All the mulch is in, the rocks are set, the stepping stones chosen and placed.
This is the view of the new bed taken from the roof of the house.
Following are two views of the new bed. One was taken from south of The Bench, the second was taken standing by the swing that is next to the three tall pines.
Notice the flags in the bed. The yellow flags mark where the blueberry bushes will be planted. The two pink flags are where the pawpaw trees will go. We are planning on planting our winter squash on top of the mound this summer. That will fill in a bare spot and be beautiful until we can afford perennials for that area. It will offer the added benefit of moving the squashes far away from where the squash vine borers were last summer. Maybe we’ll actually get some squash this year.
Now, all I need is perennials!
Oh yeah. I wore out another pair of gloves. And my poor hardworking husband.
It’s lovely! er… it will be with loads of pretty flowers and bushes and trees. But the bones are important and so again it’s beautiful in its practical austereness.
Yeah, well, loads of pretty flowers and bushes and trees require money which is in short supply at present. This will give me something to focus on for a few years. I have to say that this is one of the few times when I wished I was rich, then I could have instant gratification. The virtue of this project was it did not cost any money other than gas for hauling mulch and rocks. Actually populating it with what I want there will cost multiple hundreds of dollars. Maybe the economy will fix itself next week.
Blueberry bushes!
*envy*
Isn’t it amazing that we practically kill ourselves doing projects that we choose, but if someone else forced us to do the same thing we’d think we were mistreated! Sure hope the hot water heater holds out because you and Jim need some long soaks. You two have done an incredible job.
The structure is there now, and maybe it’s good to have enough money to start, but not enough to do it all at once. For one thing you might just want to admire the unclothed bones for a little while. For another thing if you change your plant list while it’s still a dream, you’ll have less to dig up ;-]
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
“but if someone else forced us to do the same thing we’d think we were mistreated!”
That is so true.
And I agree that it’s probably good not to be able to do everything at once. Kind of like decorating your house. You might think you know exactly what you want until something else “finds” you. Better poco a poco.
I love blueberries on my morning cereal. And they’re so expensive! It’s coming together for you now, isn’t it?
Brenda
I keep telling myself that gradual is better. The problem is, I have been sitting in that swing for two years visualizing what the garden is going to look like, and I already have a list that is $500 long, and that is only for about 30% of the existing garden space. It is going to HAVE to be poco a poco.
But I did get the blueberry plants ordered yesterday, and I still have $40 of christmas money to spend as I please. That will get me started. The tenants have paid the January rent too, which has eased the cash flow crisis somewhat.
Brenda, my blueberries are not as expensive as they could be. We have several U-Pick blueberry farms around here, one is within ten miles of here. Jim and I usually go out three days and pick a couple of gallons each day, so I generally have six gallons of blueberries in the freezer when fall comes. It costs about $10-12 a gallon at the u-pick price of $2 per pound. Depends on how high you fill the bucket. Anyway, I looked at our checkbook and last year we spent more than the 8 bushes I ordered cost buying blueberries. So in a couple of years when the bushes start producing, I will immediately recover the cost of the plants. Assuming, of course, that I am able to get the birds to let me have some blueberries.
Oh I was being sincere! I really do love it – I’m a low on cash, scrape it together gardner as well so I understand the process. It’s satisfying to see it come together – even if it happens slowly! It’s taken me four years to afford to landscape around our house. We started with the front because there was *no* curb appeal and just now getting to the back. I was thrilled too to put in five blueberry bushes. They are so delicious! I can see how that’d be the #1 priority. ;^)
Do you swap cuttings and seeds with other gardeners locally? I found that a wonderful way to get plants free… that and pilfering seed heads off plants in the municipal parks and gardens in town.
I do swap. The problem is, I have been gardening so long that I pretty much have all the plants that my friends have. . . Our municipal parks do not have gardens. The “imagination” here runs to long expanses of lawns with occasional trees, most of which are not native. I have been meaning to do a post about what our Parks department does to the trees around here, but I’ve been too lazy.