Quite a bit of progress was made this weekend on the ugly bed. DH and I installed the two fence panels. Boy, are they heavy!! And we did this with stiff winds blowing all day Saturday. Fun, fun, fun. The panel hiding the pot area was trickier than we (I) calculated. Perhaps didn't calculate would be more accurate. I got the posts set (no cement here - my native ground is very much like cement when compacted) and then glanced up to see that the leaning tree would probably touch (hopefully, only touch) the top of the fence. Sure enough, it just made it with no room to spare - not a centimeter. Then I went looking for the old stain we used when DH built our fence. Hmm, about 3/4 of a can. Do you think I had a drop left? No. Work finished at dark on Saturday. No pictures.
Sunday I knew I would not only be planting the ugly bed, but also saying farewell to a couple of poorly performing roses. So it was "ta ta" to naked 'Archduke Charles' (China) and 'Jeri Jennings' (Hybrid Musk) who was beginning to be beset by black spot - again. So, yellow or no yellow, she had to go.
The Walters viburnum from the ugly bed moved to the Archduke's sunnier spot, and the huge fuschia went into the ground (minus the pot - I like living dangerously) where Jeri had been.
The ugly bed received three variegated liriopes along the fence and down by the shed, a big 'Evergreen Giant' liriope that had been duking it out with my second 'Le Vesuve' in a nearby bed, three 'Super Blue' liriopes, a couple of caladium bulbs unearthed in the bed preparation and finally 'Penny Mac' hydrangea. Poor 'Penny Mac' didn't even get planted before the squirrels chewed half of her to shreds. (AAARGH!!! I hate squirrels.) After blowing the oak leaves (the last of them, hopefully) into the beds it was dark. No pictures.
Had to go to Lowe's after work today for more micro sprinkler parts. I was all prepared on Sunday to replace the male and female connectors at the hose bib and the valve to the timer until I cut the 1/2" poly while extracting 'Evergreen Giant' from under 'Le Vesuve'. Woe is me, I'll never learn to stop digging when I meet resistance. My father always said my motto should be "get a bigger hammer". How true. I didn't have a straight connector so no point in doing the other repair yesterday. Today I did the two repairs, wrapping the male and female connectors with hardware cloth. (Chew on that, squirrels!!) Turned it on for a test run...no pressure. Ran to one end then back to the other, found the problem. It was that darn shovel again. But since I had bought extra straight connectors (how did I know?), I was prepared! Fix done. System works. Night had fallen. No pictures.
Tomorrow I only have to plant the pale lavender pink impatiens and the deep pink moss roses (portulaca) which shouldn't take long. I promise. There will be pictures tomorrow.
Sunday I knew I would not only be planting the ugly bed, but also saying farewell to a couple of poorly performing roses. So it was "ta ta" to naked 'Archduke Charles' (China) and 'Jeri Jennings' (Hybrid Musk) who was beginning to be beset by black spot - again. So, yellow or no yellow, she had to go.
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| She's a beauty, but more often than not in my garden she was quite naked. |
The ugly bed received three variegated liriopes along the fence and down by the shed, a big 'Evergreen Giant' liriope that had been duking it out with my second 'Le Vesuve' in a nearby bed, three 'Super Blue' liriopes, a couple of caladium bulbs unearthed in the bed preparation and finally 'Penny Mac' hydrangea. Poor 'Penny Mac' didn't even get planted before the squirrels chewed half of her to shreds. (AAARGH!!! I hate squirrels.) After blowing the oak leaves (the last of them, hopefully) into the beds it was dark. No pictures.
Had to go to Lowe's after work today for more micro sprinkler parts. I was all prepared on Sunday to replace the male and female connectors at the hose bib and the valve to the timer until I cut the 1/2" poly while extracting 'Evergreen Giant' from under 'Le Vesuve'. Woe is me, I'll never learn to stop digging when I meet resistance. My father always said my motto should be "get a bigger hammer". How true. I didn't have a straight connector so no point in doing the other repair yesterday. Today I did the two repairs, wrapping the male and female connectors with hardware cloth. (Chew on that, squirrels!!) Turned it on for a test run...no pressure. Ran to one end then back to the other, found the problem. It was that darn shovel again. But since I had bought extra straight connectors (how did I know?), I was prepared! Fix done. System works. Night had fallen. No pictures.
Tomorrow I only have to plant the pale lavender pink impatiens and the deep pink moss roses (portulaca) which shouldn't take long. I promise. There will be pictures tomorrow.
The bed sounds like it won't be the "ugly bed" anymore. Can't wait to see the pictures. You sure have been working hard. I'm thinking of putting up some fence panels myself to hide my potting area so really want to see what you did there.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain ... this is the way most projects go around here. What should be a feeling of triumph and accomplishment at the end of it is, instead, a wave of overwhelming relief that you finally got through it. Congrats on finishing.
ReplyDeleteHhmmmm, this is my first year with a small Jeri Jennings. I'm wondering about the blackspot, but hope she performs better here on the arid prairie.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you got a lot accomplished. It's fun reworking beds and getting to move plants around. Can't wait to see pictures.
ReplyDeleteIt sounded that you had a very productive and busy weekend. Looking forward to seeing some pictures!
ReplyDeleteYou have been working like crazy to get everything done, and this great weather certainly makes it even more enjoyable to be out in the garden. Can't wait to see pics of the new area.
ReplyDelete