It had to be done. In February we purchase our new baby chicks and built them a chicken coop. After putting it all together and visiting with them each day, I decided the area needed some TLC to give them a homey look. Every home needs curbs appeal. It looked so barren before I put a little touch to it.
Not exactly the place you'd want to invite "friends" to visit. LOL. I started by working the dirt and then putting in some bulbs. I have Dahlia's and along the front side and Beard Dianthus along the back. Also along the back I planted some Sunflowers. These will take awhile to grow so I needed some plants for the front.
You can barley see them but they're there. These will grow to approx. 4' tall, Sunflowers.
In front of the sunflowers will be the Beard Dianthus. It will give a nice layered look.
In the front I planted the Blue Butterfly Shrub and also the Pink Whirling Butterflies.
My husband bought a Jalapeno bush while we were out so I planted it out there too. It will only last until it finishes producing the peppers.
I added some stepping stones in front of the door for the "walkway". A friend shared with me a video of how to turn a pot into a Hobbit house by turning the pot sideways and gluing moss all around it. So, I found a pot and did just that. I also had a door that was the perfect size to put in front of the pot to finish off the house.
I planted some Mother of a Million Tears (catcus) on each side of it. As this plant grows it will produce plenty of babies that I can plant in various places along the new "river". And I added some whimsy to complete the front. A little bistro set, some stones for the walkway to the Hobbit House, and a Gnome.
On this end I added a little "pond" with some chickens enjoying a cool drink and another gnome and walkway to the fairy house. I love the magic.
A splash of blue aquarium rock makes a nice river look.
And of course, every river needs a little bridge.
The gals kept a close eye on me to see what I was doing to their landscape. A friend suggested they might have been thinking "Mom likes to dig in the dirt too"....they are right ...grin.
A couple of days and a few hours work and I'm pleased with the new curb appeal of our gals home. I can't wait for the bulbs to come up and bloom and give a huge color pop to this area. The area to the right is unplanted. The coop is mobile and once a month I pull it out and clean underneath so there won't be a build up of chicken droppings. This will eventually make a great compost but because it's so high in nitrogen, it will take quite awhile to break down. Never add chicken droppings directly to plantings. It will burn them. But when landscaping the area, I had to make sure to have a way to pull the coop out for cleaning and maintenance yet maintain the landscape. So I put a magical "tic tac toe" game to fill in the space.
Once the bulbs grow along the side and back I plan to complete the details of a village around the side and back. I can't do it right now because I forgot the exact placement of the bulbs..lol. But, when our Granddaughters come, this little area will add another spark of magic to the yard as well as the fascination of the chickens.
Eventually there will be an arbor in front with a sky vine to make an inviting entrance. That's my dirt for today. The magic is everywhere, if you look for it.
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