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We Did It! Planting by May 31

Our amazing string of sunny weekends was forecasted to end today. And it did – it’s now pouring thundershowers outside. That meant we had to do some weekday and early morning work to get everything done before June 1.

Tuesday the spruce tree disappeared! Brian said the tree guys cut off the lower branches, climbed partway up to cut a notch, then cut a notch on the other side and pulled the top down diagonally, avoiding the newly planted perennial bed. We now have blue sky! And Brian finally met our neighbors who live behind us.

Friday evening we got the new lilac, poppies and lenten rose planted in the back bed. Now that the garden is safe from contractor trampling, we also planted the peppers, swiss chard and as many tomatoes as we could fit into our small space.

It was forecasted to start raining last night, but as of 7am when I woke up there was no rain. So, I went out with a shovel and started trying to move the azalea. Luckily Brian got up around 8am because my digging progress was very slow. There were lots of tree roots between the maple tree and the former location of the spruce, requiring me to either hack at them or snip them with pruning shears. Brian dug a bigger hole and made quick work of the azalea. On to the rhododendron! It was trickier, with less room to maneuver and a larger root system, but it too was moved. We started moving dirt piles and getting the yard back in order.

Just then we started hearing thunder. I scampered into the garage for the trowel, so I could plant the 2nd perennial bed, where the azalea and rhododendron had been, before the rain. The plants have been doing ok but are much happier when in the ground, not in their little plastic flats. Whereas last time I got out a tape measure to map out the bed and ensure the plants were far enough apart, this time I quickly dug little holes, stuck the plants in them and kept going. I also plunked the rest of the tomatoes in the back, in a small open space bewteen the lillies and the hanging basket.

Here’s one picture of the back fenceline where you can see (right to left) the rhododendron in its new home, the azalea in its new home, the spruce tree stump, the hanging basket, and the little tomatoes, and the new lilac with poppies in front. The cannas are planted behind the lillies but they aren’t up yet. We’ll get more pictures when it’s not raining.

back fence line

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