leah's Blog

Entry for May 11, 2007
May 12, 2007 | 12:03 AM PST
Tags: home depot , scottish broom , lowe's , sedum , relocating , new bed , aesthetics , photos , mr k

Went back to Home Depot today and bought the Scottish Broom I looked at yesterday. It was so beautiful I couldn't resist! Then back to Lowe's to pick up more cedar mulch, and more cedar chip bedding for the dog kennel. And some sedum, don't remember which cultivar, for the front yard, the bed around the crabapple tree.

We relocated a few plants, mostly oriental lillies, that were too close to the foundation out front. We're extending that bed, making it deeper, so the bigger plants will conceal them where they were. I mowed the grass while he did some planting, took the rest of the sod out by the front porch, and mulched all the new stuff.

One of the many ways our aesthetic tastes differ is that he *likes* the look of wide expanses of mulch. He didn't realize what the way I had him plant the sedum meant until he was almost done. He stood straight up and said, "ARE THESE THINGS GOING TO TAKE OVER THIS BED???" Too late now... I hope it doesn't take long for them to fill in. I love the way the ajuga has spread under the plum tree. If I'm remembering correctly, that started as a 6-pack, little tiny plants, planted evenly spaced around a circle about 15" from the trunk of the plum tree. It's filled in nicely on the side that gets the most shade. I guess I need to pick up something a little more sun tolerant for the other side.

Mr K works tomorrow morning, and hopefully I'll wake up around the time he gets home. We're going to Peppers tomorrow afternoon to pick up some more plants. :) I'm going to try not to spend too much money! I'd like to get the aforementioned groundcover for the other side of the plum tree, an azalea or two for the front of the house, a different groundcover for out front of the house, maybe more than one, and probably a few more perennials to fill in some empty spots.

I hope Lowe's hasn't changed their policy. The last few times I've been there they haven't had anything good on clearance, or anything at *all* on clearance. I'm still thinking about going back there and picking up a few more dwarf fruit trees, which I almost certainly won't find on clearance, but they're pretty reasonably priced, about $16-25, depending on the type.

I have been uploading more photos to the May album every few days. I would rather be gardening than working right now.

Entry for May 10, 2007
May 10, 2007 | 8:16 PM PST
Tags: burning bush , red twig dogwood , butterfly bush , red hot poker , mr k , spirea , lowe's , home depot , solar lights , low voltage lighting

Went to Lowe's and Home Depot today. Is it bad when the greenhouse staff greets you by name when you walk in? Lowe's does, but I guess I don't go to Home Depot enough. They recognize me but not by name. ;)

Home Depot has solar lights, boxes of 8 for $29.99. I've been wanting solar lights for years, but couldn't bring myself to spend the money--these seemed a lot more reasonable than any I'd looked at before. I saw them over the weekend and picked up a set then to try them out. Went back today and bought two more boxes, over the protests of Mr K. He's an electrician and considers it an insult to his profession. ;) He wants to put in low voltage lighting all over the place, but I think I like the solar lights. He can still supplement with low voltage lighting for uplights and accents.

Picked up 6 bags of sand to hopefully finish off the patio, a burning bush, a red spirea, a butterfly bush, and a red twig dogwood. Came home and went to bed, but Mr K came home from work and went straight to work on them. He's been working on a bed across the front of the house, and while I slept he took a couple of lilies out and replanted them closer to the front of the bed. He planted the burning bush and the spirea. And D sent some Red Hot Poker roots to work with B who gave them to Mr K who brought them home, so they went into the new bed too. Still need to fill it in with more plants, but it's a good start.