All in a days work - vacation project no 2

Today I started on another vacation project. Not a fun one but a long avoided and dreaded task….weeding my big yard at the country house. I have managed to keep the worst at bay up at the house but outside the barn and the old stable it looks like a rainforest.
It’s a gravel stone yard and my husband does must of it by using a lawn mower with a sort of raking thingy at the back of it….Oh yes he drives it of course. Unfortunately the machine leaves about half a meter close to the house and that is where I come in……




But today was the day when my days of weeding would finally be over. I had a plan! I was going to clear the ground from weeds, cover it with a mulching sheet and then make a flower bed. So? Well, by making the flower bed a meter wide my husband would be able to drive the mower along side of it and hey presto, no more weeding for me. Woohoo, am I good or what?

Two hours, four wheelbarrows and an almost broken back later I was done! Now it was just the fun stuff left. Planting the plants.



This is when I went into denial folks; totally forgetting that under the gravel is an old cobble stone yard. I had 16 plants to plant. 16 not very big plants! It took me four hours to dig 16 freaking holes mostly using an iron bar lever. Some of the stones where so big and heavy that I actually wept from fatigue… The only thing that kept me going was the thought of not doing any weeding anymore.

Killer stones!



Here is the finished result.

I know it doesn`t look like much to brag of right now. But give it a year, then the Hosta will cover the mulching sheet, the Clematis will climb high on its pillar, the box ball will be bigger and the honey suckle will be covering the stones - hopefully. But best of all, next year I will do no more weeding !!!!

The white stuff along the stone border? Well that is raw wool used for damage control, keeping the field rabbits and deer from breakfasting on the plants! I meant to cover it with another row of stones but I just couldn’t manage to lift another stone ….. But tomorrow is another day….

Take care
Jeanette


PS Life in the country isn’t entirely bad. At the end of the day when I walk down my driveway enjoying the stillness and the insects settling for the night – then I feel blessed!