landscaping a goat house

Some farm people might think it strange to waste time landscaping a goat house. Well, our goat house is directly in front of our home. When I sit in my rocking chair and look out across the front yard, this is what I see. So it's a bit fancier than the standard struction most people would have for their goats.

We bought a 12x16 garden shed, complete with a shuttered window. I added a solar porch light just for ambience. The front door is for people, the back door for goats. The inside is divided off with a fence, gate and their feed trough. They are free to run in and out anytime they please. The fence runs off both sides of the shed so they cannot get to the front of their house.

I had planted a couple of shrubs by it two years ago. The one under the window looked so lovely in the summer with its eight-foot branches blowing in the wind, I didn't want to prune it. So the man that is helping me with the yard work dug up the bush and replanted it out in the yard. It looks much better in its new location. But then I had nothing in front of the goat house to dress it up. I decided the Japanese bloodgrass that I had such a large supply of, would look splendid across the front.

I dug out the remaining grass from in front of the shed and filled a row with two wheel-barrow loads of the grass. I also added several clumps to the corner on the other side of the double doors. This grass gets about eighteen to twenty-four inches tall and is a lovely green on the bottom and deep burgundy on the top. I placed an old bird bath behind the grass to fill the 'blank-wall' area. The grass is not yet cut back, as there isn't new growth yet. I can't wait to see it in the summer! Later I will add a trellis and some ivy to the side that I can see from our porch. If I didn't have the goats this would be the lovely little writer's cottage I've dreamed of...

As usual, Sadie has to get her butt in every shot! You can see a sillouette of Derby inside...