Monday, June 29, 2009

I Love Progress


Hello everyone! We got the grass dug out of the new back bed this weekend. Poor Jamie ended up doing every bit of it by himself! Our helper was a complete no show, the bad part is that he was just across the street. Soooooo, it took two days to get the grass out. Jamie and I worked until noon both days at that point the heat was unbearable and we had to stop. I helped, but Jamie is the one that did all the hard work. I was forced (by Jamie) to sit on a bucket and pick grass out of the dirt. That grass was terribly hard to get up… very, very hard. When we stopped Saturday Jamie’s hands were covered in blisters. Sunday he got up, wrapped his hands in gauze bandages and kept digging until he was done. What we were willing to pay for help would have averaged out to almost 20 dollars an hour. I can’t believe we couldn’t find anyone dependable to assist us. Anyway, I digress. We still want to tweak the curves a little, we aren’t completely satisfied with the shape yet, but the worst part is behind us.

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We still need to amend the soil, but right now the ground is just way too hard to do it. We are going to have to wait for some rain to come and soften it up.

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I also strolled around the yard looking for some decent color to share with you. The pickins’ were slim, this is all I could come up with for now. The 'Raspberry Wine' monarda is still holding up.

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We bought three monarda to go in the garden. I thought two of them had died, but 'Dark Ponticum' made a comeback after it was a no show last year.

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A nameless Daylily...

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'Honeycomb' a sweet butterfly treat, but where are the butterflies?

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'Double Decker' coneflower. It's only "double decked" once for us.

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Last but not least, a sun faded Hibiscus.

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37 comments:

Darla said...

I must check to see if you are in my bloglist...Your progress looks great, tweaking the curves will be fun. I must get that purple monarda. I started 3 scarlet ones from the one I have. I love monarda. No, my husband scraped the ditch with the tractor, he raked it all by hand and it's full of rocks...

Darla said...

Knew you where on there! Whew, don't want to miss anything here!

Darla said...

were, dang it!

Phillip Oliver said...

It looks great and think of the money you saved by doing it all yourself! ;)

Lisa at Greenbow said...

I agree with Phillip. With some of that money you need to get some gardening gloves so you don't get blisters. Poor baby. You can be proud of those blisters though because the job looks great. I really like the bright colors in your garden now too. The reds and purples together are great.

Randy said...

Lisa,
Believe it or not he was wearing some very thick leather work gloves. You're right, he can be very proud, it does look great. Now we need some rain so we can break up the ground and add some compost.--Randy

Jake said...

The area looks great and I know how hard it can be pulling up grass. At least when you look at it you will be proud that you did it all your selves.

Jake

Caroline said...

Good lord, I'm sweating buckets just reading about the grass digging. I do believe he was wearing work gloves; he must have dug for hours. Imagining all the blood, sweat and tears that went into the project makes it all the more beautiful. Your garden is amazing.

sweetbay said...

I'm sorry your help didn't show up. :(

I have 'Rapsberry Wine' too and just love it. Your photographs are wonderful.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Oh My, Randy... You two really worked hard. George and I spend LOTS of time in our yard also--and he does all of the 'hard' work...

You have a gorgeous yard. Your hard work will pay off I'm sure...

Thanks for sharing.
Hugs,
Betsy

Frances said...

Oh poor Jamie! What a soldier to keep on digging with those blisters, but it does look wonderful already. Your monarda is a joy in the garden and as for the echinacea reverting, I have read that the pollinators prefer the unaltered types, easier landing pads. Hope you get some rain to soften the soil, we need some as well. :-)
Frances

Randy said...

I'm here to tell you guys it was quite painstaking removing all of that grass, but it was well worth it. The hardest part of it all was making Randy sit on a bucket and pick the grass off of my shovel and toss it into the wheelbarrow. ;0) He's never one to really listen, but I wouldn't take no for an answer. I didn't want to jeopardize the health of his back again, that's for definite sure!
--Jamie

Hey! I did do a little more than that!:-)--Randy

Randy said...

Jake,
We really didn’t like the idea of hiring someone to help. Because the garden is “our thing” we do as a couple. So even though it was hard work, you are right, we are glad we did it ourselves.

Caroline,
It took us about 9 hours to get everything dug out. Thanks for the compliments on the garden. Everything you see with the exception of this new bed was done just last year.

Sweet Bay,
At the time I could have walked across the street and strangled him. But in retrospect I’m glad he was a no show now.

Betsy,
It’s so good to see you here again! Stick around so you can see what we do with the new space. Jamie may be in touch about the location of some of your waterfalls, we both love the too. I just programmed in the several locations of them in out GPS.

Frances,
I really hope we get some rain too. The garden is holding up okay because of the irrigation system, but the grass is burnt to a crisp.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

OMG ! That was a lot of very hard work to go through ... it will look absolutely gorgeous though : ) What type of plants are you going to put in these new borders ? ... The heat would finish me off as well .. you guys stuck it out more than enough !
Great job : )
Joy
P.S. Why is it the "help" seems to disappear at a crucial time ???

F Cameron said...

Such neat and perfect edges!

When I plant monarda in spring, it seems to lag for a year or two. When I plant it the fall, it's a whopping plant the following summer. I don't know if it's because it doesn't adapt fast enough for my harsh, sunny garden or if everyone has this experience with it.

I have blooms right now, but so many look faded and washed out from days and days of 90+ degree heat. The extreme swing from days of rain to days of heat is hard from plants.

Cameron

Gail said...

It's beautiful! The curve looks great to me...wow on how thick that grass is...you can see it so clearly. No wonder Jamie has blisters...Randy, he is such a great partner in life and the garden! But you know that already!

Where are all the butterflies? I haven't seen them here at all...I have plenty of cabbage whites...the ornamental kale is still bringing them in.

Gail

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

The new beds look wonderful and all the color is great. I'm needing to get some kind of edging tool so my beds don't just mushily meld into the lawn. What do you use?

Randy said...

Joy,
We’ve learned that we need to cut down on specimens and add bulk for impact so we will be doing this bed differently from the rest. Most certainly we will do daylilies. I’m thinking coneflowers, lavender, irises and some daisies, but this is with Jamie agreeing of course.

Cameron,
You may be on to something with the monarda, because the Raspberry Wine was planted in the fall and the others weren’t. There is a definite difference in the performance of the two and the RW has always done better.

Gail,
We like really exaggerated curves in out beds and there are a couple of places that need to extended out a little more. As far as Jamie goes, he is the answer to all my prayers. Gail, I’m getting very concerned about the butterflies we have not seen a single one.

Monica,
We use a half moon cutter to cut the sod then we did straight down with a shovel making a trench about 4 inches wide and deep. I take the weed whacker and turn it sideways and keep the grass trimmed off the edge of the trench. In almost two years we haven’t had to re-edge the beds yet other than the trim with the weed whacker.

Tootsie said...

wow!!! I love this garden!!! great shape!! good work...I bet you guys were sore when it was done!!! You really need to link to my Fertilizer Friday to show this off!

Dawn said...

Wow! That will be a beautiful bed! I see the hard work, hope Jamie's hands are better. Young one now-a-days, gee! I'd never refuse 20$ a hour!

Jan said...

Looking good, guys. I can't believe you all did this with all this heat. It is nice to be finished the hard part, isn't it.

Jan
Always Growing

Randy said...

Tootsie,
Jamie was sorer than me. I told him he could just consider it a trip to the gym!

Dawn,
Good to see you! Jamie’s hands are healing fast. Wrapping them in gauze really saved them from getting worse the next day.

Jan, we used our heads. Well, for the most part. We did get in a little scuff about quitting time on Saturday. Jamie finally agreed with me that he was not using good judgment and it was too hot. When you are stumbling from the heat it’s time to stop. And yes it is indeed nice to be finished with the hard part.

Dirt Princess said...

It looks great! Ya'll did an amazing job! I desperately need to do this at my house, but I am going to wait til the fall. It is WAAAYY to hot to do it right now

Randy said...

DP,
It was very hot, but thank goodness we won't be dealing with something this size again. It was the last of the large projects. Dealing with flower beds that is. :-)--Randy

Unknown said...

Your gardens are just gorgeous - love the edges with the path of grass between. I have to get some 'Raspberry Wine' Monarda - I think I had it once but ya know the 'error' of trial and error probably got it. But that one and the purple together are meant for my yard! LOL I think I've got that double coneflower too and it isn't always double for me either.

Anonymous said...

That is some project and in this heat too! Hope Jamie's hands heal quickly. I love the curves too! ;)

Randy said...

You know Raingardener,
It really wasn’t that pretty when it doubled anyway. So it doesn’t matter. I really love the Raspberry Wine, it’s such a beautiful color. It does spread really fast though.

Racquel,
Jamie’s hands are already on the mend. :-)Thank you for the well wishes!--Randy

tina said...

Gorgeous job! I love the curves. It is hard to find good help in the garden, no matter how much you pay. Some folks just don't want to do it. I don't blame you for waiting until some rain falls. Hopefully soon for us all.

KC MO Garden Guy said...

You new bed looks great. All the hard work will pay off once it is done. My hands get blisters every sping and summer then they heal and become soft over the winter just to start all over again in the sping.
I wish you all lived closer. I would have came to help for nothing. It is amazing how it is hard to find people reliable people these days.
Great job boys!!!!

Nance said...

Gardening is hard work (though I don't consider it a work) but it's all worth it, don't you think? Can't wait to see what you'll plant in your new garden bed!

Randy said...

Tina,
Every day we are supposed to get a little bit and every day it doesn't show up. LOL

Cliff,
It would have been nice to visit with you while you helped us work on the bed! I've made up my mind you just can't get reliable help.

Nance,
Welcome, welcome, welcome! We are so glad to have you visit us here at Our Eden. I try to respond to all comments. Sorry I'm a a littel late getting back to you. You know how it is, holiday distractions. :-)--Randy

Connie said...

Your new garden bed looks great...the gentle curves are pleasing to the eye. Nice blooms, too. I always hate to see June go, and the flowers that thrive then, but now it's on to the Coneflowers, Black eyed Susans and Liatris.

Dee/reddirtramblings said...

That is some very hard work. Digging sod is no fun. I'm sorry you didn't have any help, but you did a beautiful job of it. I found your blog through Clay and Limestone. I think your daylily might be 'Buttered Popcorn.' Just maybe.~~Dee

Randy said...

Dee,

Thank you so very much for stopping by to visit us! We always enjoy a new visitor to the blog. We hope you enjoyed your viewing and that you will return again to keep up with us ;0) And thanks for the suggestion of the name for our NOID daylily.

--Jamie

Randy said...

Connie,
We are in the process of collecting some new coneflowers now. I don’t think Jamie is that enthusiastic about it, but It will be our best source of color for this time of year. Our Liatris is always very short lived around here for some reason. This year two of the plants didn’t even come back.

Dee,
We finally got some rain last night so we can continue work on the new bed. There would have been no way to amend the soil as hard as it was. I think you were absolutely correct about ‘Buttered Popcorn’! What a delicious name for a daylily!--Randy

Jim Long said...

Hey Guys, Love seeing the evolution of your garden to Eden. But no herbs? Gotta have cooking herbs :-) Kudos on the wonderful garden you are creating and the fantastic collection of blooming things you have.
Jim & Josh, Missouri Ozarks.

Darla said...

Not sure if I sent the email about the cabins to the right address. Maybe you should check your crazyboutflowers email. If not send me your address again to rusdar@hotmail.com Finally mailing your package today!! WHOO-HOO!!!