All rocks are in place!! With the assistance of my dear husband, we now have placed both pallets of river stone into the gardens. We were able to get the first pallet done rather quickly on Sunday, a day that was not hot. Sunday was a beautiful day, low humidity and in the mid 80's. Our backs were not stressed too much as we bought a cart that hooks on the lawn tractor to haul the rocks downhill. I have two wagons and a wheelbarrow, all of which are a pain to push/pull back uphill. Even though they are empty on the way up they get heavy, heavier with each trip. This cart made our task manageable. Charlie got a lot of the rocks into the cart, especially the large ones. We off loaded them into the general area of the garden and I shifted them around to where I wanted them.
Today we took the second pallet to their new homes. The second pallet had some much larger rocks. We had a few extra that were place in less critical areas. This is the area where I had much of the washout in May and June. Mulch still needs to added....not this week though. Not next week or the week after....will wait for fall.
This is a two stage plan for curtailing washout...rocks and mulch then more plants that will hold the soil. I have some that I can divide and some seeds that I will sow this winter. I also hope to find some end of year goodies in September.
You can see some of the tire marks in the grass... this low spot stays wet a lot longer than any other part of the yard.
Same section, looking uphill instead of down from the deck.
And of course I had company in the garden as I was walking around--- another little Fence lizard. To give you perspective these are blades of grass.
And finally, a shot from lower in the yard.
This is an area of the garden that needs to be replanted. Soil from the top of the hill covered baby plants at the bottom of the hill.
©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford.
words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.
Wow! Are you and Charlie for hire?! The beds look great with the rocks, and I hope this helps alleviate some of the washout problems. I hope you had a nice, long soak in the tub tonight so you won't be too achy tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteJulie, hahaha, nope! Thanks for asking though. I hope the rocks help slow the water down. Not too achy, thank goodness.
DeleteThe rocks look great, good work! Hope your back isn't sore tomorrow, and hope they do the trick!
ReplyDeleteAlison, Thanks, I like how it looks, now for the mulch to be added!!
DeleteLot of work, but looks great!
ReplyDeleteWhen mulch is added, it will be magnificent!
A joy to behold for years to come.
Lea
Lea's Menagerie
Lea, it was a good amount of work, but we took our time. Hoping the mulch will dress it nicely.
DeleteI am sure you are glad to have that behind you! Looks great! I need to mulch too but it will wait until cooler weather is upon us. Those fence lizards look intimidating but they are so adorable and fun to watch!
ReplyDeleteKarin, I am glad to have it done as well!! Now that we have the cart the mulch will not be as big of a job as before. Yes, the lizards are fun to watch.
DeleteI love the cart - what a great idea! The rocks look lovely, they really add presence to the garden, so I hope they do the job re the washout too.
ReplyDeleteJanet, The cart was the best idea we have had all year!! Yes, the rocks will add a statement and hopefully slow the washout.
DeleteJanet,
ReplyDeleteHard work but well worth it. Those beds will be lovely when they fill in. Now time to just enjoy them and relax. Sending some tiger balm your way.
Randy, yes it should be well worth it. Can't wait to fill it in more now with plants. No tiger balm needed....thank goodness!
DeleteThe rocks look good and I hope your back is okay! Love the little lizard and is that wine cup I see in one of the photos~it's a lovely wildflower. gail
ReplyDeleteGail, My back is fine, hooray!! Yes, the wine cup is doing quite well on the slope of the side of the garden. Hoping for it to reseed a bit this year.
DeleteGood job. Looks like a lot of work. But it's looking really nice.
ReplyDeleteKim & Victoria, thanks!!
DeleteGood job! The rocks look fabulous and serve a functional purpose too holding in the soil and slowing down the water.
ReplyDeleteTina, thanks! This job is small compared to the ones you have done this year!
DeleteOh, man! Can I identify. Usually I pick up rocks by the side of the road and they accumulate slowly. Last week, during a heat wave, our neighbor offered me a pile of rocks, so I went back and forth with the wheelbarrow and nearly had a heatstroke. Rocks make such a difference...they're worth all the trouble, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteRicki, Being able to take our time was really nice. Yes, the rocks are worth it!!
DeleteLoving the look of these beds with the stones...my old garden had lots of hills and I was forever fixing and finally terraced them but still had soil loss or plants covered...
ReplyDeleteDonna @GEV, thanks!! Water really takes a toll on the hills.
DeleteHi Janet, The arial views of your garden always impress upon me how big your garden actually is. That is no small undertaking you have there! LOL The rocks nicely outline the flowerbeds. I bet it feels good to know this big project is done.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, thanks! Arial views...just up on the deck....gotta love slopes. We had the rocks along the sides through the garden, these bigger ones will slow the water.
DeleteI hope your back isn't hurting, Janet; this looks like a lot of work! But the rocks really add a nice accent to the garden, and I'm sure they're going to help in keeping the soil from washing out. Now for the fun part--adding more plants!
ReplyDeleteRose, my back is doing fine, happy to report. Yes, adding the plants will be more fun.
DeleteOh my, what a project. I hope you are able to move today. It will be great when you get the mulch in and more plants tucked in.
ReplyDeleteLisa@Greenbow, yes, what a project indeed! Moving fine, thanks. Yes, the plants and mulch will really make it look a lot better.
DeleteLooks great! And it's always rewarding to think that you did it yourself... hope that both of you just have some sore muscles in a good way. I put in a flagstone path several years ago and felt like I had been beaten by sticks after every weekend's work! It took 3 weekends, but I was sure proud of myself. It was definitely worth it and was featured in a series of blog posts, too.
ReplyDeleteLisa, Thanks!! I remember the flagstone path. Working with rocks is heavy hard work...and well worth it for sure!
DeleteI am glad you took care of your back. If you ever need to have anything done more taxing, hire a local young person.
ReplyDeleteLes, think this old body can't handle a ton of rock?? hahahaa Not made of cash, no local young person.
DeleteJanet, I was at this post previously and left a comment. I can see from the newer post the comment went through. I just wanted to let you know I visit your posts, but commenting has been sporadic due to WP or Blogger locking me out or something.
ReplyDeleteDonna, I am sorry you are having trouble posting comments. Push comes to shove, you can email me if you need to. thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.
ReplyDelete