The Big Dig of the Day
How could it be that the raised bed right outside the east end of our home was done 20 years ago. That may very well explain how the south end of it had sunk a bit from not having the correct down spout on for rains. Today started out as 
me sitting on the patio and looking at it. The jewel of the planter was a rather large Fern Peony that was poking through quite nicely. Over the years, I had been fighting a self-seeding perennial that is an offspring of the chive plant. It is the first thing out of the ground in the spring and comes back ten fold from the previous year. Pretty but invasive. The longer I sat and looked at the lopsided planter and all the nasty perennials taking over I decided enough was enough.
We have been advised to build up the slope of the landscape on the north side of the house foundation as it goes out to the north grass. Well shucky darn . . . today may be a good day to begin that project. Out came my little red wheelbarrow and the dirt began to fly. The nasty perennials were thick and their roots were deeper than I had imagined. I began digging down deep and getting rid of that soil as to get as much of the nasty’s out as possible. When Dennis saw me tipping out the concrete pavers to get a better perspective for digging . . . he disappeared. Dennis had decided it would be a good day to clean the patio porch. Hey, I love getting multiple tasks done in a day.
The three hosta that were in the planter were dug out and set in pails of water. It was the only way to wash the roots and pick out the nasty perennial bulbs. The north side of the house got a fair amount of soil to begin that project. I made sure not to disturb the Fern Peony’s roots. Dennis got his pickup out and we were on our way to Fleet and Farm. We bought 12 bags of the Ace brand garden soil to fill the planter. It was time it had a fresh start. The Ace brand was almost $4.00 less per bag than the Miracle Grow brand. Both touted having fertilizer additives to their garden soil.
As the project went on, I got out the four foot level. With the wall of pavers having been brought up to snuff, and adding the new garden soil, it began looking like a good end to a good day’s work. The hosta got plunked into their spaces with a nice covering of clean soil as they were not yet ready to have their tender spikes exposed to the elements. It was more work than I had bargained for today. Once the project started, I knew I wouldn’t quit until it was done. Leaving projects such as this to be finished at another time, only begs for me being crabby about having to go back and get dirty all over again.
As it was . . . it was the first day of wearing my new shoes for outside work and they needed cleaning, my shirt got put into a soaking tub as I had gotten muddy washing hosta roots, and my glasses were specked with mud. I do throw myself into these projects . . . full bore. What a wonderful feeling . . . the planter is done and . . . Dennis’ patio porch is spick and span and supper is going to be chicken brats and frozen waffles. Sweet! You can betcha that the extension of the down spout will be on before this day is over. It was Dad’s favorite saying: “You don’t have time to do it right . . . but you always have time to do it over.”