When I picked up nine cubic yards of Raised Bed and Container Soil from Lowe’s, what to my wondering eyes should appear but raphiolepis, Indian hawthorn with a dark leaf offsetting a pale pink flower. I asked at the major nurseries in the Bay Area and the Rising Sun Nursery in Burson, and I might just as well have been asking for an extraterrestrial life form. The raphiolepis is now proudly planted in triangle garden where the gardenia once grew, with its own dedicated drip sprinkler.
Mike and I cut a piece of one by ten foot board to complete the bottom edge of the corporation yard fence that runs beside the front of the house. I have pictures of boards of various lengths and widths that were tacked on that bottom border. The goal was to have a single continuous board 113 inches long to trim the bottom of the fence. I primed both sides of the board, and Mike and I installed it at the end of the day. Of course the land sloped away along the length of the fence. The trim board was not completely level when installed because it came way off the ground at the lower end. We compromised on the level and allowed the trim board to follow the slope of the land slightly. Just looked better to my eye.
The callibrochea was not watered for a few weeks and went the way of all good things. I was able to save the golden lysimachia and the lamium and got them bedded down in appropriate containers. In a moment of picnic, I planted the three yarrows that I bought at Annie’s in the bed outside MJ’s bedroom. They were severely pot bound, and I unraveled the roots with difficulty. Hopefully, a combination of soil amendment, Quick Start and ample rain water will bring them to life.
I mowed the lawn for the first time this season, wanting to wait until the boxes were finished and all the topsoil moved. Afterwards, I turned on the water, also for the first time of this season, and lawn sprinklers are working at full pressure. I regret one dry patch that may have been burned out by two much fertilizer. Time heals all wounds.
A Year at the Snake 