Yard

The bad news is that I had to have some landscaping cut down earlier this month.  Dead trees, dead shrubs, etc.  There was a dead tree too large for me to handle and remove, so I decided to have some other problems removed at the same time.  Used to look like this...

Those are all gone now...  Drought and windstorms.

The good news is that I can re-landscape the front yard.  Sometimes, it is good to have changes.  Choosing new things to plant will be fun.  They will be more heat and drought tolerant.  I also plan to reduce the lawn area.  I have a mulching mower, so lawn-clippings just stay on the soil a decay.  But grass wants what grass is - itself, so I don't fertilize it madly like some people do.  I give it a "bit" of organic slow-release nitrogen (corn gluten) every couple of years.  Well, some nitrogen escapes over time and the grass needs some replacement.

The mulching mower also shreds the fallen tree leaves.  That adds some bulk to the soil.  When I moved here 36 years ago, the soil would crack open like a dried-up river bed.  After all those years of leaving the grass and leaf clippings in place, the soil is softer, more fertile, and the grass doesn't even go dormant in the Summer.

But a large clear lawn is not my goal.  Sure, I want what there is to be healthy, but I don't need so much of it.  Every few years, I tend to add more islands of flowerbeds and a few shrubs (framed to make mowing easier).  I have to build 3 new ones now where the dead shrubs used to be.

Ideally, the entire front yards would go from "framed islands" to the whole thing with paths.  But I'm getting older gradually (is there any other way?) and maintenance becomes harder.  Well, wherever there are framed beds, I don't have to mow there.  And if I keep paper covered with mulch deep enough in the frames, I don't have to weed there either.  

So I guess I am planning how to make my future (less active) life easier.  Eventually, I won't even need a riding mower.  The self-propelled electric one will do all that it required.  My next car will be all-electric too.  Eventually, I will just have a landscaped yard with paths among the trees, islands, and shrubs.  

Flashback Friday

I use Flashback Friday to show old events on Mark's Mews.  So why not here as well?

I had built 2 landscaping boxes on either side of the front steps. Back in 2009, I had Caladiums on the left and fancy Hostas on the right.  They were gorgeous.  

OK, that year.  Neighbors commented on them.  Then the deer found them...  Hostas are deer-candy.  I have moved most to the backyard where the deer don't try to enter.  They didn't like the Caladiums so much, but Caladiums aren't hardy here.  If you don't dig them up and store the bulbs properly, they are gone.  I didn't get around to that.  I might buy more next Spring for planting elsewhere.

So I converted the Caladium bed to Snow-On-The-Mountain.  I got some from my parents in New Hampshire and deer don't eat them.  They multiplied rapidly and that was good.

But some sprouts went all green and took over.  I'm still fighting to pull those up and get the bed all the variegated type.  But the green ones are hard to kill.  I think I'll have to just dig up the variegated ones and pot them, pulling out any green sprouts.  Then smother the bed over Winter and try to replant next Spring.

I'll put paper over the bed (that stuff used for packing in shipping boxes).  I have a lot of it.  I'll poke holes in it and set the variegated pots in those.  Should give them a better chance to re-establish.

I have 3 dozen Nandina shrubs growing and need to decide where to plant them.  Saved the seeds 3 years ago and they are a foot tall now.  They takes months to germinate.  Deer won't touch them, which is good, and they are evergreen with bright red berries in Winter.  

Mine stay about 4' tall and 3' wide.  I think the edge of the drainage easement would be a good place.  They have strong deep roots (I tried to dig one up once) and would resist occasional drainage flooding.  And since they are evergreen, they make a good yard border.

A lot of Nandina and Hollies would be interesting...

 

Getting Busy Again, Part 3

Tomorrow is  Hosta Dividing and Moving Day!  The deer have "loved" my front yard hostas too much; they have to be moved into the back yard where the deer don't go (good fence).  I have 2 spaces for them.

The first is just under the edge of the deck.  I planted coleus and impatiens there this year , but I stuck in 2 small hostas and they thrived.  So it is a good place.  I will add my fanciest hostas from the front, ('June' and "Paul's Glory' and a few 'Gold Drops').  The larger ones will go into a hosta bed I created years ago along the fence to replace some that have died and increase the number of them.  I have decided having more in the bed is better than just having a few several feet apart.  Well, the originals there didn't grow as big as I expected.

I also have a few dozen Japanese Painted Ferns.  The deer never bothered them, but I would prefer most of them among the hostas.  I love the combination.

However, there was 1 large LARGE hosta the deer never bothered.  It is 'Blue Angel".  It is HUGE!  It is 3' across and 2' high with thick bluish crinkly leaves, slug-resistant and (apparently) deer resistant.  It might get larger.  But the important thing is that each is large enough to divide into 4ths.  And I have 3 of them.  That makes for 12.

3 of the divisions went back into nearby spots a little more spread out.  Instead of 3 across (where they were overlapping), there will be 2 across and 1 centered behind.  They were covering my paver path to the hose spigot, so they needed to be moved anyway.

The good part is that  that leaves 9 divisions for the larger landscaping box to the other side of the front steps.  They will fill that box mostly and I will put some of the volunteer Japanese Painted Ferns between them.

After removing all the existing deer-loved hostas first, of course.  I will leave no plant behind.  I stuck landscaping flags in the center of every existing hosta last month, so I know where to dig even if the leaves are all gone.  I expect 90% will survive the transplanting.  Hostas are tough! 

I had 4 very common boring solid green hostas I removed before a landscaper scraped the soil off a ridge leaving it flat.  I divided each one in 1/4s and stuck them under the stairs from the deck there it is really dim light.  15 of 16 thrived!  I expect all the other hostas I divide and move will do as well.

Plant Growth And New Seeds

1.  I am so relieved that the new late-planted spring bulbs are coming up.  Counted 110 tulips today, about 100 early daffodils, and the first few late daffodils.  No hyacinths yet.  Because the top of the soil was so hard, I watered the area to soften it.  The Winter rains and melting snow have the ground well-moisted deep, but the surface was very dry and hard.

2.  While trying to water the new spring bulbs with a sprinkler, I discovered it stuck in one position.  Something else to take apart and repair.

3.  And I say "something else to repair" because I had to take apart my submersible pond pump a few days ago to find why it wasn't working.  Good ones cost a few $100.  Turns out there is a simple rod that broke.  The material is uncertain; it's a bit rough to be plastic, a bit smooth to be ceramic; maybe its resin.  Anyway, it's what turns a "impeller" (think "propeller").  I gather that the difference is that the first pushes and the second pulls.

And thereby hangs a tale.  The pump stopped working and I don't know anything about pond pumps.  The pump didn't even have a brand name on it.  But I looked at the specification plate, and saw a UL (Underwriters Laboratory) number.  So, thinking the UL number might provide some information, I searched it.

WOW!  The UL number actually did lead me to the pump!  Not the actual manufacturer like I hoped, but to the generic model.  It turns out that many companies sell the same items under their own name.  But all the parts are the same!!!

And there in one listing was a replacement impeller that looked identical.  Not just the broken rod (which would have been easily and more cheaply replacable) but at least the unit is WAY cheaper than a new pump.  It should arrive in a couple days.

4.  So why did I want the pump working?  To spray liquid corn gluten all around the yard.  Corn gluten stops weed seeds (and any other seeds) from germinating.  Some weeds germinate in Spring, others in Fall.  I try to do it in both Spring and Fall, and I have to admit that I have a LOT fewer weeds in the lawn than my neighbors who use more serious chemicals.

And a benefit is that corn gluten is 9-0-0 fertilizer.  All nitrogen, which is just what your lawn needs.    But back to why I wanted the pump working... 

The liquid corn gluten comes in containers you just hook up to a hose and spray around the yard.  Only they don't work.  THEY JUST DON'T WORK.  I'm not surprised.  The supplier is selling the liquid corn gluten and saying it is easy to apply.  They don't want to spent money on disposable applicators!  So, of course, they don't work. 

The product reviews are constant in the complaints about the sprayer function.  So, I thought, why do it THEIR way?  I poured a bottle of the stuff through a fine mesh sieve (many users complained about corn grit blocker the sprayers) into a barrel filled with water. 

So (brilliant me), I would just use the submersible pond pump to spray a diluted mix all over the yard using a fan nozzle (so that I would see if the output holes where getting clogged).  And then the pump didn't work!

Here's hoping the replacement impeller solves that problem.  The corn gluten really DOES inhibit initial seed roots, but you only have a couple of weeks to apply it (when the forsythia are starting to bloom - the same time the weed seeds germinate). 

5.  Planted 6 more flats of seeds today.  A flat equals 35 cells (cell = 1.5" square x 2" deep) for me - I leave one cut out for watering.  This weekend was bell peppers, zinnias, and marigolds.  I've given up on most perennial flowers.  They don't bloom for long, most die after a few years, and I have time to grow and plant annuals.  THEY bloom all season, and I love seeing all the flowers all season.

6.  Cuttings of the 3' Knockout Rose and the 3' dwarf butterfly bush aren't  sending out new shoots after 3 weeks in pots, but they aren't dying either, so that is encouraging.  The original plants are sending out new branches, so that it good.  At least if the cuttings don't root, the original plants are still doing well.  Planted outside in early May, they should branch out more and I will have another chance to get cuttings to root.

Gardening/rooted shoots is fascinating.  And "something for nothing" is always good.  The azalea cuttings from last Fall are all doing well and are doubled in height and branches from last month. 

Weather

I have to admit that I appreciate the delayed Winter here.  On the other hand, the bad forecasts are driving me crazy.

I look at The Weather Channel website FOR MY ZIPCODE (which should be pretty specific) and it says 0% chance of precipitation for 5 days.  And so I walk outside to plant more Spring Bulbs (daffodils now) and heavy mist is falling.  Which means the soil is muddy.  ARGHH!

Well, at least I have gotten 90% of the tulips and hyacinths planted in vole/squirrel proof wire cages.  There are a few leftovers of each and I can plant them in pots to be enclosed in the garden area with hopes of getting blooms and replanting them next Spring.

I still have daffodils to plant, but they don't need cages (being toxic to the varmints).  I can plant THOSE using my 12" drill auger.  As soon as the rain stops...

And with just drilling holes and dropping bulbs in, the daffs go in fast.  Which is why I left them for last.  At least I'm done with the digging of 14'X16" holes 12" deep!

I always try to do too much.  LOL!  Well, better than trying to do too little.

I have a lot of crocus bulbs, but those are going in some large shallow plastic bins to grow in Spring and then be replanted in May along a border.

It didn't seem like THIS much work when I ordered all the bulbs last Fall!  I'm bad at estimating the work my projects require.  But it will be worth it in Spring and for many Springs to come.   I don't think I will be planting any more Spring bulbs for many years to come.

Tomorrow is supposed to rain all day.  Good.  I have some serious inside cleaning to do!

More Bulb Planting Fun

The Project That Never Ends continues...  WHAT was I thinking when I ordered 350 tulips/hyacinths/daffodils to plant?  Well, I suppose because I had new space and I decided in September to landscape rather than just plant grass.  And its not the bulbs, its the making of and the digging for all the wire cages to protect them from the Evil Squirrels and Nasty Voles.

Just planted in the ground, the squirrels dig them up from above and the voles eat them from below.  I'm hoping the wire cages keep them safe and blooming for years.  But I never expected it would be so much work!

I've bored you with the process before, so I won't do that again.  But even to do a few cages takes time.  It's the weather...

In one sense, I have been very lucky with the weather.  The ground is usually frozen hard by mid November and it has stayed oddly warm this year.  So I have had more time to plant them.  On the other hand, it has rained some  almost every day for 6 weeks.  Not that we are flooded; the rain is a soft drizzle.  But that's enough to make the soil slippery and muddy.  And you don't want to dig in wet soil because it packs down.  And at the end of a day working in wet soil, I would look like The Swamp Thing!

So I have a large 36'x30' sheet of plastic I cover the area with every day.  OK, the bottom 4' are not covered, but that section was the first I planted so I don't have to step in it.

So every day when it is not raining, I take all the stones off some of the edges of the plastic, peel it back for where I want to plant, and get 3 more bulb cages (holding 9 bulbs each) set in.  3 cages take about 90 minutes and after that I'm tired.  Well, each hole has to be 14"x16" and 12" deep.  And the dug up soil has to go somewhere other than on top of the previous plantings (I have styrofoam plates marking the planted spots and I can't cover THEM).

So putting the dug-up soil gets trickier the more cages I plant.  I have all the tulips planted (20 cages) and I am on the hyacinths at the outer edge on one side.  That side (of the 30' edged circle) is the easier to dig in (sandier soil vs clayier soil), so I favor that area for digging.

The other side of the circle will be for daffodils, more about those when I plant them, but they are FAR easier to plant...

So I wanted to start on the hyacinths yesserday.  The forecast looked good.  The Weather Channel website for my town said no rain until 6 pm.  Hurray!  I got started at 2:30.  It took 15 minutes to get the ools and bulbs outside and peel the plastic sheeting off.  So I started to dig the first hole.

And then it started to rain!  Misty at first but then more steadily...  Dammit!  I waited a few minutes as the rain got heavier.  But I gave up and re-covered the planting site with the plastic and put all the tools away. 

Fortunately, I also needed to go grocery-shopping, so off I went with rain falling on the windshield.  For 2 minutes...

Then it stopped completely.  For the rest of daylight.  ARGHHH!

Well, at least I got the grocery-shopping done...

More Tulip Planting

Why do I keep getting involved in these projects that are nearly beyond my ability?  It is easy to plan things, I suppose, underestimating the physical work required.  Back in September, I ordered enough tulip bulps to fit 9 each into 27 cages.  Seemed like there was plenty of time...

(Some of this may have been previously mentioned)...

But then I learned that the bulbs wouldn't be shipped until early November.  So no point in doing anything before then.  (coff, coff)  Well, yeah, I SHOULD have made all the cages before then, but I thought that would only take a day.  I mean, I have good metal snips and a couple of metal blades for my jigsaw.  It should be like cutting cardboard.

WRONG!  The first cut into the wire mesh bends the cut wire and those grab the snips.  And the wire mesh is so flexible, it just vibrates along with the jigsaw blade to no effect.  So each wire in the grid along the cutting path has to be individually snipped from straight down.  I counted once and each cage required 277 snips!  After 4 of those cage cutouts (and forming the cutout into a cage) my hands started cramping.  It took a week to make 20 cages, and at that point I decided I better plant some and see how well they worked.

Well, digging the holes for the cages couldn't be all that hard, right?  12'x14'x10' deep.  I knew I was in trouble at the first stomp on the spade.  Now, this is a 100% metal spade with a newly sharpened flat blade.  Roots, rocks, clay.  I had to pound in an outline of the cage, use my leverage fork to break up the inside portion of the hole-to-be, pry out rocks, axe roots, and shovel out the soil one level at a time.  The clay stuck to the shovel and had to be knocked off.  For every shovelful I scooped out, I had to do several different things!  Each cage planting took 30 minutes of hard work.

Best I could manage was 3 holes a day before I was exhausted.  I can still do that kind of work at 65, but I don't think I would have done much better at 35.  Back was sore, legs were sore, hips were sore.

But just digging the hole is only half the work.  The soil below the hole had to be loosened so hole wasn't just a smooth clay bathtub and so the bulb roots could penetrate.  Tnen I had to sprinkle in some organic bulb fertilers and mix in in the loosened bottom.  Then I had to add some 1/2 compost 1/2 topsoil blend I bought a trailerload of at a landscaping place and mix in more fertilizer.  Then place the cage on the bottom and add more of the compost blend (you don't want the bulbs ON the wire mesh).

Then set the bulbs in the cage in a way that looks "natural" (If there is anything less "natural" than this whole process, I can't imagine it), then fill up he cage with for blend (for good drainage).  Then add another couple inches of blend over the top and rub it around to make sure there was no air space in the cage.  Then shovel some of the removed soil back on top slightly higher than soil level to allow for settling.

As a final gesture of organization, I bought a package of styrofoam plates to use as placers, wrote the name of the bulb (I have 4 varieties of tulips) on the plate with a marker, and stuck the plate over the spot with a 10" metal tent peg.

That's ONE cage of 9 bulbs...

Then because it has suddenly become randomly rainy lately, I had to cover the entire area with a large sheet of plastic (which I have) so the entire area wouldn't become a sea of mud.  Naturally, with the rain comes wind, so I had to surround the perimeter with rocks.  Which weren't enough, since the plastic was blown loose each of the first couple tries.  I finally had to resort to using 12' sq paver stones and REALLY large rocks and old pipes etc to hold it down.

And since the plastic cover got blown loose the first couple of times and I had to let the soil dry some (and some days when the plastic STAYED on after that, it rained all day so I couldn't really do any work there anyway).

So here I am in late December, having planted only 12 of the 20 cages.  And everytime I do, I have hand-cramps a couple hours later (naturally, just the time I am trying to prepare dinner).  Muscle rub creme helps, as does an aspirin, but only about 30 minutes after they start.   Meanwhile, I'll be cutting up veggies and meat,  and my fingers just lock into place around the knife handle or cooking pot handle and I actually have to pull them off.

ARGGHHH!  I would worry more, but that only happens after a day of hard tool use.  But it still is really annoying.

I've gotten better at the process.  Between the spade, the shovel, the leverage fork, and the post hole digger, I can get the hole dug out a bit easier and faster.  The spade defines the outline, the leverage fork breaks up the soil inside the outline, the shovel scoops out the loosened soil, and the post hole digger takes up the lower level of soil better.  But, mainly, switching tools uses different muscles so I don't get sore so fast.  I have it down to 20 minutes per planting a cage start to finish.

Fortunately, we don't have freezing temperatures forecast again until January.  But therein lays a problem.  More about that in 2 days!

The Last Edging Circle, 2

Well, you may recall that I had a ridge leveled in my back yard, the soil moved to raise a part of the front yard and that I was creating some areas bordered with edging so I could plant stuff.  And that I had become royally tired of digging trenches for the edging in the rocky soil.  And because there were some large tree roots I did not want to cut which meant cutting the edging to fit on top of the roots.

So I left the last one half done for a week and did other stuff.  Well, I am happy to report that I finished it today.  No more digging in that soil...

There are 3 edged areas.

The far one has perennial wildflowers mixed in with enough compost to barely cover.  I have no idea what will happen there.  The package of seeds did not specify which plants were, and they grow so slowly that I won't recognize any until they bloom, and there were already some small weeds growing there.  I might end up nurturing 400 sq ft of weeds until next Summer when I see nothing blooming  when I have to replant more carefully.

The middle smaller area is for Lychimartra Firecracker, a lovely bronze foliage plant about 24" high with lots of small yellow flowers.  But it is a bit invasive and needs to be contained by itself.  It has its own 200 sq ft circle so that I can mow around it!

The nearest area, also 400 sq ft will be a combination of daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths for Spring color; with transplants of purple coneflowers, black-eyed-susans, and goldenrod for Summer and Fall color.  Plus I plan to add a few dwarf butterfly bushes.  I may get a package of seeds of plants that attract butterflies and bees to scatter among the plants next Spring. 

This last area will take some work planting.  Tulips and Hyacinths don't last long here because of the voles, so I have to make cages to plant them in.  The daffodils are fine without cages, being toxic.  But the bulbs haven't been delivered yet, and the transplants still have green leaves so I can't move them yet. 

Which means I can start on the new border of the older flowerbed (up against the fence to the left of the above picture).  I originally planted the border with alternating 12" sections of yellow then purple crocuses.  And 4" gaps between sections for annual Summer flowers.  The voles ate most of the crocus bulbs in just a few years, so this time, I am planting them in cages.  I'll still leave a 4" gap between the cages because it is nice to have Summer flowers there too and change them each year (yellow marigolds one year, dusty miller the next, orange zinnias after that, etc).

At least I don't have to install more edging there.  It's already in place!  And the soil there is soft and the border is the width of my spade.  "Piece of cake".  Right?  Yeah, right...

Fortunately, the weather is forecast to stay nice into mid-November, so I may get away with all this before the first hard freeze hits.  But I had better get working of those cages.  Two sizes of cages actually.  8"L x 6"W x 4"H for the crocus bulb border (so I need about 50 of those).  I haven't decided on the size of the cages for the tulip and hyacinth bulbs yet.  I need to sit down and diagram cages what use a 3' wide roll of wire mesh efficiently.

But I have the crocus bulbs now, so they come first.  The tulip cages can wait a few days...  But they will look basically like this...

 


















 12-18" square, 6" high.  It only needs making a wood form to bend the wire mesh over.  Not that that takes no time, but it beats buying cages at $30 each!

The Last Edging Circle

It nearly done.  I did the last digging yesterday.  Almost...  There are 3 tree roots crossing the edging trench.  I don't want to chop them out; the tree needs them.  They ARE slightly below-ground though.  I think I will cut the bottoms of the edging to fit over top of the roots.  But I sure need to have the whole rest of the edging perfectly fitted around the trench before doing any cutting-to-fit.

Seriously, it has to be about as precise as wood-working.

So I went round and round the circle trench to get it as uniformly deep as possible (but not too deep either, so I can lay in this last area of edging.  The edging is heavy (but cuttable) plastic, and I'll get it to all fit in tomorrow.

But I thought this would take 2 weeks and it has been 6 weeks.  *sigh*  Other demands get in the way.  Laundry, grocery-shopping, cooking,  etc...

At least I'm close to done!  But that's not "quite" done.  The center areas is edged, but that is for transplanted Lychimatria Firecracker to.  Lovely plant; very invasive though.  So I have the circle for it that I can mow around all year and keep it from spreading.

The last area is for semi-shady wildflowers, spring bulbs, and some dwarf azaleas.  I have no idea how that will work out, but I don't have to worry about THAT until next Spring.

Meanwhile, the older flowerbed along the fence has been ignored for months.  I needs work.  Mostly, it needs areas that have been taken over by grass killed.  Fortunately, it won't take more than a day (he said optimistically)  to pull the grass tops off and cover the areas with black plastic for the Winter.  I hope they will die.  And least they will be weakened.  And that whole area needs to be rebuilt next year.

There is too much space there with "just a few of this and a couple of that" left in spots after years of gradual die-backs.  Even perennials don't live forever.

I need to collect the surviving ones from various spots together (9 same plants together look better than 3 spots of 3 plants).  Some long-lived perennials (like purple coneflowers and black-eyed-susans) tend to self-seed to places the prefer, and some plants get exposed to more sunlight than they like when other plants die back and need better conditions.

The good news is that I have 15 daylilies saved in pots from the ridge that was removed, I have 30 azalea cuttings that have been rooting for 2 months, the dwarf butterfly bush and the dwarf knock-out rose seem healthy enough for cuttings (I have a well-lit plant light stand),  and I have LOTS of viable seeds of marigolds, zinnias, salvias, forget-me-nots, butterfly weed, herbs etc.

I am slowly changing from multi-yearly troublesome perennials, that bloom briefly, to replaceable annuals that bloom all year long.  The nice thing about annuals is that you can turn the soil early each Spring before planting and expose the germinating weed seeds to be killed with a shallow hoeing.

Some perennials solve all the problems by growing high and thick so that no weeds thrive.  That's why I'm trying to give the Lychmastria their own space.  There are 2 areas of plants where no weeds grow.  The Lychimastria and the Stokesia (Stokes Asters).  I'll divide the Stokesia (guidance says in Spring, which seems odd, but OK).  To set up another 6x6' area.

Projects

Ever feel you are mentally done doing yard projects for the year?  But they're not finished?  I'm tired, but there is more to do.  I did finally get one done.  The far edged area intended for wildflowers...

I needed to loosen the soil, and I couldn't get the rototiller to start.  It has always been an "iffy" engine.  So I tried to rake the soil loose.  Too much gravel.  But it is supposed to rain lightly tonight and tomorrow while staying above 50F and that would be good for germinating the seeds.  So I thought about it...

Well, I had 2 trashbarrels of a half compost, half topsil mix.  What the seeds want is to get thoroughly moistened to trigger germination, some soil to surround them to trigger rooting, some soil below for the roots to penetrate, and some regular moisture after that for the roots to absorb water and minerals to send upwards to stems and leaves. 

So I used my 2 barrels of compost/soil on the area.  It only came a 1/4" deep when spread around, but the soil under there is decent.  So if they root, they will grow.  Wildflowers are exactly that; "wild",  They don't depend on people spreading fertilizer and in fact usually don't want it. 

So I spread the meager compost/soil mix, scatterred the seeds, walked all over the surface (and using a flat rake to also press down), and then watered the area.  Once lightly, waited 10 minutes and did it a gain, and repeated. 

Why water before a light rain?  To settle the soil around the seeds.  There is less chance now of a rain causing the seeds to get washed into uneven pockets.

And I did it later than I should have.  The package instruction say they want 2 weeks before the first hard frost.  Well, we've already had a frost, but that was before I planted the seeds and the forecast is for at least 10 days without another freeze.  So I may get lucky...

I'll know in a week to 10 days...

Solved It

OK, so the planting timing problem was caused by my wanting to plant lots of spring-flowering bulbs where I was planting wildflowers earlier and not wanting to walk on the sprouting wildflowers.  I had to think on that a while. 

Solution?  Walking-boards and cheap plastic tubs. 

The walking boards will be some pieces of 2"x12" boards left over from the deck construction last year.  With small pieces of 4"x4" scrap wood attached to the bottom, the footprint will be minimal, but allow me to walk out to the pre-dug holes for the wire cages for protecting the spring flowering tulips and hyacinths from the voles.

Each spot for the spring flowering bulbs will have a predug hole with a cheap plastic tub of the soil there.  I will walk out on the supported boards, lift the tub, set the wire cage down, add an inch of soil, set the bulbs down, add the rest of the soil, walk off the board and lift the board off the wildflower sprouts.  

Every problem has a solution...

Crocuses Border

While I was oredering spring floering bulbs (daffodils, tulips, hyanciths) for the new plantng areas, I also had the great idea of replanting the border to the older flowerbeds along the property line.  Sure, why not?  Like I had nothing else to do.  I get myself in these situations where work seems easy when I'm looking at plants online and "gee, how hard could it be to do that"?

ARGHHH!

So...  I used to have a border on the old flowerbed with alternating 1' sections of yellow and purple crocuses.  The voles ate most of them the first year.  But one section survives (for reasons I do not know).  So I want to replicate the gorgeous look of the row of alternating yellow and purple crocuses, but protected from the voles.

The solution is 1/2 "galvanized steel mesh wire cages buried just under ground.  OK, that requires building the cages, digging up the soil, and filling it back in.  It could be a lot worse.  At least THIS soil is well aged and loose, so digging it up is easy.

The real work will be making the cages.   But I am pleased to say I have solved that.  In design anyway.  I planned the cages 8" long, 6" wide, and 4" deep.  But then there was the problem of cutting the shapes out from the existing 3' width rolls of 1/2" wire mesh I bought. 

Well, I started drawing out shapes of unfolded cages.  You remember those IQ or SAT questions about "what is this shape unfolded"?  I got those every time.  Easy Peasy...  So I sat down with graph paper and started laying out the  shapes foldable into cages.  And because the stuff is a bit expensive and I'm cheap, I kept playing with shapes until they worked out with NO wasted material. 

Took an hour of updating software to get the sketch to scan, LOL!  My printer/scanner drivers always seem to be out-of-date...

I'll try to clean this of on some drawing program, but it basically means that I (or you) can make twelve 8" long x 6" wide x 4" deep cages from 5' 4" of 1/2" hardware cloth.  But it means I found a layout of mostly foldable parts and some few ends that need to be wired in place to make cages with NO WASTE! 

And I've made a form for the bending out of scrap 2"x6"x8" wood.  Its simple enough.  Cut a nominal 6" wide 8" long and screw and glue supports under it.  Or just screw and glue 3 stacked onto each other. 

If you have questions about that, email me at cavebear2118 AT verizon DOT net.

My plan is to have an 8" cage, 4" space for an annual plant like a marigold or zinnia, then another 8" cage along the entire 75' flowerbed edge.  So I'll need 75 cages for 75'.  12 cages per 5' 4" = 64' of the cage mesh, and I have 150' of it.  The rest will be used up in 18"x18" cages for the tulips and hyacinths in the new areas.

It all comes together, see?  :)

With apologies to The Beatles:  

"And, in the end,
The flowers you grow
Are equal to the work you do... "

Or to put it another way I read once,  "If you like bacon, you need to get down in the mud and keep the hogs happy".  Meaning that whatever you do, you can do it poorly or well.  Poorly lasts a couple years.  Well, lasts a lot longer.  Doing things well takes less work in the long run.

The Three New Planting Areas

You ever get yourself planned for more than you can do  by the time you should?  Of course you have.  Think of that last party you threw...  For me it is planting stuff.  And the order of planting stuff can get awkward too.

I'm tired of digging ditches for edging.  It's harder than I thought for the 3 new planting areas.

Perspective is strange.  That far one is as big around as the near one.  They are 80', 40', and 80' respectively.  So I had to dig narrow trenches 5" deep to set the edging down mostly in-ground.  The far area ground has a lot of gravel and rocks.  Half the digging required a leverage fork to dig dirt loose along the perimeter, a pick to loosen the rocks, a trenching shovel to scoop the loosened mixture out, and a grub hoe blade (the other side of the pick) to chip away the bottom to get in uniformly 5" deep. 

Naturally, all those tools have short handles, so I was either bent over or on my knees the whole way around with each tool.

OK, it's getting easier as I move toward the house.  The soil is better.  Maybe.  Fewer rocks, but more heavy clay.   The clay stick to the tools and I have to bang them on the ground to get the stuff off!  I was going to say I can't decide which is worse, but actually they both are.  :(

Then of course, the edging has to be set in the trench and the trench has to be refilled.  More fun...  Well, it's easier to backfill the soil than to dig it up, but it still takes some work.

So I have the far area finished (took 3 days of off-and-on work).  More "off" than "on" because I'm way past 30 (my vague recollection of when I was at my physically best).  At 65, I'm at the point where I don't mind working hard with rest in between but darn don't want to die of a heart attack just to plant some flowers.  At 30, that possibility never even occurred to me.   So I make sure to stop every 15 minutes and relax for 5.

I finished the middle edged area today.  Just the nearest one left to do, and I am pretty sure that area as the easiest soil to dig in.  I might get that last edging in in 2 days.

But today, it occurred to me that I have a timing problem with the plantings.  The far area will have a natural wildflower area and some transplanted purple coneflowers, goldenrod, and black-eyed susans.  The smaller middle area will have only the invasive Lychimastria Firecracker.  The nearest area will have half-shade wildflowers.  So far, so good...

But 2 weeks ago, I had the great idea of planting a lot of spring-flowering bulbs among the areas for early color (and most enclosed in below-ground 1/2" wire mesh cages for protection from the voles and squirrels).  Well, the daffodils don't need protection, but the tulips and hyacinths do, and that causes a problem. 

If a plant the wildflower seeds in the far are now (as I should), they will be JUST growing when it is time to plant the spring-flowering bulbs in mid November.  Ack!  I would be walking all over the new plants.  I can't plant them now, as they won't arrive until early November. 

The middle area isn't a problem.  The Lychimastria can't be transplanted until they go dormant, and that will be early November.  So they and the spring-flowering bulbs go in at the same time.  The near area isn't a problem, because the half-sunny wildflowers will get sown in Spring and I can easily walk around the emerging bulbs then.

I'll have to think about how to manage the planting of that far area some more.  I'm not worried; there is always a solution to any problem.  I just have to find it.

And I have more on the landscaping To-Do-List.  200 crocus bulbs to plant in vole-proof cages.  But that's for the next post...

Change In Wildflower Design

I was looking at the 2 areas I was surrounding by inset edging, and realized an error.  I had intended the Lachymistra Firecracker, a very pretty purple-leaf and yellow-flower plant, to be enclosed in a small area I could mow around and prevent from spreading. 

But I laid out 2 large areas.  OOPS!  So I had 5 40' lengths of edging; 3 in one shape and 2 in a circle.  Time to change that.  I changed things to a 40' circumference circle for the Lachymistra Firecracker; an 80' circumference circle for the transplanted Black-Eyed Susans, Purple Coneflowers,  Dwarf Butterfly Bushes, Knockout Roses, and Goldenrods; and a kidney-bean shape of 80' circumference for the wildflower seeds and some local weeds with rather nice flowers (they may be volunteer Pinks from some other yard). 

So now the edging looks like this...

The spaces between the edging are mowable widths...

And nice walkable paths...

I finished the digging of the trench to set the edging down in for the farthest back part today.  It was exhausting.  The trench had to be edged with a garden fork to get through the stones or regular spade where the soil was stone-free, loosened in the center with a heavy pick, and loose soil removed with a trenching shovel.

And I'm only 2/5ths done! 

But an hour a day gets things progressing.  3 more hours will do all the edging-trench digging, and who can't use more exercise? 

It Worked!

Yesterday I mentioned having a neat idea for an easier way to level the 3,500 square feet of rototilled soil in the backyard.

Well, my first idea was to use a rake, but not in the usual way.  I have a 24 inch wide "leveling rake".  Meaning that the non-toothed side has a strong straight metal edge.

My idea was to tie it "upside down" behind the riding lawn mower and drag it around to drag dirt into the furrows.  And maybe put a cinder block on the top to dig in a bit.  But even at 2' wide, that would take all day and only scrape about 1/2"!  What I needed was a BIGGER RAKE.  I didn't have one...  But then I thought about dragging a heavy 4' wide board behind the mower.  I tried that by hand and it just slid over the top of the soil.

Hmmm...

What I needed was an edge for the board at a 90 degree angle.  Another board would just slide too.  A sharper edge was needed.  Think, think, think...

AHA!  I had some 1/4" aluminum strips left over from making floors for my jon boat years ago (I keep stuff).  Well one piece was 4"x4'!  I drilled some holes in the aluminum plate and screwed it to the 4'x2" board.  That left a 2.5" scraper lip under the board.

I tied the contraption to the back of the mower so that it would drag 3' behind the mower  and prepared to try out my creation.  And the mower battery was dead!

ARGGHHHHH!

I carried a boat battery out to the shed to jumpstart the mower and IT was dead.  So I charged up a portable battery jumper (not this brand but same design).

And THAT wouldn't charge!  I finally took the battery out of the mower, took it in the basement and attached it to a regular car battery charger.  Being a small battery, it charged in an hour (enough to start the mower, anyway).

So I started dragging my home-made soil-grader around the furrowed soil.

IT WORKED!!!

In only 1 hour, I had the entire 3,500 square feet leveled.  I went north-south once, east-west once, and diagonally once.  Then I went around just for fun looking for high spots...

The dust was horrible though.  The soil WAS 5' below ground before the ridge was removed.  I was surprised at how utterly dry it was.  Fortunately, there was a slight breeze and I figured out how to stay mostly upwind.  Not always, of course; I did cough a lot.

Obviously, I needed several beers to wash the dust out while I stood on the deck admiring the level soil...

This was longer than I expected, so "tommorrow"...

Rototillering the Back Yard

Well, the back yard was sure a change from the front!  The front was delivered "topsoil", the backyard was existing soil from the ridge.  What a difference in quality, and not the way you would think!!!  The ridge in the backyard was better soil...

When I finished the first 2" tilling of the front packed soil, I was worried about the backyard because they drove the equipment around there a lot more than in the front.  But when I finished the 2" tilling of the new front soil, I did one experimental row through the back.

The back soil is WONDERFUL!  In spite of all the equipment driven over it, it is (relatively) soft, loose, and fertile-looking.  The surface seemed also hard, but the rototiller just went through it like a spoon through flour...  That part is going to be so easy that I feel better about having to spend time on the front.

Hurray for an easy part to the project!

Planting in the backyard is going to be easy.

The important part is deciding what to plant.  The front yard is easy - lawn (keeps the neighbors happy).  The backyard is more important to me and the cats.  We live THERE when outside.  And we like bugs and butterflies and birds and bees.

So, I want a small meadow of native flowers that will support locals bugs and etc.  I think there will be an edging of 3' shrubs (some to each flower in Spring, Summer, and Fall) and 2 pieces of 225 square feet (21 square meters) meadow (separated by a mowable path).  I have some suitable plants I can divide and plant in clumps (coneflowers, black-eye-susans, goldenrod, and I will buy a large packet of native meadowflower seeds to scatter among them in 1 patch .

The other patch will be the Lysimachia Firecracker that has been bedeviling me in the regular flowerbed.  In a patch I can finally mow around, it won't spread easily.  I love the purple leaves and the yellow flowers, it just isn't a friendly neighbor to other plants.  So it gets it's own spot where it can be controlled.

For the Spring Summer, and Fall blooming shrubs, I am choosing Azaleas for Spring, a Rhododendron for Fall, and I'm not sure about a small Summer-blooming shrub, but considering Knock-out Rose and or a dwarf butterfly bush.  Suggestions for USA Zone 7 are welcome.

When I measure the new area for a scaled layout, I'll post it.

 ----------------------
I do have to add a minor accident.   I was guiding the rototiller along the edge of the drainage easement in the front yard yesterday and I hit a rock.  The rototiller tilted, and of course it tilted in the direction of the drainage easement.  You know how somethings tilt and, just for one brief movement all is seemingly balanced?  And then it falls...

In the wrong direction, of course.

Before I go further, I should mention that it seems to me that everyone has some particular problem that happens to them more often than to others.  One of mine is that gas equipment doesn't like to stop when set to the "stop" position.  They just sputter and cough along refusing to actually stop.  My regular lawn mower does that and I have to use a screwdriver to short-circuit the spark plug to the chassis to stop it.  My gas chain saw does that (when I can get it to start at all).  The rototiller has the same problem.

So there it was, balanced on the digging parts trying to fall into the drainage easement.  It succeeded!  My first thought was DAMN!  My second was "I hope nobody saw that"!  But I set the lever to the stop position and it wouldn't stop.  Of course...

At least the lever that disengages the digging blades (tines) worked.  So there I was with the rototiller on its side in the drainage easement, sputtering.  And besides, in trying to hold the thing up out of the drainage easement, I fell into it myself. 

Need I mention that there are brambles along the edge of the drainage easement at that ONE spot?  Probably not, what else would be there with my luck?  So I picked myself up out of the muddy bottom, pulled the rototiller upright, and got it into reverse and backed it up the side of the drainage easement side.

It's OK to laugh.  I wouldn't be telling you about this if I was easily embarrassed by the occasional failures in daily life.  After I had the rototiller back out of the drainage easement (and turned off), I sat down and laughed too. 

If you can't laugh at yourself, you have a problem...  LOL!

Bye Bye Ridge!

There has been this ridge in the backyard since I moved here 29 years ago (and by coincidence, this is the very week I moved here).  It has always been a problem.  Too sloped and uneven to mow.  A few years after I moved in, I was able to get it mostly cleared of scrub trees and vines.  But they kept growing back and English ivy slowly took over.  I cut back the tree seedlings many times and even painted herbicide on the cut trunks, but it hardly slowed them down.

I finally contacted an excavator who came out and gave me a quote for leveling the ridge and raising a portion of the front yard that flooded after heavy rains.  I accepted the quote on the spot and they said they would do the work the following week.  When they didn't arrive, I called only to be told they were too busy.

So I contacted some other excavators who decided the job was too small.  Only one agreed (reluctantly - he is 45 minutes away from here) and would not come out to give a quote - I would have to accept the cost afterwards. 

Then, Monday afternoon, the original contractor called to say they had a break in their schedule and could do the job the next morning if I was still interested.  I was, and they did!

I am delighted with the results.  They did even more than I thought they could (considering 2 small trees I wanted to save).

It looked like this to start...

They started by scraping the scrub tree seedlings and ivy off the top and sides.

Dumping it in a truck for disposal.  You can see the amazingly long ivy roots hanging down.  No wonder that stuff is so hard to kill!

The ridge was already nicely lowered from just that.

I would have had them just pile the scraped ivy all up in a corner to compost, but there was enough soil mixed in that they probably would have just kept growing.

See the soil dust rising from the bucket?  We havent exactly had drought here (lots of rain in June, but almost none since then).  Even 4' deep, the soil was dusty-dry.

The equipment is cool (literally).  The Bobcat cabin is sealed, air-conditioned, and has a stereo system inside!

They carefully worked around the 2 trees, watching for the 1st sign of main roots.  This one is a holly tree.  It's hard to kill.  When I first cleared the ridge so many years ago, I accidently cut it down and it regrew multiple trunks from that mistake. 

After all the scrub tree saplings and ivy were gone, they heaped up the remaining soil to examine the quality.  We had expected the ridge to be unusable gravel and clay, but it turned out to be good sandy loam so they moved it out as a base to raise the sunken front lawn.

Then they dumped 2 truckloads of topsoil on that!  They spent a good bit of time grading it carefully.   The whole area is now a foot higher than the drainage easement at the property line.  Unless we have a really severe hurricane before the grass I'll plant sets in good roots, my front yard flooding should be over.

They even spent time carefully smoothing the added soil to the existing lawn.

Here is the new front lawn...

And here is the new back yard!

I don't plan to cover the entire area in lawn.  Lawn is boring...  I plan to put a mix of Spring and Fall blooming azaleas around the inside edges of the trees and wildflowers and some long-lived perennials in  between them.  It will be fun to decide exactly what to plant where...

I need to drag out the roto-tiller first.  Even though the Bobcat has track treads to reduce soil compaction, the new surface is still too packed to just plant in.  The front yard will just get grass.

I wish I had had this done 20 years ago!

That Deck Box

First, just want to say the pictures may not match up to the paragraphs.  I didn't do a good job taking pictures as I went along the work.  But enjoy them anyway.

Wow, I never did so much "Grub Hoe Trenching" before!  The guys who had to dig the 2' wide and 2' deep holes for the deck posts complained about the hard soil (and they had power tools) and now I sure understand why!  The stuff around the deck is hard rock and clay.  Even with a pick and grub hoe, it was murderous just making a 3" wide trench for the boards to sit in!

To make things worse, I found that the cinder block wall around the patio is neither level compared to the house AND not level to the yard.  That made constructing the frame enclosing the area level in both ways impossible.  I did get real close...

So I did the best I could, attaching boards to the new deck posts, and keeping the long way boards as level as I could.  Tricky, when nothing is flat, level or square to the house or the deck posts.  And don't worry, all the bottoms of the boards will be "just" covered in soil outside in the lawn direction and perfectly level inside.

The good part is that the top boards are relatively level because I gave a lot of care to making sure the bottom boards were level.  But that still made me fight a bit to get the top boards level. 

The problem with DIY home projects is that you seldom do them twice, so you don't learn a whole lot that is useful from one project to the next.  My biggest surprise was discovering that the metal rods I pounded through the holes I drilled in the very bottom boards were too close to the edges(you csn see the little dots on the first 2 pictures).  My 3" exterior screws hit them before they were fully in.   ARGGHHH!  I had to find a bunch of 2 1/4" screws to use.  I'll probably never have that situation again OR it will happen again so long in the future that I will forget!

Hopefully, using the exterior wood adhesive and several more shorter wood screws will solve the problem.   Still, those kinds of surprises are maddening.  Guys who build decks every day KNOW to avoid those kinds of errors.  I only discover them ONCE!

But it was solved and I went forwards and upwards.  I did underestimate how much trench-digging I had to do.  Using a grub hoe around the twine line-marker and underneath the "just-low-enough-deck to hit my head on if I stood upright was more not-fun stuff.  I banged my head more than once just standing up (and I even checked the height most times).   It was actually safer (if harder) to use the grub hoe while kneeling. 

That mailbox you see is for storing hose nozzles.  Very useful for not losing track of them.  I have another out in the garden for small hand tools (pruners, trowels, etc).

Finally, I reached the last board at the top of the slope!  And discovered I had to bury it.  Well, I knew the soil sloped down along the cinder block wall, but I hadn't noticed that it also sloped UP from it.  I mean, you stand around and a few inches of sloping are not all that noticable.  Well, it IS when you are down at ground level with a 3' bubble level tool!

And that soil was the part the deck guys complained about be "undiggable" (and they had power equipment).  So there I was kneeling awkwardly on the ground hacking away at the rocks and hard clay to make the last 6' board level and even at the top with the previous one.  That one last board took an HOUR to get both level AND matching the previous board. 

I was drenched with sweat enough so the cats kept kept their distance, but I finally got that last board in place ans screwed in.

Sometimes I don't understand WHY I do this stuff.    It's just for me (and you in pictures).  I blame my Dad.  He taught me to DO stuff, and I don't really know how to stop.  I just feel "right" when I'm doing "something".  Sometimes I think I do a lot more "stuff" than he did.  LOL!

But it's better than sitting around watching bad TV.

Tomorrow, I will use my leverage fork to dig up the soil higher than the boards and move it down to the empty space.  That will leave some space for better soil and some compost to bring it all up level with the wood framing.  I have 2 flats of annual coleus and impatiens dying to the planted there.  Well, I had expected to have this frame built a month ago.  Still, I'm sure they will be happy. 

Next Spring, I will be moving most of the front yard hostas to this space.  That will save them from being eaten by the local deer (and I am contemplating venison steaks this Fall in revenge).

But this project HAS taught me the methods that I need to dig some shallow trenches and construction needed for the new framed beds and upright chicken-wire structure for my major garden.  I'll finally get at that September 1st. 

It never ends, and I'm glad it doesn't...  And there are more projects on my list...  The good news is that I could do this again better and in half the time. 

Gardening 2

Well, it was my favorite weekend of the years last weekend.  Its the day I start seeds of some of my favorite crops.  8 weeks before average last frost day...

It was TOMATO DAY!  And bell pepper, broccoli, cabbage, radicchio, celery, and "some other stuff" day.

I love fresh heirloom tomatoes above all individual foods.  Right from vine to mouth, sides on the dinnerplate, in salads, as snacks.

But the last few years, my heirloom tomatoes have not produced well (even for heirloom tomatoes) in spite of good care.  So when I read about grafting heirloom tomato stalks on disease-resistant hybrid roots, I got interested.  Well, almost all grapes grown for wine are grafted on disease-resistant roots, s why not tomatoes?

I planted 2x my normal number of heirlooms (Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Prudens Purple, Aunt Gertie's Gold, and Striped German) and as many of the hybrid Big Beef to use as hybrid roots (plus 4 to grow for themselves as backups).

The idea is that you cut the tops off the heirlooms and the hybrids and attach the heirloom tops to the hybrid roots.  I bought small silicon clips to hold the 2 together.  It may be tricky to do (I have shakey hands from teenage DDT exposure), but I will give it my best try.  And I've planted enough of the heirlooms so that, if the grafts fail, I will have enough regular heirloom plants for the garden.

I will take LOTS of pictures so that I can look back on the points of success or failure.

There is good news on the previous weekend flower plantings.  There are SEEDLINGS showing!  That is encouraging, because the seed packets said "germination in 7-21 days" and I'm seeing some at 7 days.

I bought a mini greenhouse today.  And I mean "mini-mini".  Its a steel frame with metal mesh shelves and a vinyl cover with zippers that allow you to adjust how closed/open the cover is.  Its for hardening off plants outside before permanent planting, a transition I have always had difficulties with.  It's kind of simplistic, but at $30, worth a try.  I found it at Lowes.

The other gandenng project I keep working on is an enclosed garden surrounded by chicken wire to keep the squirrels from tearing up the seedlings and eating the ripe veggies. I made a fast and crude attempt last year and it "sort of worked".  But not well enough and it was a real effort to harvest anything through the barriers.

I looked up "enclosed gardens", and found a decent design.  But it was small and had flaws.  I've been thinking of improvements.  Thinking of improvements even in my dreams at night...

I think I have something easier to construct, easier to build larger, and sturdier.  I won't give out all the details right now (they are changing daily), but basically, its a 20'x20' grid of 1/2" metal pipe built of 10' pipes and connectors, covered all around with chicken wire and chicken wire extended out from the bottom at ground level about 3' to discourage animals from tunneling under.

I'll show pictures when I settle on the design.

I will have a busy early Spring to deconstruct my existing framed beds in early April (falling apart after 25 years) before the planting season starts in late April.  But it is either then or not and I want to have a garden free of the evil squirrels.

Good Yardwork Day Yesterday, 2

And by "yesterday", I mean Monday, since this is part 2...

After clearing out tree saplings and forsythia, I went after the running grass in the annual flowerbed.  The running grass is some evil grass that spreads by underground runners.  I don't know the variety of this one, but it is upright, single at first but will send up several stalks later, the runner roots are white, and they send up a new shoot about every 8-12".  Each one has to be dug up deeply individually, but you also have to dig up the soil between shoots to get the runners.  You can't even pull them up in soft soil.  The roots are brittle and snap of when pulled, and if you leave any part of the runners in the ground, they grow from that.  They probably arrived here in a coneflower or stella d'oro lily perennial I bought and planted at the sides and back edge.

Thank goodness for my leverage fork! 

I think it is one cool tool.  Oh of course, there are standard great tools like shovels and rakes and hoes.  But in the "unusual" category, I have to rank that up with the scuffle hoe and the pointed stainless steel trowel!  This thing is solid steel, when you put your foot under the curved part you have great pressure, and when it is in deep you just bend it back and the U-bar leverages the tines to push up the soil.  If you can step the tines IN the soil, the bar will pull the soil up and loose.  And it is great for chopping up big clods of hard soil too.

So I set to work on the runner grass with the leverage fork.  Push it in, bend it back, move it 4" and repeat.  Forever.  But the point is that it goes deep enough to get below the grass runners and the grass comes out roots and all.  If you soil is hard (as I hope it is not in any garden) you can pound the soil clumps on the U-bar to break up the soil and take out the grass runners.

I'm not saying the leverage fork makes it "easy", just "possible".  It still took an hour this time (my 3rd attack on the grass in 2 weeks).  THIS attack was on the difficult edges and around the perennials, so I had to work more carefully.  In fact, I soaked the target areas with a hose the day before to soften the soil.  When I used a roto-tiller to establish the bedding area many years ago, the edges were hard to get at properly, so the grass is harder to get at there.

I know from sad experience that I can never get ALL the below-ground runner roots.  But I bet I set them back 4-5 years this time.  Here is the de-grassed area...

Annuals will be going the bare spots next.  I like to have red salvias and blue forget-me-knots, but I had poor germination and growth of my annual seeds this year.  I even only got 75% of the marigolds to grow.  Well, the seeds were several years old.  I may have to buy some seedlings at the garden store.  Or maybe I'll plant a few various veggies.  I have some extra seedlings left over from the veggie beds.  Still, I'd rather have annual flowers there.  They bloom their little heads of all season.