landscaping madness

It was Landscaping Madness (tm Nellorat) here today, as we finally got to work on the bank by the road, in front of the fence. It's really hard to get a mower up there, and it gets all weedy and scraggly and is just a mess. Last winter I had put down black plastic to kill off the weeds, which only partly worked. The wind kept blowing the plastic out of place, but about half of it stayed covering the bank. Now that the weeds are (half) dead, time to get planting up there! The plan is to fill the bank with daylilies this fall, but we're planting annuals in the meantime.

Actually the pre-madness fun started yesterday after work when I borrowed David's truck and rented a tiller. I had planned to do this project in a leisurely way over the next week, but David informed me that due to an insurance problem (the problem being, he forgot to pay it) he has to surrender the tag for a month. And due to a passport problem (he needs one and they won't give it to him while there's a "block" on his license) he has to do it immediately. Thank you, Homeland Security! This is a big hassle for David of course, but also means that we won't be able to borrow his truck for a month. Dang!

I was kind of annoyed that the guy at the rental place didn't tie down the tiller, he just stuck it in the back of the truck. Where it tipped over three times on the drive home, leaking gas into the truck bed every time. But anyway, we got it home, and then this morning I went out early and got a truckload of compost. The tilling wasn't as hard as I had feared; the only truly difficult part was steering it so close to a 10 foot drop. (I did pay the insurance at the rent-all place, in case the tiller went over the edge.) I'm proud to say that I did my fair share, no slacking! Georg and I split the work about evenly. Although I think he accomplished more: being larger and stronger, he was better able to control the tiller.

After tilling we took a break for lunch and then started unloading the compost. When I'm doing this alone, I always take a break to have a drink of water after every 2 wheelbarrows. Once I did 14 wheelbarrows in one day that way. But with the two of us, one shoveling while the other took a break, it went really fast. We got the whole truck unloaded by 3, just in time to return the tiller.

There wasn't really any way to get a full wheelbarrow onto that bank, so we ended up wheeling it up inside the yard and shoveling the compost over the fence. And I have to say, I think this part of the job was a bit harder on me just because of the height difference. That fence is only a foot shorter than I am! I did my share, but by the end of it I was totally wiped out. I can tell my shoulders are going to ache tomorrow.

Georg and I were a little worried about getting the tiller back into the truck, but we were able to lift it without difficulty. And unlike the guy at the rent-all place, Georg had the sense to tie it down! The truck isn't easy to drive, so by the time I got back my arms were even more tired. Still, we decided to go ahead and rake in the compost today. I wanted it done, and I was worried that if I waited until tomorrow my shoulders would be too sore to do it. We used a big metal rake to mix the compost with the soil (which was much less horrible than in other parts of the yard), and then we raked it into three ridges. And then we collapsed for a well-earned rest.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to plant my seeds! Two rows of dwarf sunflowers, and marigolds in the front. Little red French marigolds; I like those better than the big African ones that look like pom-poms. If everything grows, that bank will be beautiful in a couple of months. The yard faces southeast so I think the sunflowers will look really nice from the road.