Weekend Landscaping

It was a somewhat miserable, cold and clammy weekend, but that wasn't going to stop me from getting more yard work done.  I got up early and headed up to American Soil & Mulch to order 10 yards of triple shredded pine bark mulch delivered, and also filled up the truck with a yard of compost blend garden soil.  They were slow so the delivery truck followed me home.

I started up the rototiller and tilled up the clay in the front corner of the wild area, where the figs and camelia used to be.  I had already removed most of the legitimate soil from this area, and mounded it elsewhere.  After I tilled the clay, I emptied the entire cubic yard of compost blend soil, spread it out and tilled this in, making for a nice mix to plant stuff in.  I also mounded it up away from the sidewalk and driveway.  I also decided to use my leftover landscaping blocks to build a nice little wall - the very front corner of the wild area would make a very suitable location for our succulent garden.  So I removed pretty much all of the soil here, dug down into the clay and removed some of that, then Adrienne and I filled it in with a mixture of black soil, sand and gravel.  We mounded it up nicely for drainage then Adrienne planted all of her succulents.  We finished it off by mulching it with pea gravel.

Here's a picture of the finished area, including a Black Cherry Tree that we planted (which you can probably barely see because it's small and has no leaves or anything yet).

Succulent garden and newly planted Black Cherry tree.

You can also see a partially finished raised garden bed that my daughter insisted on for strawberries.  I don't know how well this location will work for strawberries but we'll see.  The soil should be well drained and rich especially after we build it up a little more.  I just need to get some more 6x6 lumber to finish squaring off the bed, which will be about 4'x4'.

The other thing worth mentioning is that I used some extra 8 foot 6x6 lumber to square off the garden bed in the wild area - sort of like a retaining wall.  In this area I also planted a "Black Mission Fig" which I picked up at Home Depot yesterday for $20 - they are hardy to Zone 8A and we're in 7B so it may not last!  I also replanted another one of the knockout roses here, and Adrienne wants to put a bird bath in the middle.

I also did a LOT more mulching and some weeding.  Didn't really do anything in my "gardens" proper, but I figured that was enough for one weekend.