Today, Rebecca and I broke ground. No, we are not building anything. Well, I guess you could consider it building something. We are undertaking yet another project. This time: outside the house. We spent yesterday with a can of white spray paint and some heavy thoughts, planning out where we want some flower beds to be placed. This is not as easy as it might sound. There is a myriad of things to consider.For instance, we had to take into consideration that we needed to leave just a little space from the end of any bed to the line of our property. That way, if one of the neighbors (It will be on our East side, that's for sure.) accidentally comes a little too close to the imaginary property line, they will not really be harming our plants or bushes. They will rather just be mowing a little bit of excess grass.
Another factor to consider was the shape of the beds. This is a pretty important aspect, as it can really change the way your yard looks. We chose a "bone" shape for the bed that envelopes the maple tree we planted a couple of months ago. This will go nicely with the paisley-shaped bed that our tulips are growing in (and two of them are already blooming) around the mailbox. (You remember what paisley is, right? Just think......the 70's.)
Lastly, we had to consider the types of plants we would be putting out and in which bed they would go. This helps to determine the exact size of the beds. Since some pampass grass will be going down front on the East side, mainly to cover up the green phone box in the neighbor's yard, and to divert you eyes from their unkempt yard back to ours. We had to extend the existing bed on the East side of the house out a little to accommodate a Natchez variety of crepe myrtle that we want to plant there. They droop and need a good bit of room to do so.
Today, we went out to the Ranch to get their truck and wheelbarrow. Then, the digging began. We got most of the first and largest bed's grass dug out. (We are extending almost all of the beds, so there is grass that must be removed before we get better soil and till it all under.)
Tomorrow and the next day, probably just more of the same....digging. Hopefully, we will be able to get most of it dug out and potting soil put back in before the weekend. Since tomorrow is Hump Day, I don't know how feasible that is. Then, we can go buy some plants from River's be that much closer to finishing.
