Garden Projects 3 - 2010

Coming from here - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1079397/ - last thread was getting long.

here are some of the projects i am working on. this is from before lunch today expanding a bed built last year.

and here it is a few hours, more than a dozen wheel barrels of dirt, numerous 5 gal. buckets of rock, and a pile of roots later.

before that i dug out this one to make it a bit bigger.

dug this rock out of there - can't really tell be the picture it is over two feet long - has a nice shape once the rain cleans it off

also dug out around this bed a couple feet wide to give some clems growing up the birdhouse's better soil to live in.

here is where i dumped the dirt/grass from all the edging this spring - also expanding this bed and plan to plant some conifers and jm's here - anyone want these mutant lamb's ears?

and last one - this is the stone bird bath i am making - still need to do a lot of chipping although this is going pretty fast. have 3 or 4 other rocks to build these.

Tic tac toe for them??

Will the beds eventually touch?!!

Looks good. Always good to have less grass.

no one touches my beds! - need to get some dirt and fill them up - it is always a risk when i start to dig - when we moved in we had seventy 100 ft white pines cut down - running into one of those stumps - always have roots to deal with - and the clay is not far from the surface so only raised beds here if you expect anything to live.

This message was edited Mar 24, 2010 10:02 PM

you are rockin Bill!!

Yeah!!!!!

Great work Bill, I know what you mean though, every now and again I hit a vein of bed rock. If it's brownstone (sandstone), I can break it. If it's ironstone I just build up, except one in the pool area I had to saw and chip till I could level the new pool. I've prepared a hole for a 3 gallon planting and gotten a 5 gallon bucket of sandstone. LOL Ric

I like the birdbath, Bill. How will you mount it?

WHEW!!! I'm tired again just admiring your hard work.

Bird bath looks great! What are you using for a chisel?

thanks all - ric i think iron stone is what i dug up and took a pic of, also the kind used in the first attempt at the bird bath that broke - heavy dense stone.

soj - have not thought about mounting it yet - have seen the ones at stone yards that sit on stone stands - was thinking about putting them on a larger boulder sitting in a bed or on a stone wall - of the other three i have one is bigger and two are smaller. for the larger ones they may just go on the ground. really not sure until i finish them and get them out there.

hi frank - just a stone chisel from HD, i use three different sizes - need to see if they have anything to put and edge back on them - the iron stone really did a number to them - has more of a rounded blunt end now. this stone is typical granite and either chips or breaks down to sand when your working it - the iron stone sounded like you were hitting steel.

Wha, great work, just make sure you leave enough room between them for my motorized wheel chair that I plan on using in a view years to zip around botanical gardens, which yours has become.

We have a good morning, so I have been out to move some shrubs. I have inside jobs that must be finished today so I can't start the new bed yet though I am so tempted. Maybe DH will take up a shovel to get it going. Though he has some paper commitments to finish up too. Dang. Patti

do not worry patti i need space for my wide lawn mover - everything is messured:) see you in forty years!

off now to start on another bed - there will be a stump and much more rock to deal with today!

Wha, I would be over a 105 by then, and I was hoping for a garden visit invitation before then. Enjoy the digging, as I know you do. Back out again for a few more minutes, but I'll bet I get stuck and abandon the inside work that I must get done today. Deadline. Patti

Wow great work Bill. I have edging almost done here but have not started on new bed extension yet. Soil just dries out a bit and more rain shows up. Maybe start cutting in out this weekend or next week I hope, but my progress will be much slower than your for sure. You do so much work so quickly I commend you on your effort, great job all around.

patti you have an open invitation - was talking about when you needed a rider a calculation based on you mom:)

pat i have been asked to stop by neighbors because there wives where giving them so much grief - this has happened everywhere i have lived - just like to keep busy.

ok so here are the next "digging" projects

this is a day lily bed that i look out at in front of our fire pit - i plan to lift all the daylilies out and bring in the rototiller, amend the soil, and re-plant them. back row is tiger lilies that will be moved somewhere. this will be on hold until i get the dirt delivered.

and this is behind the wall - i am digging our 5 ft all the way to the garden and will bring a lot of dirt in to make a raised bed - maybe 3' high - very wet back here and i want to plant 5 or 6 jm's. I spend so much time here at the end of the day figured i should have something i would want to look at.

this is about 30' long - and there is a slight slop up towards the garden - hope i have enough dirt for everything. and it will require so rock wall work on the garden wall. and some moving of butterfly bushes and one section of the raspberries.

Got most of the cleanup done. Experimenting with my Annabelle hydrangea again. last year, I did not cut them back at all and they did great! Actually, a bit better than normal because they ended up not flopping nearly as much as usual. And remember all the rain we had. This year I am leaving one uncut and will compare. I am assuming that you can only do this one or two years before the stems get too old and brittle.

As with every spring cleanup, I keep having those 'When did I plant this?!!!' moments as I stumble upon forgotten plants.

:) had one of those yesterday when i planted a jm that had over wintered outside - dug the hole and found a small hosta was there. hosta was moved jm takes precedence:)

Of course!

Wild grape vines are the worst. They develop big fat runners that travel forever. Hate them.

Grape vines are horrible. You think you got them all and POOF they pop-up again.

Blackberry vines do that here. Gee, Bill, when are you going to start charging admission? The beds look very nice, & I know how you feel about the DL bed....I need to do that to one of my per. beds.

may have to robin if i don't get a job soon:)

here is the back dug out - still need to dig out the slope at the other end so a dam is not created for water - and move the raspberries.

Bill - love the progress on the birdbath, and the expansion of the beds looks great too. You're making me feel like we need to get up there!! Whenever I see your posts and the work you've done, I feel like the laziest gardener in history! LOL

You're not alone Louise!

Join the club!!! ^_^

edited to add the smile

This message was edited Mar 26, 2010 7:20 AM

I revel in my garden laziness. Bill's mania only convinces me that I am right.

just like hiking - one foot in front of another or in this case one shovel full after the last - besides it is good exercise - ladies i am sure you do fine - victor the wuss runs to his hot tub and then posts how he aches and then complains about his lips turning blue:)

I would like hot tubs near each bed.

figures

This message was edited Mar 26, 2010 8:28 AM

This message was edited Mar 26, 2010 8:31 AM

Did you write those words randomly? Puzzle?

Just got a call from the town - they are delivering the compost today - dirt will be next friday - so the real reason for all the digging besides keeping busy is to get ready for a 20 yd. mountain in the driveway and have it moved out into the yard by end of april or sooner weather permitting. hoping i have enough, behind the day lilies is going to take more than i expected.

That's a large space! But, looking good.