I promised a few more yard/garden photos, and then there’s the stuff we got done last evening, and there’s also more pretty flower pictures, and there’s spinning too!

Last evening was pretty much perfect. We were enjoying a day of cool weather, only about 75F out, and eager to garden. Last time I blogged, I was pondering if I would work on edging the veggie garden, or work on the rudbeckia garden. I chose the veggie garden edgers. For two reasons. First, the stack of scalloped cement edgers was really bugging me, and second, I figured I should do the work that’s always in the sun while the day was cool. You may remember last photo of veggie garden looked like this:

Well, I’ve got a problem with slugs and pill bugs in here, and knowing that wood in front was rotting, I figured taking it out might help a bit. Also, the edgers weren’t staying in place, and the dirt from the garden was spilling over onto the concrete, and plants were growing on the spilled over dirt. So, my plan was to use the cement scalloped edgers I yanked from the rose of sharon garden.

The trouble was, because the dirt was spilling onto the concrete, I had planted a bunch of veggies too close to the edge to leave them there and still edge this garden in properly. I did a hopefully not final harvest of lettuce and cayenne peppers, and then moved them.

This was also a tough project due to the day lillies which had established so close to the edge that not only were they hanging onto the concrete, their root systems have grown under the concrete. I yanked out as much as I possibly could, but without digging out under the concrete, the rest will remain, and hopefully not cause too much of a problem .

Here’s where I am now in the project. At a stopping point, due to having ran out of edgers. The one last edger that isn’t in is a partial. I need about 3 more. I figure I can probably find them at the local hardware store, so I am not too worried, and I suspect it’ll still be pretty cheap. There are also some out front that we intend to remove, but digging them up will be annoying, and they are grey rather than brick colored. I also need to cut back the burning bush again before I can continue adding edgers.

All in all though, it’s already a lot better. That was a tough job, and I did it all on my own! Mr. Ink would walk by and say “That looks great!” “That’s a great job!” but he was busy planting my hibiscus!

Which looks perfectly charming in its permanent spot!

Mr. Ink is working today, and I am tasked with going back to the rock place to grab more matching rocks. You know, it’s funny. I envisioned this entire garden thing, and he kindly built my wall. And then told me he assumed I’d be working on the edging, since I said I would. It wasn’t until after the rose of sharon garden that he decided he was all in on this project. It took a couple days, and then it was “I just really LOVE how that edging turned out!” and “I don’t want to plant the viburnum until I get that garden edged!” This thrills me to pieces, because it’s hard work, and because his eye does a better job putting that natural rock in like a puzzle. My brain just gets confused. But I can go get rocks, and help dig, and get water and tools, and crumble dirt. I am still useful, but I am a better assistant for this edging project.

In spinning, here’s where I am on TdF. My loop bumps are moving along nicely, and relatively quickly for the amount of time I am spending (or not spending) on them.

And now for the final bit of the yard tour. I really did venture out on the median this morning! I have never done that before. And no one honked at me! Must be too early.

So, standing in the median looking at our house I took 3 pictures, from left to right.

When we purchased this house, that entire bank was covered in sticky weeds. Once removed, we could tell that the bank had once had creeping junipers all over it, well established. But, the weeds, left unchecked over the years, had choked them out. It will probably take us 10 years to clean up all the old dead juniper wood and roots. But, Mr. Ink keeps making great progress. All those rocks, too, could not be seen. There were weeds and plants growing over top of the rocks, and landscaping cloth under the rocks. It really was a mess. I do wish we’d had a before picture on this. It’s so much better.

I had a lot of fun at my favorite plant shop this spring, I’d go, look around, and anything that caught my eye and said it was good for a rock garden would come home with me. Then, Mr. Ink would come home, and I would show him which plants were his, and he’d take them out front and plant them in the spaces he’d cleared of debris. A lot of them are doing very well! This bank really does look lovely in the spring, whoever put the spirea in did a good job figuring out how to space them out. One type blooms, and as that one is beginning to quit blooming the next type does. So there will be pops of white, then pink and lime, then purple.

Here’s the driveway with a picture of both banks. The right hand bank is a little less carefully cared for than the right side, but it’s coming along. Last year Mr. Ink spent a ton of time on the left side, this year he’s spent more time on the right side.

The right bank, and now you can also see our erosion problem. Mr. Ink keeps trying to get sod to establish. Every time we dig up sod out back, we add it to the front of this bank, but then rains come and erode everything away again. We are continuing to work on a solution. It’ll probably involve boulders. Behind that bank are 3 trees that Mr. Ink planted. They are currently very small, but should, again, grow and help with street noise and privacy.

That’s it! That’s the entire place. It’s huge, yard wise. It sure does keep us active. But, I have to admit, since the original owners stayed there their entire lives, what does that mean for us if we stay? Will it become too much? Will the bank be covered in sticky weeds? But, I suppose that’s just borrowing trouble. For now, it’s a very enjoyable hobby, even though there’s really no end in sight.

Because there’s a payoff each and every day.

The payoff of a canna, blooming beautifully.

The payoff of a new color of glads coming up.

The payoff of a well established rose beginning it’s next bloom cycle, when you clearly managed to tend it well enough to get rid of the thrips it was plagued with during it’s first bloom cycle.

The payoff of a caladium having gathered a perfect drop of condensation overnight.

The payoffs are great. So I think I’ll have another cup of coffee and head outdoors!