Saturday, April 16, 2011

in clover: getting the dirt


Michael brought home a small truck load of "organic blend" (a mixture of topsoil and organic compost) for our new raised beds.  I had planned on picking up  bags of topsoil from Home Depot but we calculated that would cost around $300.  Pretty pricey.

I googled topsoil and compost and found what I thought was a great deal...a truckload of an organic topsoil and compost blend delivered and installed for $200.  A few clicks later, I discovered that if we picked it up, the same load would cost $10.  Michael DID have to shovel it out of the truck but the landscape place used a front loader to put it IN the truck.  Mike said he was more than happy to pick up the dirt and keep his money so that's what he did.

In the end, we saved some money and supported a local business. 



We had just enough to fill our beds and share with our neighbor who loaned us his truck.  Perfect.  Can't wait to plant tomatoes and peppers and squash.

While Michael was shoveling I checked out the downspouts.  We have trouble when rains are heavy and water pools close to the house.  We had those rubber tubes that directed water from the house but honestly they didn't fit in my garden design.  My friend suggested we use old brick to lay troughs.  They work great and look even better.  The old solution (rubber tubes) took away from the garden....the new solution is a garden feature! Visitors always comment on them.   

Last week I had a bucket of river pebbles without a home so I did this:



I think it looks pretty, kind of like a mini dry river bed.  I wondered if the hard rains would wash my rocks away last night but they were still in place this morning. I need to touch up the paint on the metal gutters.  Add that to the "to do" list.

My basil seedlings are sprouting nicely.


I have to work at keeping the vintage French terracotta pots wet but they are so cute it's worth it. 

I love spring. 

Peace,  Lisa

3 comments:

  1. OMG, Lisa, I want to be your student about gardening! I love your style from these pictures. I'm just a wanna-be gardener but it's something I have committed to doing more of.

    Don Lichtenfelt is helping me get started. Have you seen his garden??? It's gorgeous. But just from these pictures, I think your style would be more like I would do. Don's is fabulous but very controlled.

    Hope to see you soon.

    Brenda Bartella Peterson

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brenda,

    It's great that you have Don's expertise and maybe you can take me to visit his garden someday soon. My talent seems to lie with accessorizing a garden and container gardening and I am happy to help you with that. We could have a fun junk-et day...looking for garden stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can see that you are an expert at your field! I am launching a website soon, and your information will be very useful for me.. Thanks for all your help and wishing you all the success in your business. The Lawn Solutions

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...