Buried Treasures

Though some may find little value in my newly unearthed anthropological discoveries, I am piqued enough to dig on. Fortunately I have no choice if I ever want to complete this landscaping project.

 

So, here we have a sub-sample of my finds, including a perfectly useable spoon and a piece of rebar that was vertically embedded. I have also found many marbles in all corners of the property, surely with some historic significance. Of course, broken glass and nails are not uncommonly encountered. Still haven't found a horseshoe...I did find a railroad spike when building the fence last year, though!

With Progress Comes Challenges...

 

This seemed like a great spot for one of my new snowberries (Symphoricarpos albus), yet upon further inspection it appears to have some prior tenants...

 

Yes, that big thing at the top of the hole is a root. One of many, but too girthy for my poor, inadequate hatchet. Incidentally, I dug around monster root out of spite and filled with water in anticipation of planting. The hole took hours to drain. You're going to love it here, snowberry!

 

Which one of you is responsible for monster root? Like I even need to ask.

 

Moving on to other fun challenges...A seemingly innocuous scene before you, no? This is where the front sidewalk meets the walkway to my house. I did a little planting here this weekend (yay!), complete with blanketflower (Gaillardia aristata), lupine (Lupinus spp.), kinnickinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), and sticky geranium (Geranium viscosissimum).

 And a little wood's rose (Rosa woodsii). But what happened to the tips of this poor plant?

 

Oh, no you di-ehn't, deer. This means war. I thought lupine was deer-resistant! Yes, "resistant" doesn't mean "proof". I'm still not impressed.

Making Progress

My response to questions regarding the state of this landscaping endeavor, and home ownership in general, is both concise yet profound. Simply stated, I'm "making progress". I guess that could be a life statement as well, but I probably shouldn't assume too much.

Added some edging along the fence. This is a loooong fence.

Laid down newspaper, then weed fabric, then dirt against the house for grade control, THEN mulch!

Spreading the mulch was kind of fun - instant gratification.

Same thing along the north side.

Speaking of gratification, my raised bed thrives under my new homemade hoop house! We've got chives, oregano, radish, spinach, green onion, bell peppers, tomato, cucumber, peas, carrots...and basil.

The blueberries seem happy in their first year...maybe its the companionship of my fake rock rain barrel.

 

Clematis! Can't wait til the blooms. I swear they're growing inches every day.

Landscaping gone wild!

Here I catalog the epic adventure that is my 2012 landscaping project. It began with the rental of a sod cutter in late April, and continues on as you see before you. Let the transformation begin!

Less grass = less gas. Except, I suppose, for the gas used in the sod cutter. This day was spent wrestling with said sod cutter, but we eventually made peace and I harnessed its power to do what you see before you...

I wish I had footage of myself operating the beastly machine that did this. I cannot understate its brutishness.

For some reason this picture really seems to scare people...

Hovering over the soon-to-be home of my new apple tree, black hawthorn, I mean chokecherry.

 

All gone!