Progress

The biggest part of my progress is the tidied-up gravel, and I did wind up moving the broken cement pieces that I had intimated was not high on my project list. The gravel paths were such a mess that a semi-total makeover was necessary, so I decided on a medallion of sorts at the intersection of the paths. I like it, but when the granite dust settles deeper and I refresh it with some new gravel, I think it will look better. A good rain will help and some bleach on the cement pieces.



I’m debating with myself about what the featured plant will be in the new bed. At first it was the white hydrangea, but now I’m thinking about David Austin’s ‘Mary Rose’. Sizewise, I think it would be a good fit plus it will get a bit shade from ‘Francois Juranville’ overhead plus I really have no place else to put Mary. I had penciled her into the corner where the pink flags are in the photo below, but the space in real life is smaller than it looked on paper. The only doubt I have is how much room will be left for daylilies.



In the original part of the new bed I turned the soil, dug out the tree roots and divided the beautiful unknown daylily that was growing there. I really hate slamming a shovel through the middle of a daylily clump, but I guess that's how they do it. I also added some organics to the new soil, i.e., Holly-Tone, Milorganite and alfalfa pellets.





The leftovers will go to the "pink flag" corner and to the driveway bed. I used so much composted horse manure in the preparation of that bed that it has sunk, so it will get some replenishment. Maybe Monday I’ll go back to the Dirt Pile for the granite for the new path, but in order to do that I have to move this topsoil and before I can do that I have to dig up the ‘Giant Apostle's Iris’ and some other undesirable plants in that bed. For some reason I’ve been procrastinating on that one. What will I do with all those baby giants??

 

And today is our 34th wedding anniversary. Another good one. Thank you, Dear Husband, for a wonderful life.