In the garden

Yesterday, I got to do something I’ve been anticipating with glee for many months — I planted my very first bush in the back yard.

(It’s a butterfly bush.)

This might not seem like a big deal, but if you consider what my gardening efforts have been like for nearly a decade, my enthusiasm over the new yard makes a lot more sense.

For almost nine years I have been gardening through process of elimination.  We bought our 1970s house from the original owner and her gardening philosophy was to cram as many bushes and trees in to one half acre as is possible.  Then, repeat the process.  So, when we first moved in, one of our first tasks was to cut down holly hedges that were over 7′ tall, thin out trees that were only inches apart, and generally try to bring some sunlight into our domain.  Only then could I add flowers, vegetables, and herbs.  I’ve since spent a lot of time continuing to deal with the planting choices the previous owner made, which was maddening.

So for more than two presidential terms, I have stood at the windows and gazed over the yard and tried to imagine what I could have done if I hadn’t had to  fight the Towering Holly Hedge of Death or the Multiplying-Like-Bunnies Redbuds.

And now I have that opportunity.

Imagine me rubbing my hands together in glee.

I have a general idea of what the new yard will be like, but will be working with one of my best friends, who just happens to be an arborist (yes I choose my friends wisely), to develop a comprehensive landscaping plan.

One area in which I already have solid plans is the kitchen garden.  I like a tidy kitchen garden — one that is clearly delineated by raised beds or precise borders. For these new gardens, I knew I wanted to edge them in concrete edgers, as the yard slopes a bit and using lumber to define the beds would have been nearly impossible to do with the slope. Plus, lumber eventually starts to fall apart and the concrete will not.  Even if one or two break, they’ll be easily replaced.

I want a minimum of four 4′ X 8′ beds, but ultimately will have at least six:

• one dedicated to asparagus
• one dedicated to strawberries
• one for the younger daughter, who wants to play edamame (soybeans) — she planted them for the first time this summer and was so excited about her success that next summer she plans to plant seeds every week for a month so that she’ll have a continuous harvest of edamame for July and part of August.
• one for the older daughter, who wants to plant potatoes, cannellini (white kidney beans), and flowers.
• one or two for me to plant tomatoes, herbs, peppers, pumpkins, garlic, and more

This past week, I started gathering my supplies.

Each bed will require 24 edgers.  I went to the store and started loading the cart.  When I hit 48 edgers (two beds), I decided that perhaps I might need to break this project into smaller chunks, because each one of those edgers weighs around five pounds.  I laboriously hauled over 200 pounds of edgers to the checkout and then to the van, where I unloaded them.  (All the while mentally whimpering over the thought of having to unload them and carry them to the back yard.)

Then I went back into the store for dirt, manure, and compost.  Normally, I’d have all that delivered to the house, but this really isn’t a good time to add anything else to what’s going on over there.  So I calculated how many 40 pounds bags I’d need for the first two beds — eight — and loaded them onto the cart, hauled them to the register, and then dragged them out to the van.  That’s 320 pounds of dirt, manure, and compost.

I unloaded some things at the house that day, just so that the rear end of the van wouldn’t drag.  Then, Pete and the girls helped me do the rest on Saturday.

Yesterday, I went over in the morning and started building.

Guess what I discovered about our new yard?  It’s filled with rocks.  So much so, that I’m thinking we should called our new domain “Rocky Hill.” Actually, what went through my mind while I was working was “[insert really bad words here] Rocky Hill.”

Luckily, I had a shovel, so I was able to dig out plenty of rocks that the dudes with the backhoes so carefully steamrolled into the yard when they were moving the big pile of dirt.

I’m not actually all that upset about the rocks because I’ll definitely make use of them next year when I start creating flower beds, but digging them up was not part of my plan yesterday.

I laid out one 4′ X 8′ bed, covered the grass inside the rectangle with a thick layer of newspapers, and then started adding dirt, manure, and compost.

Uh oh.

It would appear that my calculations were a bit off.  Instead of needing four bags per garden, I’m going to need SEVEN.

So, I filled only one garden and need to go get six more bags of dirt, etc.

*whimper*

Not to mention the fact that I still need to get everything I’ll need for the other two beds I want to build this fall.

*whimper*

Oh well, in the meantime, I laid out the edgers for the second bed and then used rocks to mark the corners of the third bed that I will so-help-me-god build in the next week or two.  I am so very Martha Stewart that I measured carefully to ensure an even 4′ spacing  between the beds, as well as an even 6′ spacing from the fence.  Why so much?  Because next spring I’m going to plant at least four blueberry bushes along the fence, so I need room for those, as well as a path between the gardens and the bushes.

Here’s what things look like so far:

Finished bed in the back, half finished bed in the middle, and rocks marking the corners of an unstarted bed in the front.

See what I mean about Martha Stewart?  And I’m only getting started.

After all that, I planted the bush that I mentioned at the beginning of this rather lengthy post.  My dear friend/favorite neighbor had a butterfly bush self sow some babies and she dug one up for me, knowing that I intend to plant numerous butterfly bushes in the new yard.  Sharing plants with this friend has been one of my gardening delights.  When my grandparents moved out of their house, I dug up dozens of my grandmother’s irises and brought them home and shared them with my neighbor.  She and I are now dividing our respective iris patches so that I’ll have my grandmother’s irises in the new yard.  My neighbor knows that I’m planning a lavender garden, so she’s preparing one of her huge lavender plants to be divided next spring.  And so on.

[Side note to any family and friends who might already be thinking about my 40th birthday next May and wondering what would be the perfect gift for me:  Plants, people.  Lots of 'em.  Seriously.  Just hook me up with some plants and I'll be more than happy.  Bonus points if you come over to the house and get muddy with me out in the yard.]  [And I mean that in a totally non-smutty all-about-the-garden sort of way.]

Today, my back and lower body ache from all the bending over yesterday, but it was totally worth it.  I’m blissfully happy about the beginnings of my gardens.  There’s not a lot I can do with all the construction going on, but at least I could get started on this one project.

In other news, the electricians will be back at the house today and I’m guessing our guys will be working on the siding.

More soon!