin finish. This product went on thick like Elmer's glue. Produced a great finish and deterred the woodpecker completely from pecking on the outside. We originally wanted hardwood flooring for the ceiling, but cost won this battle. This is "close enough" to the look we wanted and we're happy with it.
We will work on better fish pics next year!
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