Bring On The Projects

 Oh boy oh boy oh boy, today was Gravel Day! I love it when it's time for gravel. Around here, that typically means (besides exercise) either a new project, the removal of lawn or the fixing of blemishes in graveled areas that moles have infiltrated. This day was all about extending garden beds by removing sod. I guess this should post should be called Sod Removal Time. At any rate, it's project time!

We've been taking a critical look at our garden with a desire to make it flow better. We realized there are a lot of island beds, a product of putting trees and shrubs in the ground with the intent to one day create beds beneath them. Better to get trees growing sooner than later, we can live with islands for a few years. However, the time has come to connect the dots, create a flow and make a few new beds.  I could not be more thrilled. 

The primary project this time was the grass (and I use that term loosely, it's field grass and weeds, something we don't cultivate, it's just there) above the Quercus hypoleucoides. It is always infested with moles all summer and is extremely muddy in winter.

Plus this slope is quite awkward to get the lawn mower through.

Enter a rented sod-cutter. FM was willing and excited about the project, too, although this is a really physically difficult task. I bow down to FM for tackling this. 

FM says: Cutting sod is second on my list after root canals!

There he is, as seen from our bedroom window, going back and forth with the beast.

Inspecting the cut lines.

After phase one of removal. FM carted the sod off to the chicken yard where there was no grass. The chickens wiped it out years ago. He is rebuilding that long-gone lawn clump by clump. The hens love it.

It's a messy business.

A secondary area we want to make into garden beds is just here, along the southern edge of our property. There are several trees and shrubs planted throughout, creating a sort of disconnected garden bed between the Himalayan mounds and our property line.

Looking east

This is after FM ran the sod cutter through the area. You can just make out some lines.

He also ran it under the ceanothus as I requested. This area is a pain to keep the grass trimmed down, a lawn mower must be pushed a foot at a time while I lift up the ceanothus to get the mower underneath. Or I sit on my derriere and hand-cut grass with my secateurs as I scootch along. A pain in the derriere if I may say so, and necessary a few times a year. A possible solution is removing the sod and mulching with wood chips.

You can see some of the sod removed here, FM has had to revisit these missed areas with a shovel to remove the bits missed by the sod cutter.

A few days later, finally, Gravel Day! We ordered five yards that will be swallowed up in no time.

Gravel day means making sure all the bits of sod are really removed.  Here, FM scrapes away any remaining clumps.

Some 20 wheelbarrows later, the area is well-covered.

After a little detail work on the edges. Not bad! What this does is visually connect the bed on the left with the beginnings of the gravel garden on the right. I will plant a couple hebes in here as well as some native wildflowers that like these conditions and let them come and go over the years as they reseed. Since it's a sunny south-facing slope, I think some of our native wildflowers would thrive.

Back to the southern beds: After FM removed all the sod bits from this area by hand, it's ready for arborist's wood chips. Spreading the chips will be tackled another day.

The eastern end with Grevillea 'Neil Bell' terminating the newest bed that shall be mulched with wood chips. Gravel is expensive and heavy, or we would consider gravel here.

A wider shot with the Himalayan mounds on the left with the new bed on the right. A few bits of sod remain but we'll get them soon enough and it will be mulched. I'll also add few other plants I have tucked away for just such an application. Visually speaking, now there is a green path between the two beds and a little less lawn for FM to mow around on the right.

The southern edge of the Himalayan mounds - the right side where Oscar now resides was graveled while the edge of the ceanothus on the left will be mulched wood chips.

The edge of this bed had the last remaining clumps of sod removed and received a good covering of gravel. I have visions of sunny, heat-loving plants filling in here and there, which is exciting. It's been a while since we've had new open spaces to plant.

Oscar and friends in a warm, well-drained site. I just tucked in a few Clarkia amoena, one of our native annual wildflowers, in here.

How much gravel did our little project take? Let's revisit the before pile.

After pile. It's nice to have leftovers for future projects as I use it all the time.

A small before and after. The last two winters have wreaked havoc on artemisia and some cistus. Many of the Artemisia 'Powis Castle' will rebound but I got tired of waiting for this one.

So out it came and as a matter of fact it was dead after all, not just dormant. I would have waited a long time. I replaced it with a Muehlenbeckia astonii that was in a less-than-ideal location. Here it can get large and happy. And, yes, I know it looks like a dead plant but trust me, there are teeny green leaves on it.

Phormium tenax 'Atropurpureum' had another rough winter. Time for a clean up.

A little better. It will, as it always does, grow out of it and have beautiful new leaves soon.

From a distance with our now full 2500-gallon cistern.

Now a few critter updates. Exciting times, we had a swarm of honey bees visit us!

It was fascinating to first just hear them, then spot them high up in a large maple tree then swarm downwards towards the garden and eventually land here. As we currently have an empty hive (awaiting new occupants to be picked up later this week, coincidentally), FM ran and picked it up on the opposite side of the property and placed it underneath this swarm. He added some lemon oil to attract them and they seemed to be moving in. Alas, the next day we checked and they had not established themselves. It was still a great experience.

A brief video of bees in flight.

Signing off with our buddy Doug the Douglass squirrel, one of our native critters. He's a lot smaller than the not-native variety and is much friendlier. We like Doug (we have about five Dougs and Douginas running around). He'll do this for a few minutes, get the seeds falling to the ground where he quickly inhales them and the birds can go back to sitting on the feeder. 

As far as these projects are concerned, I think in time they will create much needed flow in the garden. I remember saying a few years ago that we have our hands full and I'm not interested in adding any new garden beds. I think perhaps my hands must not be as full as they were when we were first starting out for I certainly do not wish to add more to our work load. I think quite the opposite is true. I think this will reduce the work load a little, in time, with that much less lawn for FM to mow and mole damage to deal with. The gravel tends to deter moles (mostly), while when wood chips are deep enough any mole activity is obscured. There will be a little weeding through the gravel and wood chips for a while, but this will eventually fade away. And we're not done, there are at least two more areas we would love to work on, all in good time. The spirit of gardening for me is inviting inspiration to drive changes.

One last thing, Gravel Day means ibuprofen. Except my doctor recently told me I shouldn't take it any more, it's really bad on the heart, kidneys, etc. So what's a gardener to do? Darn. I lived on the stuff for the past several years. Heating pads and ice packs, here I come. And an extra glass of wine.

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always, thank you so much for reading and commenting, we love hearing from you!

Comments

  1. Oh gosh, that is hard work! I was told the same thing about ibuprofin this week. Ive taken way too much over the years. It may be too late for me! How do you cut your phormium? I'm assuming just take out a few leaves at a time? I saw someone on a video from England cut it down totally but I'm afraid to do that.

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    1. You too with the ibuprofin? Sheesh...I'm sorry. As far as the phormium, I just cut a leaf off at a time and keep ones that have decent foliage. I think it helps it recover better to have some leaf material photosynthesizing - I've been tempted to hack the whole thing back but haven't had the guts.

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  2. The new areas look fantastic! As I started to read all I could think about was NEW PLANTING SPACE! Yay! I was also going to ask about the moles and how bad their damage to the gravel area would be, so thanks for answering that. As for the ibuprofen, it's magic isn't it? So hard to resist.

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    1. Thank you Danger! I know...new space? I'm giddy. I wish I knew of a good nursery to buy some new plants....hee hee. Now I have excuses to bring home treasures from work (Cistus).

      Moles still do get into the gravel, mind you, but it's not as bad as other areas. Maybe they don't like the sharp bits on their little feet.

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  3. Exciting! We are trying to re-gravel some paths that are weed-choked. Hard work! I am trying to get inspired to get a few loads of wood chip mulch; I feel like "what to use as mulch in which beds" takes up too much of my brain energy. Shredded leaves? Bark? Compost? Wood chips? Gravel? Oh well!

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    1. Re-graveling is hard work but it looks instantly better. Woo hoo! I know...there are a lot of choices out there for mulches. For soil health, bark is not a good choice I'm told (University of Washington Plant Professors website), the others are all personal preference, I'd say.

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  4. It's wonderful to be rewarded for all that hard work with new areas to plant what you choose! My husband and I dug out all our lawn in stages years ago (after a gardening service did a feeble job of manually stripping the sod in one area). It took forever but it was so worth it.

    Do be careful with the ibuprofen. A friend with serious back issues took heavy doses over a prolonged period and ended up with "strictures" in her intestine, leading to frequent trips to the ER and finally surgery. Even now, she has to restrict her diet.

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    1. Digging out lawn is one of my least favorite tasks to do, it's so HARD on the muscles. Thank dog for the sod cutter, it's a start at any rate.

      Thanks for the ibuprofen warning, I had no idea it was THAT bad for me, it's interesting that everyone here seems to have a similar story of themselves or someone they know having issues.

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  5. I'm over 70 with many painful areas and quit taking ibuprofen years ago. Try diclofenac on the sore spots. The expensive one is called Voltaren. You rub it in well, and it seems like it's doing nothing. Later, you realize the pain is gone or at least a lot better. Works for me.
    I took my lawn out by covering with newspaper and leaves. It killed all the grass over a winter except, of course, the Bermuda grass which we are plagued with here. I will never be rid of it. There isn't much in the way of newsprint down here anymore, unfortunately.
    Another interesting post, thanks!

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    1. Thank you for the ibuprofen alternatives, Barb. I appreciate it. I'll look for these.

      Yes, if I had to do it by myself I would have solarized or covered the grass but gratefully FM was willing to use the sod cutter. Ah, Bermuda grass...what a curse. So sorry.

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  6. You and Facilities Manager did a great job! I got rid of my bits of lawn with a shovel, but they were few and beach-towel sized at most. A bigger lawn is 10x the work of a little one.

    Heating pad and ice work for me. A hot bath is a special treat.

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    1. Thank you, Hoover Boo! Heating pads and ice...those are a few of my favorite things these days. And the bath, too. Cheers!

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  7. Linda Wisner7:46 AM PDT

    I love following your undertakings here in this blog. I’m both inspired and empathetic to the effort it takes…and resulting cranky bodies.

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    1. Thank you Linda! You of all people know the pains of a large garden and effort to manage it. I salute you. And THANK YOU for the kale, it's growing like gangbusters. Can't wait to eat some!

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  8. Anonymous7:59 AM PDT

    Those extensive projects are exciting. It's better to get them done while we are young(ish). In 10 years you'll admire your younger self for accomplishing those tasks. Knowing your garden as you do, you'll apply "lessons learned" to the new areas. It's going to be spectacular, hopefully easier to maintain and give you less heartaches.

    I've never experienced a swarm of bees, both thrilling and scary at the same time.
    The manic look in Doug the squirrel's eye, reminded me of Jack Nicholson's famous photo, 'Here's Johnny!' ...
    Chavli

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    1. I hope it's easier to maintain, Chavli, that's the goal overall. And I hope to apply lessons learned but somehow I can't remember what I planted yesterday....funny how that is. Cheers! Oh, and Doug the squirrel says hellooo!

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  9. Aleve and voltrin ointment work well for me.

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    1. Ooh, thank you for the tips, Tracy. I'll look into the voltrin ointment.

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  10. Anonymous11:19 AM PDT

    It's funny how "island beds" have become dirty words. I think in the right circumstances (ie, they aren't just floating, they have a purpose) they still have a place. That said, I like the changes, there's a nice flow with them.

    I was fortunate enough to have a swarm come through my neighborhood a couple of years ago, completely fascinating!

    I don't know too much about bees, but I do know that you can call and get a local beekeeper to come collect them. As no one in my immediate neighborhood kept bees, I helped my neighbor coordinate this and then watched as the beekeeper removed them. So interesting! They were so mellow she scraped (kind of) them off the branches into a bucket and then put them in a hive box. She said the key to getting the bees to relocate is to find the queen. Once you find her and move her, the rest of the hive will follow. So for next time, tell FM to be ready with the bee suit and a nice clean bucket!

    I'm sorry to hear about the ibuprofen but I must admit that I have wondered how you two got so much done and seemed pretty unaffected. We've added large heating pads (or cooling) and various arnica and cbd balms to the recovery routines. I wish you luck in finding a combination that works for you and gives you some relief.

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    1. Hi Anonymous, thanks so much for your comments! I'm a little confused, though - I didn't realize "island beds" had become dirty words? Maybe I'm out of touch but I think however one likes to garden is a-okay and a garden bed is certainly not offensive to me.

      The bee experience was super cool and I wish we would have found a home for them here, but they moved on. We got our hive of bees that we purchased all settled in a day or two ago so they seem happy! Maybe FM will be able to grab a bucket in time.

      Oh, we get a lot done and are indeed super sore, ibuprofen or not. What most people don't see behind the scenes are heating pads, hot baths and a funky back massage thing my mom gave me which totally all help. Arnica and cbd, I'll check those out. OK, cbd is already in the rotation, I admit ;)
      Cheers!

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  11. Well done! Moving gravel and mulch are my least favourite jobs but the results are always worth the effort. The new areas look great. I still have a huge pile of soil and bark mulch that overwintered at the end of our driveway awaiting it's new home. However, sod and weeds have to be removed first and there's way too many other jobs. It's Spring. A good morning and evening stretching routine and a morning sit on the heating pad work wonders.

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    1. Woo hoo - here's to getting the least favorite jobs checked off of the list. Thank you for your kind words. Yes, spring is just about the busiest time of the year, for sure. And thanks for the stretching reminders, I've been doing my yoga video a little more lately and that does help.

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  12. Very worthwhile projects, and the sense of satisfaction after completion is almost a pain reliever in itself!

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    1. I run on satisfaction, Denise! Ha ha....seriously though, you are spot-on. I'm very driven that way and I have a feeling you are too ;)

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  13. It is interesting for me to see how well gravel works in some situations, but not others. How do you maintain it? Coincidentally, I've been preparing a post on my experiences with gravel paths in the garden. I thought they would be low maintenance, but it didn't work well for us at all. Between the moles pulling up the clay subsoil and weed seeds, and the raccoons, squirrels, and jays kicking wood mulch into the gravel, it quickly turned into a weedy mess. One of my projects this year is to start replacing with more permanent, less weed-prone options.

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    1. The gravel, yes, it's not ideal for everyone. For us, most of the paths are in "lawn" so we don't get much debris from critters. We do get debris from lawn clippings when FM mows, I simply use a leaf blower (i have a battery powered one I love). That also helps keep weed seeds off of it if I walk through with the blower every few days. I don't get much mole activity under the gravel, they are rather in areas we water. I have much more mole activity under the wood mulch in other shady, wet areas which is easy to "fix". The key is making sure the gravel is deep enough. I had a landscape designer tell me once at least 6" is what you want.

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