River House Diary

Pete was a busy boy today and hung our flower pots on the front porch. Too bad we centered the pots between columns and not on the windows. Who knew the windows weren’t centered? Now we do. Hanging flower pots; personal collection

We stopped at an outdoor produce stand yesterday. They had quite a good set up for COVID-19. You had to wash your hands or use the hand sanitizer that was provided as you entered the stand. Then before you paid, you had to sanitize your hands and swipe your own credit card. They where also selling hanging baskets. We bought two for the front porch. The baskets included plants from Proven Winners. Angelface Cascade Blue Superbells Miss Lilac Superbells Grape Punch That got me thinking about our flower pots again -- something I've been having trouble finding in the exterior color palette recommended by Zuniga Interiors. I had better luck online today. New flower pots; collage created by LiveCollage The top pot is from Wayfair and is the Alfred Glazed Oval Ceramic Pot by Wrought Studio. I got it in Lime Green and hope the electronic image is a good representation of the color. If so, it will match the olivine color in the color palette. If not, back it goes. The pot i...

We were so busy moving into River House during prime spring planting season for Zone 8, I'm very late to the party. Local greenhouses and nurseries are sparse on the ground to begin with and those few we do have have depleted inventories now. So I went online to buy a couple things -- Oxalis and fall-blooming hardy cyclamen. Oxalis, also known as wood sorrel (top) and hardy cyclamen (bottom); courtesy Wayside Gardens and K. van Bourgondien Here's where they will be planted. Part of the beds by the front steps; personal collection The 'White Swirl' Siberian Iris I bought a couple of days ago will be planted behind the liriope on either side of the steps. The Oxalis and hardy cyclamen are very small plants -- only 4" to 6" in height and need afternoon shade in hot climates. I'm going to tuck them under the liriope for shade.

We masked up and went to a local garden center in Newport; they have the most beautiful pots. I was looking for Siberian Iris to plan behind the liriope on either side of our front steps -- yes, I'm late. The nursery was a bust so I am trying an online source. Once they rhizomes arrive, I'll let you know if it was worth it. White Swirl Siberian Iris; courtesy of Holland Bulb Farm

Eastern Carolina Lawn Service finished laying the sod in our back yard Monday and were back yesterday morning cleaning up, planting a few more bushes and mulching. Master bedroom wing and our future patio; personal collection The retaining wall turned out great and we are very happy with it. Eventually there were be a patio on top of the retaining wall with a grill, bench seating, table and chairs and perhaps even some chaise lounges. But for now, we had sod installed. Belgard retaining wall; personal collection

This morning the sod arrived for the back yard. They will be sodding the future patio until we can afford to have the pavers laid. Rolls of sod for the back yard; personal collection

The no-see-um railings I love so much caused us to flunk the county inspection required to receive our certificate of occupancy. The fabricators were at River House correcting what turned out to be a minor issue due to a wrong measurement. And we received our certificate late yesterday. That sets off a chain of events — bank makes the final payment to our builder, our builder’s risk insurance policy gets converted to a homeowner’s policy. All that activity made Pete very happy. It means we are closer to getting our hands on the keys to the house. But for me, I got happy seeing so many pretty plants. Front foundation landscape; personal collection

I have strong opinions about the craziest things. Walkways to the front porch or front door are one such thing. First, they should be wide enough for two people to walk comfortably abreast — that’s at least 6 feet. If they start at the driveway, there should be a landing area where a guest’s car would typically park so they can step on it easily without worrying about “falling off” the driveway onto the grass or a plant bed. A luxury would be to have that landing area be large enough for a bench so that one’s guests can set packages or bags on the bench while gathering their other possessions. And most importantly, there are few straight lines in nature — so design a curved walkway. Imagine how pleased I was to see our new walkway yesterday morning. The Eastern Carolina Lawn Care crew ran out of daylight so it still needs sand between the pavers. Front walkway; personal collection

We contracted with landscape designer Maryanne White to develop a preliminary plan for River House. We could not afford to implement the entire plan right away and decided to install, a cobblestone driveway border, front walkway, foundation plantings, a retaining wall at the back of the house and sod to stabilize the slope to the river as quickly as possible. We're working with Kevin Faulkner of Eastern Carolina Lawn Care , who came highly recommended by our builder. Everything was pretty clear in the quote, except which plants were considered "foundation" plants. An exercise in coloring cleared that right up with one email exchange. Foundation plants for River House; courtesy of Kevin Faulkner

The concrete crew worked Saturday afternoon to prepare the driveway for its concrete pour. Driveway before concrete pour; personal collection

We met with the landscaper Friday. That’s good news and bad news. The good news is thinking about landscaping means we’re near the end of the construction process. The bad news is the slope of the lot means there will be more costs associated with landscaping that are not in the contract. We’ve pretty much decided we need a retaining wall and the landscaper agreed. And we might as well build it now while we’re a construction zone rather tear things up later. So our mission Monday was to decide on pavers for the front walk and back patio and material to use to build a retaining wall. Belgard was recommended as they pretty much own the market down here. We learned we’re pretty open style wise, though everyone is suggesting Cambridge or Dublin Cobble based on the style of our house, but we think Savannah is the color. Belgard Dublin Cobble in Savannah; personal collection It’s more tan than I expected but has a bit of blue in the stone. It wasn’t the color I thought we’d choose...

I selected landscape designer Maryanne White based on the work she did for Maria Killam . We've never met but are working together electronically. I initially sent her the plat plan, house location survey, topographical information, the house plan and some photographs of the lot. We spoke on the telephone about what we were trying to achieve with the landscaping and the outdoor activities we enjoyed. We also emailed back and forth about favorite planting materials and color palette. Maryanne sent a pencil sketch of a draft plan, which was very close to perfect. We moved a seating area from one side of the lot to the other to take more advantage of the view.  After we approved the draft plan, Maryanne sent a CAD drawing of the preliminary plan with all the hardscaping and planting material specified. Once we approve that, the final plans will be delivered. Preliminary landscaping plan; personal collection We won't be able to afford the entire plan right away, but it gi...

I have followed Maria Killam 's Colour Me Happy  blog for years, attended one of her 3-day classes on color, consulted with her on paint colors for our Oakton house and purchased all of her ebooks. She worked with Maryanne White , using e-landscape design services, to design her gardens after purchasing a home outside Vancouver. The before and after photos are stunning. Maria Killam's white garden designed by MaryAnne White; courtesy of Maria Killam I contacted Maryanne a few weeks ago and she will be designing the landscape plan for our new home. She asked that I send her a topographical map of our lot, the house location survey, and the house plans, as well as some photos. Maryanne will send me a sketch of her proposed landscape plan in a few weeks and we will talk over her ideas. Her final deliverable will be CAD drawings a local firm can use to install the landscape. Thank you, Maria, for allowing me to use one of your photographs!