The Redneck Pool and Rainbow Garden

We should go to the Redneck Pool next!

Okay, this is one of my favorite spots, for sure.

So we moved in right during the big solar eclipse.

We had friends out for it and everyone camped, 'cause there was literally nothing in the house yet except a dining room table.

The Dad discovered a giant unused stock tank in one of the pastures, so he rolled that bad boy onto a chunk of grass in the driveway next to the garage.

We filled it with water and the kids, and dads, played in it all weekend.

Fast forward a week and that water was NASTY.  

Hahahaha.

But that weekend was its maiden voyage.

The following month, September, was when I had the massive load of compost delivered, and it got dumped right where the pool had been, in the grass.

The Dad took this picture in November, of the pool plopped down next to the heap.

Then, last winter, when I could finally see the bottom of the pile, I layed down, yet again, more cardboard, and buried it with the remaining compost.

That was in the middle of January.

The lone tree is a pear.

By March, I had a plan.

Well, a rough idea in my head anyway.

I was gifted a bunch of new babies from the yards of fellow garden bloggers, so I started plopping things in the ground.

And then it was April.

The load of mushroom compost came, then the wood chips showed up...two days in a row...so the Redneck Pool area got put on hold for a wee bit.

June 1st.

The plant babies were starting to take hold and I had been filling in quite consistently with clearance rack scores from Lowe's. 

I don't remember when it was decided, but one day, the beds around the pool became The Rainbow Garden.

I've never been a fan of orange flowers, but the kids love them, so I figured, what the hell.

Let's add ALL the colors to the pool area.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, and even black.

And it may have become one of my favorite spots.

I MAY officially have a fondness for orange.

Shhhh, don't tell anyone.

A couple days after the last photo, the gravel showed up.

Moving gravel sucks.

It more than sucks.

I hate it.

But I did it.

I also went around the backside of the garage with it, so we could move our bins out of eyesight.

My makeshift compost pile is back there, as well.

And then it was time to move the pool back in.

My constant helper.

Ahem.

She chases and barks at the wheelbarrow.

Can you imagine how much fun she had doing that last year?

So. Much. Fun.

I wanted to have her barker removed.

A couple more shots of it in its home.

Now you know I can't leave well enough alone when it comes to flat surfaces.

Soooo, I started hanging stuff on the garage wall.

Here comes July.

After reading online to see what other people had used, we ordered an Intex pool pump off of Amazon.

I wanna say it was around $80 bucks.

Not too awful.  

We also bought the chlorine tablets and holder, but those were fairly cheap.

We were initially gonna drill holes in the side of the stock tank to install the pump, but we ended up just putting it up on a base and hanging the tubes over the side.

I thought it would bother me, just from an aesthetic standpoint, but it became one of those things that really just didn't matter.

By the middle of July, the annuals were startin' to put on their show.

Not a bad spot to cool down during break time.

In August, we were given a hand-me-down outdoor couch to finish up the seating area.

September.

November.

Put to bed for the year.

And, last, a few closeups of this month's blooms out there.

And now I'm officially dreaming of hot summer days.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the difference in growth of the baby shrubs I put in out there.

There's a mock orange that I brought a piece of from the old house, some sort of ornamental prune that was a freebie, a Ceanothus 'Zanzibar', a black pussy willow that I'm pretty excited about, and a gold columnar cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa 'Wilma Goldcrest'.

Plus all the perennials that will be so much bigger this year.

Bring on spring!

Until next time.....