OT A planting weekend & things to be grateful for (long)
- From: Debra <debnbilll@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 16:57:01 GMT
Although I started it on Friday night making hug quilt blocks, most of
my weekend was spent improving my yard. I went to the Blue Ridge
Wildflower Society's fall plant sale. They sell only Virginia native
plants and I am trying to mostly plant Virginia natives in my yard
because they need less maintenance than non-native species. I also
try to use plants that support wildlife. I went to the sale looking
for trumpet honeysuckle but I didn't get to buy it this year because
they had none, maybe next year. Trumpet honeysuckle is the only
Virginia native honeysuckle, and it's non-spreading so I won't have to
work myself to death trying to keep it in check, a far cry from the
invasive Japanese honeysuckle. The flowers are red and attract
hummingbirds and it would be the perfect thing to plant next to the
privacy fence.
This year I bought seven different species of plants including two
bushes that will feed birds. The five flower species are green and
gold, cardinal flower, wild ginger, wild geranium, and blue eyed
grass. The bushes are beauty berry and Strawberry bush. Both bushes
are now in the front yard and hopefully they will make the front yard
look less bare. I don't have many trees and the ones I have are still
young and short so the whole yard looks somewhat naked. The one foot
tall beauty berry bush actually stands out now, but it will grow and
make a lovely spot for birds to gather. I can almost see them now,
flitting from the bush to the redbud tree and back.
We planted the strawberry bush next to the house beside the front
steps in the hole left from the removal of a fast growing bush. It
was so easy and fast that we thought we would get all the plants
planted the first evening. The wild ginger went in between a storage
building and the privacy fence where it is always shady and damp. The
green and gold went in a sunny spot that will look lovely once it has
spread, especially where it will have daffodils growing up through it.
And the blue eyed grass will have filtered sunlight under the young
redbud tree. They were all fairly easy to plant but we were just
starting and the real work was still waiting.
I had a heck of a time planting the beauty berry. We have had very
little rain this year and the ground is very hard to dig into so I was
using a pick to help break up the red clay before DH used the shovel
to move it, and the business end slid down the handle unexpectedly
during my second swing, making contact with my hand and injuring me
between the thumb and first finger. This is but a small injury
compared with the possibility that the slide could have happened while
I was toting the tool over my shoulder thus giving me an extra hole in
my head, so I'm grateful that didn't happen.
DH and I also filled two large holes in the yard caused by rotting
tree roots. One of those trees was a maple and maple roots tend to be
close to the top of the ground, sometimes poking above the ground. We
have kept a sundial over the spot where the main trunk once was for
the last two summers because a hole was forming under the grass. Now
the hole was threatening to eat the sundial so we had to do something.
We cut the mat of grass away and put in two wheelbarrow loads of dirt.
That done, we didn't have the sense to stop. We pried up two large
roots, and a few smaller ones, and filled the trenches they left
behind. We were grateful and surprised by the ease of the root
removal and happy that this part of the yard won't make us worry about
twisted ankles while mowing anymore.
We planned to move a concrete bench to a new location and plant the
wild geranium beside the deck where the bench was, but by the time we
were ready to move the bench I could no longer lift it. I had dug so
much that my back and arms were simply spent. I put the geranium
between two small holly bushes. I can transplant it later, if I ever
get the bench moved. I was just so glad to get that last plant into
the ground so I could go take a bath and have a rest. My hand and
back are a bit sore this morning, but in a couple of days they will be
better and I can get back to making quilt blocks. I have to re-do two
of the hug blocks I made and send them out.
Debra in VA
See my quilts at
http://community.webshots.com/user/debplayshere
.
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