Transformation

This year Susan took our flower beds in hand and made them beautiful.  Shortly after I moved into this house I started building stone-bordered flowerbeds in the back yard, but didn't really do much with them.

They got kind of jungle-ly

Susan transformed them from jungles into delightful tourist attractions for hummingbirds, butterflies and bumblebees.  I'd rip out the old stuff and she'd plan and plant the new stuff with a keen eye to what really works well and looks nice.

Of the three beds I saved the most difficult one for last.  I had to deal with an enormous amount of elephant grass as well as two tree stumps.  It took quite some time, but I finally got that bed cleared and laid out a terminus for the pea-gravel paths that run throughout our garden.  Susan suggested a little destination with a rustic bench.  I got my shovel, rake, and wheelbarrow and started working.

I staked out the shape of the  trail and dug and raked it level and smooth.

Then I laid down a poly tarp as a weed barrier with a discarded area rug over that.

This rug, though only a couple of years old, developed a "smell" and was banished for the house this past spring.  I saved it with this sort of project in mind.





Then I started hauling rocks to make the wall and anchor the weed barrier.

Today, the pea gravel was delivered, about a third of a yard of gravel filled the path to a depth of about two inches.

Next, came the bench.

I can't wait to see what Susan has in mind for plantings in this new space.