Good Start

I've gotten quite a bit done - my nephew and I moved the blocks around and dug up dirt and grass last week, and my sis in law and I did more on Friday. She loves doing stuff outside so was chopping roots, moving and digging and setting the rocks, etc. She also potted the two hanging baskets for me. No one seems to want me anywhere around axes and power tools, I hear. Hmph. She even warned Brian - not that we used any power tools.

I dug up the hostas around the trees to put them somewhere else. I also dug up some Pink Pewter and White Nancy Lamium and put that around the trees instead. (I"m very impressed with myself for knowing what they are.) I haven't replanted the hostas yet, and still need to plant the coral bells and other things I've gotten, but I did get some of the planters planted. I put marigolds in the front beds, and hope they get enough sun. We plan to trim the fronts of the flowering crabs in front, so maybe the marigolds will get enough light to keep them happy. I love marigolds so hope they do okay there. I did find an astilbe that says it's more tolerant of drought and light, so will put those in too. We've always kind of wanted a bench, so if we find one that we like, I'll put it in, and scatter plants around. I also got some columbine for height, too.

I found some Rieger begonias and put them in some pots - maybe they'll be high enough up the squirrels won't notice them. (good luck with that, I suppose...) I always put coleus in the pots by the house since there isn't much light there. I'm also going to cheat and use fake plants in the basket by the door, since that gets no sun. If someone is close enough to the door to notice they're fake, they're apt to be someone I've invited, so they won't care if they're fake!

I hadn't been to Malmberg's yet, so went there Thursday. Lots of nice stuff there, so I'll add that to my list of places. It's not far from work, which is an added bonus.

I'll have to start doing things left-handed out there - I seem to have given myself "garden elbow" which is the same as "Tennis Elbow" without the tennis. That's what you get for being too enthusiastic. :-)