In the Folly Wall Garden, the north raised bed is supposed to look like a fallen in foundation with water collected in it. I got (free) a big pre-formed plastic pond, sort of kidney shaped, that is just the thing for the space. It's been in place for a few years now, filled with water iris. I thought I got it level when I first set it, but over time it's settled more on one side than the other and that looks bad. This is the big drawback to the pre-formed ponds. Pond liner conforms perfectly to whatever hole you put it in, but the stiffer preformed plastic has a mind of its own. The north-facing wall of that raised bed has never looked good either; I put it together in haste, with whatever stones I had to hand and then the deer have knocked it around, stepping on to it to drink from the pond.
I've since acquired a few really nice big flat stones so I decided to fix things. I tore out the wall and excavated the dirt away from the pond, which is high on that side. I was hoping against hope that i could dig out enough dirt from beneath that side of the pond that it would settle of its own weight into a more level position. Dint happen. So I lifted out all the water iris and set them aside. Today I'll have to empty the pond, remove it, do some digging, then re-set it.
This isn't entirely a bad thing: over the years, it's accumulated a lot of debris on the bottom that really should come out and the water iris need to be divided and re-homed.
Once I've got it re-set level, I'll replant and refill from my water barrel and then let the rain do the rest. Then back fill and rebuild the raised bed north wall (not a big job, the section to be rebuilt is only about 7 feet long, about 3 feet tall).
This is the plan. Whether I'll get to it today is the question. We had a heavy thunderstorm roll through last night, not a lot of rain but a lot of sturm und drang. My dad always said the first big thunder wakes up the trees, and I've yet to see that not happen.
Got the Jungle Cliff tidied up, edged the border where it runs down to the lawn. Weeded and reset the small flagstone area at the base of the Jungle Cliff/deck steps. It was overgrown with Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia), ajuga, and Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum), plus some dandelions. Never one to pass up free plants ( 
) I dug all that out and set it aside. Once I had everything dug out, I had to reset the flagstones (they are in fine gravel), and haul in a couple buckets of gravel to fill up the cracks. Looks much better now.
I took down the containers that held my big Christmas/Winter display of juniper branches, holly, etc. Those empty containers have been looking forlorn for a couple of months now. I put away the big box, but filled the two long window boxes with, you guessed it, the Creeping Jenny, Star of Bethlehem, and Ajuga... plus a couple small clumps of Tradescantia (??). Watered that well and set it up on the flight of four wooden steps that I use as my "stage" for such displays, between the garage doors. Next fall, I'm going to pot up some daffodils to use in that display.
Also cleaned up the garage door area; there were some flattened cardboard boxes schedule for recycling, etc. and it just looked messy.
Refreshed the pea gravel in the little dry stream bed that runs the entire length of the Jungle Cliff. It starts under the top of the long flight of deck steps and then wends its way down under the steps and off to the side to end in a little pond filled with water iris. I have to say that idea was a good one. it would be spectacular if I ever install a recirculating pump and actually put water in it (I put down pond liner under the dry stream just in case), but even as a "virtual" streambed, it looks good. I've got it edged with big stones and I tried to make it look as natural as possible. The edges are planted with miniature hostas, miniature ferns and other small shade lovers which like it under the deck steps, where they get just enough sunlight to thrive. I'm encouraging moss on the stones as well. At night a string of very tiny solar-powered "rice lights" (each bulb no bigger than a grain of rice) randomly wanders along the course of the dry stream to mark it out.
Got around to repairing the metal edging around the circular bed in the center of the veg. It's that corrugated tin that they sell for strawberry towers. I have no idea where I got it, but it's been in there forever. Last fall I had to rip up a section and move it aside so I could dig out some nasty weeds/grass. It's finally re-set; got the circular bed tidied up as well. That holds some of my rhubarb, plus chives and some ornamental things. Right now it's bursting with yellow tulips almost ready to bloom.
Got my white plastic garden bench scrubbed. It sits against the shed wall, facing north, so very gray with mildew. I think I'll repaint it. Surprised me that it did not seem to be getting any whiter until it sat for a couple of hours in the sun to dry. I used Tile and Grout cleaner, Ajax powder, and a scrub brush; I guess the chlorine bleach in the cleaners needed time to work. I think it needs moved to another location; never gets used there.
Finally, as the sun was going down on a very windy, chilly day, I got the remaining pavers set in the little landing at the top of the Folly Wall garden steps. I went as far as i could go, but I still need to find a few more chunks of paving to fill in some gaps. For now, it's filled level with fine gravel and I'm content. Bits and pieces of flagstone, old concrete paving, etc. always are turning up somewhere; I'll set those in as I find them. That's the benefit of just "dry setting" paving in fine gravel instead of mortaring it in permanently.
Very light rain on and off all day, heavy overcast, mild temps.
Lifted, divided, and replanted snowdrops from a big clump up near the deck to about 20 small clumps and singles in the Glade.
Got the first of the two posts set in the hen run. Hiked the 80 pound bag of concrete mix up the hill in easy stages, mixed, poured, now we wait for it to set up.
Finished off what was left of a bag of mortar...perfect amount to set 7 concrete blocks on the Folly Wall corner. I've got two more blocks (reclaimed/recycled) that I want to top off the corner, but I'll wait until I get another bag of mortar, which I'll need to start slapping on the stone facing over the concrete blocks.
Got my "egg cart" scrubbed and refurbished. This is an old garden cart I painted bright yellow. I put a red cooler in it, haul it to the end of the driveway and sell my extra eggs ($1/dozen, I'm working to bring down the corporate egg industry by underselling them all *mwah ha ha ha* (strokes cat in best super-villain manner).
Pulled the last of the winter cress weeds out of the lower part of the Driveway bed. I am determined to eradicate that weed from the Driveway bed. I think it's pretty much gone from the upper part. I hoick it out anywhere it appears.
Promised a friend I'd give her some pink iris so I may dig those up this evening and deliver in the morning.
Still need to liberate more aconites for the Jungle Cliff, then get mulch for that area.
My friend who owns a large (and extremely attractive!) mobile home development has asked me to take some of the mountain of wood chips he has on the back lot. It's a lot closer than driving "up the mountain" to the Township Transfer Station. Plus, the township has been selling it's product to some company that then resells it, which I think is patently unfair since residents give their tree trimmings, brush, etc. for free to the township and have always then had the option to get back the resulting ground up mulch for free. But I digress.
The only problem is that Jerry did not want to unchain the gate into the backlot and told me I could drive around it. Which I did, but it's a slightly hair-raising, white-knuckle experience. Had to wee-jee the truck between a massive concrete pylon, a No Trespassing sign, and a giant boulder. I can do it, but I have to fold the exterior rear view mirrors back flat against the truck. Then there's the tall grass on the other side. Fortunately, nothing terrible hidden in it, no boards with nails or rusting bedsprings. But that first pass thru was pretty scary.
I made three hauls. The first was just a few buckets that I took because I wasn't sure what I'd find.
The surprise was that it's not all wood chips. The first big pile is what locally is called "stump grindings"...that mix of wood chips and dirt that results when a stump grinder is used. I hauled in one enormous load of that because it is the best fast start to making new good soil I know. I spread it thickly on some spots that I've been trying to build up in the Woodland Garden. I also used some on the lower part of the Below the Deck Garden, where the soil is clay.
The third haul was a big load of well-aged wood chips and that's going onto the Below the Deck Garden. I'll need at least 3 more truckloads to finish this one garden area. I'd also like to get mulch on the Front Border, which is scheduled for a big re-do this spring; I'm estimating another 2 loads for that.
It's not easy work, but it's not back-breaking either. I don't shovel directly into the bed of the truck. I fill up whatever big buckets/containers I have and lift them into the bed. The average 5-gallon bucket of mulch weighs about as much as a bag of groceries, so although repetitive and tedious, not too exhausting. It's also a lot easier to unload containers than to shovel off a full load.
I also moved all my hardy flats back into the greenhouse, planted second carrots, some old sweet pea seeds that I doubt are going to come up, and seeded chives into pots in the greenhouse. Very excited to see that my penstemon seeds that have been kept in the greenhouse under cold conditions have germinated and are coming up nicely. In the house, my pelargoniums have germinated as has the basil seed. A bit concerned that I'm not seeing a lot more growth on the coleus and petunia seedlings despite being on a heat mat and getting a dose of Miracle-Gro; they are probly sulking because the air temps in the house aren't into the 80s, which these plants adore.
Worried about my peas; I planted them on March 14 and I surely thought I'd see some signs of germination by now. I wonder if those intensely cold nights we had killed the seeds? It doesn't seem likely, peas are pretty frost hardy, but I like to worry.
Asparagus is starting to send up little sprouts; I'm hoping for a harvest from that bed this year, even if it's only a few spears.
For most of my gardening history here, I've been practicing "guerilla gardening", expanding my garden areas by dashing in, planting something tough (daylilies, lambs ears, peonies, daffodils, etc.), then moving on. I may not revisit that area to garden it for a couple of years, but these tough plants usually take hold and make a first outpost for a new garden. It's worked very well.
But this spring I want to concentrate my efforts a bit. Sort of fine-tune and embellish some of the more established areas that are still "new" but aren't weedy or rough any longer. I really like the look of an early spring bulb display, lots of different little flowers all coming up and blooming around the same time, en masse. This is going to be the project for the next couple of weeks. I've already planted a big area of winter aconites in the Glade. A few years ago, I put in a number of species crocus bulbs there, so already there will be the bright yellow of the aconites and the purples, creams, and whites of the crocus. Today, I put in about 20 small clumps of miniature daffodils in the Glade. These all came from overgrown and "blind" clumps in various other parts of the garden. Next, I think I'll divide a big clump of snowdrops in the Apple Tree garden and spread those throughout the Glade. (Already lifted and divided two snowdrop clumps and from 2, I got 12 new clumps!) I've also got a huge spread of bright blue scilla, which are blooming right now, that I want to sprinkle thru that same area. In the fall, despite being the cheapskate that I am, I may even buy a bag of chinodoxa and put those in there. In an ideal world, I'd also add species tulips, but we have a lot of squirrels moving into the area and I don't think tulips would stand a chance. I suppose if I were truly devoted I could fashion little underground bulb cages to deter the nibblers, but seriously.... Me? Here? This sounds too much like the sort of "activity" they'll prescribe for me when I finally end up in the padded cell ward. Diagnosis: Paranoid Gardeneritis. ("she seems to believe that squirrels are plotting against her...")
I think I'd also like to make a smaller concentrated area of the same sorts of things up in the Rock Garden. I've already got aconites and crocus in there, so moving some mini daffs in will be next. (I actually wanted to do this years ago in that spot but the small bulbs I planted one year were almost completely scratched out and eaten by my hens. If I do this again, I'll put down netting over the planted areas.)
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I'm slowly re-doing the raised bed edges in the berry patch, switching from boards to concrete blocks. I had everything very neat and tidy last year and then I scored a big 10X10 chain link dog kennel and decided to use it as a berry cage. I set it up and I think it will work fine (minus the chain link, which will be replaced with fine mesh), but now the raised beds and paths are all wonky in relation to the cage structure. The plan for now is to simply get it to work as-is and if it is too difficult to maneuver around, then I guess in the fall I'll have to rip everything out and replant/reconfigure paths. I just don't want to lift and move those berry plants AGAIN after having done so just the other year.
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First signs of carrot germination in the veg! Very sparse, so I don't know if this is going to work this year as well as it did last. I think I'll put in a second sowing of carrots this week and see how that goes.
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By some marvel of climate change, my garden is synced up with Monty Don's garden on BBC Gardeners World. He advises pruning red twigged dogwood this week and by gum I'm going to do it! It's kind of nice to see that his gardens are at about the same early stage as my own, maybe a bit ahead because I'll bet he hasn't been seeing 22F overnight temps! Lucky sod.
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And finally, I think we can all relate to this.
https://youtube.com/shorts/fcn...
