We had to wait for the weather to clear a little bit before attempting to get the remainder of the fill dirt moved to various parts of the yard that needed to be filled today. (Note to future home buyers: Ensure that the water runs AWAY from your home, not toward it.) Yesterday we were hard at it by nine a.m., but it was about twelve-thirty this afternoon before we could really get started today. It was foggy with drizzle for the better part of the morning.

Once the mound of soil was out of the way, I went to work putting the plants in for the shade garden in Lily’s bed. I used the remaining pavers to kind of separate the extended bed from the rest of the yard where the lawn will be again. You can kind of see the progression, below:

Lily’s original bed, less pavers.

Lily’s new bed, with existing calla lilies.

Starting to put the plants in.

Getting there, slowly but surely.

Everything is in, but it’s missing something.

Ahhhh, that’s better. Pavers for the win!

Then I picked the spot for my Lupine, Dahlia and Cast Iron plants, put them in the ground and decided that since we weren’t going to use the pavers I’d set on the retaining wall, I could use them to create a border around the little bed.

I was super excited to get a few Heavenly Bamboo yesterday, which is going to create a bit of a screen between the neighbors and where my hammock will be. See that sandy area to the right of the Heavenly Bamboo? That’s the hammock site. In late afternoon it will be shaded by the Bradford Pear.

We dodged a LOT of raindrops today. By the time I got the shade garden in, my work gloves were soaked, as were my feet, and I’m not sure if the temps even hit 60 today. All I know is I had to soak in a REALLY hot tub to shake the chill I had after we were finished for the day.

In the coming days, there will be flagstone stepping stones, stone replacing the boards in the raised bed retaining wall, a flagstone patio, and an Asian inspired gazebo over that.

Stay tuned…

Until next time…