Bring On The Projects

 Oh boy oh boy oh boy, today was Gravel Day! I love it when it's time for gravel. Around here, that typically means (besides exercise) either a new project, the removal of lawn or the fixing of blemishes in graveled areas that moles have infiltrated. This day was all about extending garden beds by removing sod. I guess this should post should be called Sod Removal Time. At any rate, it's project time!

We've been taking a critical look at our garden with a desire to make it flow better. We realized there are a lot of island beds, a product of putting trees and shrubs in the ground with the intent to one day create beds beneath them. Better to get trees growing sooner than later, we can live with islands for a few years. However, the time has come to connect the dots, create a flow and make a few new beds.  I could not be more thrilled. 

The primary project this time was the grass (and I use that term loosely, it's field grass and weeds, something we don't cultivate, it's just there) above the Quercus hypoleucoides. It is always infested with moles all summer and is extremely muddy in winter.

Plus this slope is quite awkward to get the lawn mower through.

Enter a rented sod-cutter. FM was willing and excited about the project, too, although this is a really physically difficult task. I bow down to FM for tackling this. 

FM says: Cutting sod is second on my list after root canals!

There he is, as seen from our bedroom window, going back and forth with the beast.

Inspecting the cut lines.

After phase one of removal. FM carted the sod off to the chicken yard where there was no grass. The chickens wiped it out years ago. He is rebuilding that long-gone lawn clump by clump. The hens love it.

It's a messy business.

A secondary area we want to make into garden beds is just here, along the southern edge of our property. There are several trees and shrubs planted throughout, creating a sort of disconnected garden bed between the Himalayan mounds and our property line.

Looking east

This is after FM ran the sod cutter through the area. You can just make out some lines.

He also ran it under the ceanothus as I requested. This area is a pain to keep the grass trimmed down, a lawn mower must be pushed a foot at a time while I lift up the ceanothus to get the mower underneath. Or I sit on my derriere and hand-cut grass with my secateurs as I scootch along. A pain in the derriere if I may say so, and necessary a few times a year. A possible solution is removing the sod and mulching with wood chips.

You can see some of the sod removed here, FM has had to revisit these missed areas with a shovel to remove the bits missed by the sod cutter.

A few days later, finally, Gravel Day! We ordered five yards that will be swallowed up in no time.

Gravel day means making sure all the bits of sod are really removed.  Here, FM scrapes away any remaining clumps.

Some 20 wheelbarrows later, the area is well-covered.

After a little detail work on the edges. Not bad! What this does is visually connect the bed on the left with the beginnings of the gravel garden on the right. I will plant a couple hebes in here as well as some native wildflowers that like these conditions and let them come and go over the years as they reseed. Since it's a sunny south-facing slope, I think some of our native wildflowers would thrive.

Back to the southern beds: After FM removed all the sod bits from this area by hand, it's ready for arborist's wood chips. Spreading the chips will be tackled another day.

The eastern end with Grevillea 'Neil Bell' terminating the newest bed that shall be mulched with wood chips. Gravel is expensive and heavy, or we would consider gravel here.

A wider shot with the Himalayan mounds on the left with the new bed on the right. A few bits of sod remain but we'll get them soon enough and it will be mulched. I'll also add few other plants I have tucked away for just such an application. Visually speaking, now there is a green path between the two beds and a little less lawn for FM to mow around on the right.

The southern edge of the Himalayan mounds - the right side where Oscar now resides was graveled while the edge of the ceanothus on the left will be mulched wood chips.

The edge of this bed had the last remaining clumps of sod removed and received a good covering of gravel. I have visions of sunny, heat-loving plants filling in here and there, which is exciting. It's been a while since we've had new open spaces to plant.

Oscar and friends in a warm, well-drained site. I just tucked in a few Clarkia amoena, one of our native annual wildflowers, in here.

How much gravel did our little project take? Let's revisit the before pile.

After pile. It's nice to have leftovers for future projects as I use it all the time.

A small before and after. The last two winters have wreaked havoc on artemisia and some cistus. Many of the Artemisia 'Powis Castle' will rebound but I got tired of waiting for this one.

So out it came and as a matter of fact it was dead after all, not just dormant. I would have waited a long time. I replaced it with a Muehlenbeckia astonii that was in a less-than-ideal location. Here it can get large and happy. And, yes, I know it looks like a dead plant but trust me, there are teeny green leaves on it.

Phormium tenax 'Atropurpureum' had another rough winter. Time for a clean up.

A little better. It will, as it always does, grow out of it and have beautiful new leaves soon.

From a distance with our now full 2500-gallon cistern.

Now a few critter updates. Exciting times, we had a swarm of honey bees visit us!

It was fascinating to first just hear them, then spot them high up in a large maple tree then swarm downwards towards the garden and eventually land here. As we currently have an empty hive (awaiting new occupants to be picked up later this week, coincidentally), FM ran and picked it up on the opposite side of the property and placed it underneath this swarm. He added some lemon oil to attract them and they seemed to be moving in. Alas, the next day we checked and they had not established themselves. It was still a great experience.

A brief video of bees in flight.

Signing off with our buddy Doug the Douglass squirrel, one of our native critters. He's a lot smaller than the not-native variety and is much friendlier. We like Doug (we have about five Dougs and Douginas running around). He'll do this for a few minutes, get the seeds falling to the ground where he quickly inhales them and the birds can go back to sitting on the feeder. 

As far as these projects are concerned, I think in time they will create much needed flow in the garden. I remember saying a few years ago that we have our hands full and I'm not interested in adding any new garden beds. I think perhaps my hands must not be as full as they were when we were first starting out for I certainly do not wish to add more to our work load. I think quite the opposite is true. I think this will reduce the work load a little, in time, with that much less lawn for FM to mow and mole damage to deal with. The gravel tends to deter moles (mostly), while when wood chips are deep enough any mole activity is obscured. There will be a little weeding through the gravel and wood chips for a while, but this will eventually fade away. And we're not done, there are at least two more areas we would love to work on, all in good time. The spirit of gardening for me is inviting inspiration to drive changes.

One last thing, Gravel Day means ibuprofen. Except my doctor recently told me I shouldn't take it any more, it's really bad on the heart, kidneys, etc. So what's a gardener to do? Darn. I lived on the stuff for the past several years. Heating pads and ice packs, here I come. And an extra glass of wine.

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always, thank you so much for reading and commenting, we love hearing from you!