it'll be a garden bed. it'll have some seasonal flowers... Like the old bed I had... it'll be bordered by bloodgrass and black mondo grass. I'll do delphiniums and another flower that escape my name later on. Delphiniums do late spring/summer while what i want are summer. just need to build it up 2 more levels and put the dirt in. I want to get the basics done before winter

Gotta agree with you there G, there is nothing as relaxing as getting out into the garden. We've been in our home thirteen years now, and it's taken me the whole time to get the garden looking how I want. The people we bought it from were definitely not keen gardeners, so it's been a long haul, but I've loved every minute of it...well, except for lugging hundreds of paving stones around I guess! :)

Craig, my parents been in there house for... Well, just a bit longer than you. They've redone it a few times, but something always comes up where we have to deal with 'big' stuff.

The most recent are the additions of sewers to the town. That meant, they had to connect a sewer system to EVERY house because everyone was on septic. Now, instead of taking out the 3 tanks, they disconnected them and the plan by THEM was to fill them in with dirt. But my parents said, "Leave it! You'll destroy our yard!" So father and I, a few weekends ago, broke down the concrete risers that held the lids (don't mind that we had to dig down to 'em). We were gonna break the lids they gave us and use the originals (which we KNEW fit the holes). But we used both the originals to seal the crap AND then used the new lids to cover. (we broke down the concrete risers and threw them into the tank with a bottle of bleach in EACH tank)

BUT this summer, there was an irrigation problem. So my parents had a professional company come out, dredge out a ton of stuff and well, the amount of river rock from the original soil... That was the easy part. THe hard part was that Kody and I had to gather all the irrigation and river rock and pile it up for my mother who plans on using it in OTHER places in the yard. What does this all mean? There were parts in the backyard where the water wouldn't flow (due to clay as well...) and it was like a swamp. So wet it was, it choked out some of the plants that LOVE water! Not good.

Before that, I had to help father redux tiles around the patio.

So now? The whole neighborhood is having some trees pulled out and new ones put in. The trees now, they are HORRIBLE for those with allergies. EVEN people without allergies are effected! So father and I dug out 3 rhodis (1 was trashed) and then the heathers. Next weekend, Kody and I get to dig out the old crap dirt around the tree. The tree pepole will plop the new one in and once again, Kody and I will put the new dirt in. Believe me, when in bloom, the yard is terrific.




Now, THIS is all on top of the redux of the 'yard' on their rental property in Seattle. I had a tiny bit to do with that, but they had a professional deal with it. I have yet to see it, honestly. Anyway... I'd love to be a gardener. I have no idea why, but I would...

As it stands now. Another 13 stones. I might have to find the half pavers to fill in that corner. It won't be consistent but it'll at least work.

The real kicker is this. WIth all the rain NW Washington has received, there's been a bit of flooding...








Over on the left side in the nook, that's where I shot a lot of my shots both S6 and small scale! Now it's covered by rushing water!

garden
 

Its really looking good Graham. Looking forward to seeing when you get more of it completed. Im just waiting for it to dry out a bit to do some shots with the new radar dish i built.

UPDATE!

Ok... This plan has gotten bigger and more fun. The backside of the flower bed, I'm going to be adding a layer of something-or-other to level it out. I'm gonna make a rock river bed on the back side with some sort of stepping stones. Where am I getting the filler? See next post.




Ok, so... I added 2nd layer of bricks. My father was using a couple to keep... Uh... Let's put it this way, my parents have mole problems. The trap they were using, you put a cover over the hole and then a heavy 'object' over it. But uh... I started adding filler dirt to level out the area AROUND the flower bed. Mother wants the ground on the other side of the path to be level....

A weekend ago, Kody and I had dug out the roots of, iirc, a Sicamore Tree that was going to be taken out. These trees have HUGE leaves that gather pollen and makes people with NO allergies suddenly HAVE THEM! Anyway, Kody and I had holes all around it, the company came, ripped 'er out and then shredded it and filled our holes (Frak me!)

Due to the flooding in my parents area, they were going to fill the back of the S10 (it's an OLD chevy s10, craig... we're talking 1987???) and ship it to a farm that needs filler soil. BUT mother decided that the filler would JUST use to make the area around the path level. So Saturday, I spent HOURS trying to fight with crap dirt, ROCKS (that were the size of river rock), and roots. I gave up, moved to the front and started digging up the debris from the tree.

Trust me, when you work as slow as I was (alone), you need something to make you feel like ya's getting somewhere! Digging up the debris was soooooo much easier and managed 6 wheel barrow loads to add the area AROUND my flower bed. On top of that, I also helped move branches for a neighbor who cut down 3 trees!







What's next? In 2 weeks, I take another 10-14 bricks to make the 3rd layer. And over Thanksgiving, Kody and I will dig out the old sicamore tree spot so a new one can be planted. And yes, I'm tired and my back is killing me...

Why did the company fill the holes? What does it say on the sign? Looks like your helping out both your parents and your neighbours now. Good going.

A different tree will be planted there in a month or two. Supposedly, the company that did it all felt it 'neater' to fill in the hole than take the tree away. Gotta read the fine print next time! The sign says something like, "Please do not plant tree. Please talk to homeowner." Basically, I need to dig all that crap out, bring in the new dirt (without the rather large rocks!), plop the new one in and fill again. My parents said they could just drop the tree on the yard or wherever.

Ah nutz. I just realized that I gotta replant the rhodis too eventually. Guh.