Just Did It

Our house is five years old.  I have two lovely landscape plans from different talented designers.  Lack of money and the slope in the back has thwarted me thus far.  Do I have an excuse for my barren sideyard?  No I do not.

Yesterday, on a very warm March day, I lured my 16 year old daughter who is old enough to have an interest in such things.  We outlined the projected bed with hose, broke down cardboard boxes and laid them within the outline, put landscape fabric down and weighted the whole thing with rocks.  My 10 year came out and helped us with the rocks and the watering.  So after five years of gnashing my teeth, an hour and a half got us this far:

Now comes more plotting.  What luscious things will go in this south-facing bed?  That's a viburnum (Birkwood I think?) and a yellow rose my dad bought me at Hershey Gardens whose name is failing me, and further down the way there is a stack of unused stone (hm!), an AC compressor (ugh!) and a lilac my DH got me for Mother's Day a couple of years ago.  I have some peony roots and a single bearded iris to go in here somewhere.  I'm thinking Shrubs!  With an exclamation point!  Yay!!!

Today was another warm day.  Creepy warm, 70s, but I'll take it, and anyway, it's not like I have a choice.  It was so peaceful and placid out there with the birds chirping soothingly.  Pruning the New Dawn was not so placid.  Most of my roses are reasonably well-behaved but the New Dawn I optimistically planted in a very narrow space by a highly traveled walkway is waiting for its chance to scratch your eyes out .  It was me against it.  NB:  Foxgloves while awesome gloves are useless against climbing rose teeth, er, thorns.  Be advised.

I also tackled the hulking buddeleia.  Started tackling it.  Lost interest after a while.  I'll get back to ya, buddeleia.