Back to Playing in the Mud

We both got up this morning with goals in mind, and I love a day where we accomplish everything that we set out to do... and then some!

I wanted to spray the gardenia tree in the back corner garden with some Neem oil.  Something is eating little round holes in the leaves, so it needs another application of Neem oil to dissuade the hungry little critters from their breakfast.  I used the rest of the bottle of spray on the tree, so hopefully that will help.

While I was de-insecting the tree, Rick mixed a batch of bug spray to apply to the rest of the house.  He did three sides and then put that away for a while until we were done with our other chore.

We both wanted to add dirt back around the newly-laid concrete.  Additionally, I wanted to use some of the old paver blocks that we had to edge the slabs and give them a drainage edge and an incline slope to better get the cans on and off. We took the mounded dirt from under the air conditioning drainage pipe to fill in around the slab.  Then I took flat pavers to edge the slab.  Finally, we moved some of the temporary building materials from the small flower garden behind the garage to store on the slab.  The result is an area that stores the garbage cans, holds the building forms, and drains water away from the house.

The slabs serve their purpose of holding the building materials
and the garbage and recycling cans out of the mud.

Once that area was complete, we were halfway done to cleaning out the debris from the small garden.  We buried an almost-above-ground ground cable that had worked its way up through the years, and I sifted out some large stones that I put under the gutter downspout.  The stones will help keep the soil next to the slab from washing away.

Rick buries the ground wire before I clean
some rocks out of the garden.

Then we raked out the soil and stored the edgers along the back of the garage.  That will help keep the soil from the garden from splashing up. Then Rick finished spraying the insecticide around the remainder of the house.

The edgers line the back of the garden which
awaits some flowers.  The stake in the front
is my "door stop' which keeps the laundry
room door from slamming into the cement
edgers in the front.

 I would like to spend a few dollars on some plants for the small garden that will keep the soil in place and will give us something pretty to view from the Florida room.  This garden is temporary, so I do not want to spend a fortune on plants.  I would, however, like something transplantable to fill the space until we can take it all out and have a patio lanai slab poured.  That will not be until next year, so a little greenery will be nice to view until then.