Acres and Aches

The title of this blog references both what seems like the amount of dirt we moved today and the present feeling in our bodies.  Oh, and exhaustion could be added to that list also.

Yesterday we visited our favorite nursery in the area and purchased nine plants for the front garden.  Since we have decided not to do the pavers this year, we knew that we would have to do something with the large mud patches we have in the front yard.  Adding flowers, landscape fabric, and some colorful stone seemed like a good idea.

We brought the plants home, arranged them in the garden, and then began to work on the preparation.  We knew that we would have to remove at least two inches of top soil to make room for the stone we want to add in the end.  Since we got a late start, we did not get very far last night.  The plants stayed in their pots in the back yard for the evening.

String marks the location and level of the 2x4
boards that outline the future sidewalk area.

This morning we started about 8:30, donning sweatshirts since the sunny day also brought us a fairly stiff wind.  Rick wanted to define the front edge of the sidewalk area, so a trip to Lowe's for three 10 foot 2x4s was in order.  When we got home, the first "moving of earth" commenced. Two string lines guided our efforts as Rick put in the boards.  Now, at least, we will know where we can plant grass and where we need to put in paver stone once we get to that phase of our front yard make-over.  For now, we have a defined space.

Once all the boards were in, Rick trimmed the
stakes and then I put all of the dirt back around
the boards.

Once the boards were in, Rick started to work on digging out the flower garden while I replaced the dirt removed to accommodate the 2x4s.

Removing the top soil in the flower garden sounds much easier than it really was.  This is the garden that once held the palm tree, and its roots were still very apparent.  Additionally, this front garden seems to have been a dump site when the house was built because in addition to the stones and palm seeds, we also found bricks, chunks of pink and white bathroom tiles, and a very rusty old paint can opener.  You will be happy to know that the style of paint can openers has not changed since 1960.  One cannot improve on perfection, apparently.

We removed more wheelbarrows full of dirt than I care to count.  Each time Rick filled it, he wheeled it to where we needed dirt, and I sat and sifted out the rocks, roots, seeds, and building materials.  What was left was good sifted dirt; sadly, the wind helped us distribute it all over the yard.  We were able, though, to fill in some low spots in the front yard and to add more dirt around the fence in the back yard.  I also filled our garbage can with bags of debris.

The little garden does not need to bloom to
be colorful.

The digging took all morning.  After lunch, we finished the excavation and then actually were able to bring the plants back to the garden.  Palm tree roots fought us a couple of times, and we discovered even more building materials, but in the end we prevailed.  The middle front plant is slightly out of place due to the roots; we will have to decide tomorrow if we want to move it over a bit.

Gladys got some new flowers to dress her up for Spring.

The plants look very small right now, but we know they will grow.  In the back row I have two Ti plants with four Mammy Crotons in the middle.  The front row has three little bushes with yellow leaves.  I am too tired to remember the name of them.  I only know that the garden is larger than we thought it was, so we have to return to the nursery on Monday to get either two more of those plants or something else to fill in the far corners in the front row.

With time, the crotons will grow and fill in the area under the windows.  It may take a few years, but I hope that in the end we will have a colorful garden that adds a little beauty to Gladys' yard.

"See, I bought you flowers for Valentine's Day," Rick said.  "I even planted them for you."  What a guy!