All of the weekday mornings up at 5:00 AM have been worth it.
All of the brutal blisters on my hands have been worth it.
All of the dehydration has been worth it.
Spitting in the face of all my adversaries has been worth it (may have made that up for added motivation).
Feeling a little loony after absorbing too much sun has been worth it.
ONG, supreme master of suspense, tell us what you did. We are on the edge of our cubicle seats already.
I FINISHED MY BACK BED ALONG THE DECK. WOO HOO!!!
[Insert sound of crickets here]
[More silence]
[The silence has now become uncomfortable]
OK, so maybe I am a little overzealous. But if you can't enjoy your progress, why bother, right?
Here are some of the "before" photos of the bed:
It was obvious to me (but only after looking at photos) that the bed wasn't deep enough and not in scale with the deck and house. As a result of the lack of depthness (new word I just invented), the number of plants that could be used was very limited.
Well, after:
- Determining the new shape and size of the bed using an extension cord
- Digging out the turf (by far the most grueling, especially in the high 90's temps we have had of late)
- Weeding like a friggin champion
- Adding new top soil (nice soil please meet crappy clay soil - hope you two can get along)
- Adding and subtracting a crapload of new plants
- Adding a healthy dose of mulch
Grass looks good, huh?
Laundry list of plants used:
- Thuja 'Emerald Green'
- Weigela 'Wine and Roses'
- Thuja Plicata 'Roger's Aurea Sport'
- Buxus 'Green Mountain'
- Panicum 'Rotstrahlbusch'
- Spirea 'Anthony Waterer'
- Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'
- Hemerocallis 'Little Grapette'
- Sedum 'Matrona'
- Eupatorium 'Chocolate'
Thank you for indulging my ego and hanging in there. It is mucho appreciated.
John
BRAVO!!!!!! Well done!! Your new bed really does make a difference in the overall appearance. You've been hard at work and are entitled to patting yourself on the back. Nice list of plants, too.
ReplyDeleteEverytime I see a picture from Wedding Crashers, I think of Jane Seymour's boobs...
ReplyDelete"Call me....Kittycat!"
Nice job, ol boy! I really do admire your work. And I'm now ashamed of my own laziness. I totally got up at 10am and hung around on the internet all morning instead of weeding. I did manage to get outside and water...but then I started feeling sweaty and decided to come back inside. In my defense I stayed up till 2am reading...
Looks great! The suspense was definitely worth it. Who cares about the grass when you have that fantastic new bed to look at?
ReplyDeleteBask sir, bask! It looks fantastic!
ReplyDeleteWhat a difference - everything looks fantastic! Great combinations you put together. Isn't gardening just fun? ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by, I just love the company!!!
you did a great job re-inventing that bed...I love the new look! I would like to invite you to share your gardens and your humor with me in my weekly meme...Fertilizer Friday/ Flaunt Your Flowers.
ReplyDeleteI should have the post up to sign up later this evening if you should decide to link in!
Your a crazy man getting up so early! But looking at pics....it was worth it and looks phenomenallll!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for the kind words, now hopefully I will actually leave things as is and give all the plants time to get settled.
ReplyDeleteTootsie - I will definitely look to join up with your weekly meme, I dig it (pun inteneded). Thank you for the offer!
Rain Gardener - thank you for dropping by, love love your site!
Kyna - was actually looking to add photos from Anchorman but couldn't find the right one. I am kind of a big deal.
Kim, Tracy, Laura - thank you, as always for the garden support! Keeps me going.
Matt - when are you sending in your "help my garden" video? I am ready to rip you a new one.
Beautiful job - It makes the house look really grandiose (I thought I'd make that word up but it was in speller checker, so obviously not!).
ReplyDeleteAwesome job on the back bed! It looks in scale and everything! wink! I am new to your blog thanks to Blog Hop and was entertained by your posts. Thank you for sharing your progress and your humour!
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