Since we moved in to our house in January we’ve been thinking about what we want to start working on as far as yard projects.  I used a combination of Google aerial maps and Zillow to create my own drawings of the property…and I have been sketching over transparencies with a china pen as I work through ideas. I like to think long term…like what would we have to start doing now that we can also keep adding to over the next few years:

We have a great blank slate to work with:

We took down a lot of trees to remove any that were in danger of falling on the house:

The power company took down a bunch too, and then kind of left a big ole mess:

Now we’ve got firewood for life, and our friends got a lot too:

The only gardening or landscaping I’ve done up until this point is digging up all the spring bulbs once their flowers fell off, dried them and stored them to replant at some point. I’ve still got a few more to save before the earth mover comes in:

Like these gorgeous Tiger Irises. I wrote this on Instagram about them: In floriography, the language of flowers, the purple iris symbolizes wisdom. The iris in general symbolizes faith and friendship. In Ancient Greece the purple variety was planted over the graves of deceased women to summon Iris, the messenger of the gods, to help guide the journey between heaven and earth. Also an iris: the Fleur-de-lis.

Oh and Boo planted a fairy garden:

We have a wood swing ready to go up:

And then there’s the depot. My plan is to make it a potting shed and have it be the backdrop for a garden.

Maybe I’ll actually get something to grow. My moss and succulents and potato plants are looking pretty good so far. I love this potting bench that Brett made me out of some reclaimed barn doors and 2 saw horses from Habitat. At the rate my moss is growing I’ll have about 4 feet of it in 4 years. It’s like watching water boil:

My theme is mountain-cottage-Japanese-ranch. Catchy, right? I like a little of everything. I like to dream big with a big plan and start small. So maybe one day we’ll have a curved gravel drive lined with trees, large boulders with plantings around them, pea gravel walkways, a garden kitchen and little niches here and there.  Oh and evergreens, hydrangeas, juniper and those pretty Japanese maples. And maybe some lavender. If anyone wants some poison ivy or poison oak we have a lot of that already, I’ll be working on replacing that little by little.

Here’s what I’ve been inspired by…I’m pretty sure if I throw all of this in a blender and I’ll get mountain-cottage-Japanese-ranch-Narnia:

       Follow Ashley’s board Mountain Landscape Inspiration on Pinterest.

And I’m always open to great ideas and suggestions. I know zero about landscaping. I just wing it and pick what I like and try to keep it as DIY as possible.

Read more about The House on Hospital Hill here.