Grandpa gets to work!

After almost two weeks of lounging in the hammock, Grandpa announced that our backyard (the space along the Family Video wall to be specific) needed serious gardening attention. It is a space that we have neglected, mainly because the task of transforming it into something worth looking at seemed too daunting, if not impossible. Since it takes more than an expensive and difficult task to frighten Grandpa, we were given strict instructions: buy many large, expensive shrubs that like shade (rhododendrons and azaleas) plus many, many vines that like to attach to steep, dry, shaded walls (two kinds of ivy) plus a large list of pretty flowering things. First thing first: I pulled down a make-shift trellis that we had created when we first moved here and trimmed down the few vines that I had managed to keep alive; meanwhile, Simon and Grandpa set to work digging a dozen or so very large, deep holes (in soil that hadn't been dug in since the buildings were constructed, I think). We were then told to fill them up with water, followed by compost (first time our 11 year old compost pile has been put to use!), then the plant, then more compost then, a nifty Grandpa invention: a plastic bottle with the bottom cut off and stuck in to the ground upside down. The theory is that when we water we fill up the bottle and the water goes straight to the roots rather than wash away on the ground surface. Meanwhile, Simon was instructed to clear out the entire compost pile and scatter it along the wall. This pile was about 4' high, at least 5' deep and 7' side to side; there was a LOT of compost to shift. So far Simon has moved about 7 wheelbarrows worth, and it is about half-done. Then on top of that, we have been told to layer all the bark that has fallen off the wood we burn in winter that is now covering the floor of our garage. And to think I was going to put it all in sacks and have the garbage men haul it away! Of course, we've been treated with record high temps, record high humidity and so the work is slow and sweaty. It's sort of like being on HGTV (which I discovered while staying in a hotel in NY during that recent conference and became addicted to within a few minutes) only a lot slower. Other people get total home makeovers done in 30 minutes (and they never look sweaty) but this has taken us 4 days so far, and we aren't done yet. (Interesting piece of trivia: We found out that the bushes that do stunningly well in our backyard are beauty bushes (Bordines delivered a bevy of bushes and one of the guys agreed to take a snip back to home base and consult with the experts there) and simply cannot be found for love or money in gardening centers now because, although all the fashion in the 1920s, they are no longer "the thing." Who knew there were shrub fads?) We promise annual updates on south-wall developments in future blogs so everyone interested can see how these efforts will, in the long run, pay off.