Most every day this week has been gray. Cloudy & gray & cool. I've been working in the timber. Raking the ground clutter, broken glass pieces & picking up wind blown pieces of brittle plastic from a neighbor's green house. My goal, was to get all this done before things started growing. Tuesday, I received a text from my friend & neighbor Clara, asking if I'd like to help dig up plant starts?
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| My starts! |
I wasn't quite ready, but I couldn't turn down such a super offer! Clara had already been doing a lot of digging, I helped with the bigger root balls. I brought home two wheel barrows full of plants! I started planting Tue., then spent the day Wed. planting the rest & watering them in. Thursday, Clara called again & I brought home another full barrow! Several varieties of
hosta's, sedums, bleeding hearts, other various flowers & a few bulbs too. My saw-zaw is an excellent tool for cutting through those root balls like butter! Much easier than the butcher knife!
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| SW toward the creek~ |
By late in the day Thursday, the sun appeared. It was sudden! From slate gray & heavy clouds, to sunshine & blue skies within minutes!
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| Looking down the hill from the Cabin~ |
With all the honeysuckle below now gone, I can hardly wait to see what this year will bring. I've planted hosta's around almost all of the trees. A new variety of
Rhododendron - is now planted along the creek trail.
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| 4-15-2019 Last year - |
I was digging in the hillside behind the cabin to make room for more sedums & hosta's. It's on a steep little hill & I was digging deep when I saw something green. A little Avon frog decanter from the 70's!
I still plan to visit the county to see what photos they might have of the two manufactured homes previously on the Cabin property. Neighbors tell me they were in total disrepair. Whatever contractor did the work, just bulldozed debris down the convenient hillside & semi-buried it with dirt. I did get three big pieces of rusted metal sheeting dug out! The ground is still so soft.
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| Sun to the west~ |
It's been 22-years, since we'd hosted our walk in the
Homestead Woods. The land there had been pristine, no trash & no one had ever lived in those woods. Removing invasive's was the biggest task.
Butch came home & we sat out on the swing enjoying the incredibly beautiful afternoon. Our days are lengthening! With clear skies, sunset is after seven p.m. I've found this timbered area more challenging, but it's also given me the opportunity to learn what it takes - here - to make a
woodland garden~
I want to go to the plant store so badly but that's not considered essential to life so we're limiting our outings to groceries only. All this sunshine and I cannot plant *sigh*
ReplyDeleteWell Connie, you're right. There's not much grass left on 72 with all the frolicking. J and I just realized that today as we were out there together. Oh wow, there used to be grass here! Thankfully it has not rained, and it's just a clean dirt/moss/scrubby grass paddock. Which is fine cuz they are enjoying the bushes and trees so much. We had the pasture dragged today and they are gazing at it longingly, but they can wait. We finally have enough hay in March. I was able to find geraniums at the grocery store today after complaining to Joerg about how you are planting in Iowa and I cannot. Geraniums, again, finally, filled such a hole in my Spring of wanting to garden.
ReplyDeleteGreat that you have a pasture & now a place to put them to let the pasture mature! I had no luck with wintering my geraniums over this year! I tried a new potting soil & it was a bust :-( Only have two mother plants to get new starts going. May put them out after this week!
DeleteWe've gone to Home Depot. All outside & easy to get in & out without breaking any social distancing rules.
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