Metamorphosis

  This area is finally approaching completion. I found a couple of metal chairs and now there is a place to sit and rest while admiring the quiet of this area. Some ferns, brunnera and coral bells have been added in front of the chairs. The hostas that were there were too large and were moved to Bob's Garden. This is a view of the upper level. One of the new plants I've added is chelone, commonly known as turtle's head. I imagine this is why it's called turtle head.  The photo isn't great, it's hard to manipulate the bloom while holding the camera.

  This was an area that was started by a resident who is now selling her lot, so it was given to use to create another common garden. I used the heavy edgers I found on Marketplace to surround the area and then we weeded, killed the grass and tilled the area to prep it for planting. The metal chairs  were donated by another resident who has left us.   Our buddy Mark sanded and painted them to create a place to sit and look at the river while right in the garden.   Two Lacette Fragrant sumac have been added behind the chairs to create a private little nook to enjoy the view or a quiet spot to read. The leaves are glossy green in summer and turn shades of red in the fall. I found a metal headboard to use as a trellis and next spring I'll locate a nice climbing rose to attach to it. There's not much left at the end of the season. The pavers were added to provide a stable seating area and keep the chairs clean when rainy weather was splashing up mud. I added some hostas around the

  Sometimes I feel this will never be done. There are so many roots! Everytime I think I've got them all I go to dig a hole to plant something and there they are again. But, the area is finally clear and I even dug out the small tree I was going to leave, so now all the area behind it is open with a view of the lagoon. The following photo shows the brush across the lagoon to give you an idea of what I've been clearing to open up the view to the water. I've been able to use all my toys, the hedge clipper, the chain saw and pruners. I moved the wishing well that Shawn made into a more prominent spot and then took the curved edging someone gifted us to make a little "garden" in front of it. Right now there's just some soil there, but I'll be adding some bulbs this fall and flowers next spring.   I'm finding some nice plants that are close out priced at Menards and places to add.  All the daylilies are finally planted and mulched in...and without falling i

  I love all kinds of vines, except the grape vine that I constantly fight back in some of our gardens. But my overall favorite is the sweet autumn clematis. It starts to bloom in September and the harbinger of the end of our stay here in Minnesota. I have it on the trellis with bike wheels. Now it's starting to go up the tree and by the fork. I have the fork there for directions to find our home. When you come to a fork in the road... It's going a bit nuts on the trellis and makes people have to duck as they enter our yard. It's such a fun frothy white carpet of blooms.

  First planter to be planted with perennials I want to have a view of the water behind my potato planter so I started clearing brush and pulling grape vines. My new tools of a small chainsaw and a hedge trimmer have come in very handy and are getting a real workout, as well as my body. It's been a struggle to clear this with a lot of cutting, hauling and swearing. But it's how I have fun. I've learned to lay down the chainsaw correctly now to prevent it from rolling into the water. I managed to get down the slippery slope and grab it without falling in, so that's something. Observation: it's really hard to climb up a muddy embankment when you're giggling. The next part was to fill all those filing cabinets and planters with compost. Luckily we have a source of this and kind men who scooped it up in the tractor and hauled it over. They are all full now and ready to go. I just had to dig out the roots, sticks, bricks and other odd things. Finally have the blocks

  The area we're working in has tons of horrible roots that need to be removed before planting all the daylilies, otherwise we'll be fighting this growth forever.  I found a cool new shovel called the Weed Slayer and it's perfect for this chore.  It has serrated edges and is smaller at the base to dig down deep. I can't say it makes digging these nasty roots out a joy, but it sure does a great job. We saw this being used at one of the gardens we went to when buying plants off Marketplace. All I need in life is Marketplace and Amazon and I'm set.