Back in the garden again
The lovely Sunday spring evening was mostly me and my shovel and happy times in the dirt. Before he left, Achaosofkittens put up the fence around the peas in the back. I figure with this warmth, they should be germinated by now, so I watered the lines where they should be. Here's to hoping that the fence was up soon enough and we didn't miss the sprouts.
Then I got busy in the octagon up front, pulling up wild blackberry and making big holes. I pulled up this year's blackberry sprouts first. I didn't get all of them, but I did make a pretty good dent in the berry invasion on the cleared/driveway side where I wanted to do planting. When I was bored with weeding, I switched to direct destruction. I dug holes for the potted monarda (purchased on Friday) on the north side/driveway side of the octagon. I made more holes than monarda (on purpose!) and moved some of the very happy naturalized daffodils from their huge mass on the barn side over to those holes.
We have two volunteer bleeding hearts (next to the purposely-planted bleeding hearts) and a few re-seeded hollyhocks showing a sprinkle of leaves that I managed to not disturb while stomping around in the octagon. The roses haven't been eaten by deer yet, so maybe the dog is helping keep them away? Maybe the deer will miss the hollyhocks too this time? hope? hope? I'm considering buying hollyhocks again and seeing if they can survive the random deer mowings. I ponder.
I dug holes for the columbine in the triangle bed, mostly by removing large chunks of massed/naturalized daffodils. I also said hi to the perennial gladiolus that are just starting to poke up in the triangle bed. I broke one gladiolus tip, but I think that mostly the damage was light. The daffodils that I removed to make room for the columbine got trenched into the dirt/mulch on the barn side of the big oak stump in front of the great room. There isn't any hosta on that side, and I'd like something nicer than weeds. If I remember to water them, they should take just fine and be happy for next spring.
The completely ignored tree circles are doing fine. The one that was circled in rocks is *full* of wood hyacinth that are just about to bloom. The one that has the concrete edging around it is looking kind of bored. I may get some impatiens or something to give it a little more energy even if its temporary. And both of them could use a general weeding and some mulch.
Then I got busy in the octagon up front, pulling up wild blackberry and making big holes. I pulled up this year's blackberry sprouts first. I didn't get all of them, but I did make a pretty good dent in the berry invasion on the cleared/driveway side where I wanted to do planting. When I was bored with weeding, I switched to direct destruction. I dug holes for the potted monarda (purchased on Friday) on the north side/driveway side of the octagon. I made more holes than monarda (on purpose!) and moved some of the very happy naturalized daffodils from their huge mass on the barn side over to those holes.
We have two volunteer bleeding hearts (next to the purposely-planted bleeding hearts) and a few re-seeded hollyhocks showing a sprinkle of leaves that I managed to not disturb while stomping around in the octagon. The roses haven't been eaten by deer yet, so maybe the dog is helping keep them away? Maybe the deer will miss the hollyhocks too this time? hope? hope? I'm considering buying hollyhocks again and seeing if they can survive the random deer mowings. I ponder.
I dug holes for the columbine in the triangle bed, mostly by removing large chunks of massed/naturalized daffodils. I also said hi to the perennial gladiolus that are just starting to poke up in the triangle bed. I broke one gladiolus tip, but I think that mostly the damage was light. The daffodils that I removed to make room for the columbine got trenched into the dirt/mulch on the barn side of the big oak stump in front of the great room. There isn't any hosta on that side, and I'd like something nicer than weeds. If I remember to water them, they should take just fine and be happy for next spring.
The completely ignored tree circles are doing fine. The one that was circled in rocks is *full* of wood hyacinth that are just about to bloom. The one that has the concrete edging around it is looking kind of bored. I may get some impatiens or something to give it a little more energy even if its temporary. And both of them could use a general weeding and some mulch.