I Could Just Cry

I went to water the garden tonight and I found utter carnage. The guy who we pay to mow the lawn had taken his weed whacker to my garden beds. Any part of the watermelon plants that was spilling over the garden border in the children's garden was chopped all up. I found the the baby watermelon below chopped from the vine and trompled.

Then when I walked over to check on the main garden plants my heart sank further. All of the lillies of the valley were completely gone as well as that flowering plant I couldn't remember the name of. Who takes a weed whacker to a garden bed? I walked over to Barry's house and he walked with me around the beds to survey the damage. I asked him to kindly ask the lawn guy to keep his machines out of my garden. I thought we had already made that clear but I'm wondering if the guy didn't understand. I'm trying not to be angry. I am more just disappointed and sad.

In happier news, I planted the three Minuet Weigela plants in the back of the main garden. I can't wait to see how they grow. They're supposed to get 30 inches tall and 30 inches wide and have gorgeous pink flowers. I also transplanted the Roseum Pink Rhododendrum from the main garden to the playground. It was getting too much sun in the main garden. I might eventually move the hydrangea over there also but I might not. Oh, and a bit of clarification, the plants I put in the pots flanking the main doors are emerald green arborvitae, asiatic jasmine, and vinca.

Drenched to the Bone

This heat and humidity is trying to kill me! I went to Home Depot on Sunday after church to buy some small trees or shrubs to go in the big pots I got on sale at Target to flank the main, upstairs entrance doors. I wasn't outside more than 10 or 15 minutes and I felt like I was going to faint. I did manage to purchase two spruce trees, four plants with trailing vines to put at the base of the trees and four pink impatiens for seasonal color between the vines plants. I also grabbed two delphinium because I love them and they were on sale and some flowering tree that doesn't get too big and loves the sunshine.

So I went inside to checkout so I could cool off and get something cold to drink. That helped a bit but I started to get overheated again when I had to put everything in my car in the hot parking lot. I tried going to Target on the way home to see if there was anything else on sale for the garden. But, the lines were long and I was starting to really feel like I might faint. I'm sure I was turning pale. I managed to get home and I cracked the window for the spruce trees which were lying down in my back seat. I left the other plants in the trunk, parked in the shade, and hoped for the best. It took me two Nalgene bottles of water and a three hour nap to feel like myself again. That heat is awful and I was definitely not prepared.

I managed to offload the plants later that night as the sun was going down. It was still really hot and humid but at least the sun wasn't high in the sky making it worse.

Yesterday I mustered the will to plant almost everything. I drank a lot of liquids before I went to the garden. I also had a light dinner and I dressed in lose and lightweight clothing. With me was my Nalgene bottle with a mix of water and Gatorade. I started with the delphinium which I put behind the geraniums in the tower garden. I learned from the tag that the delphiniums will come back next year which is awesome. I might have to go back and get another one to really fill out that area. After that relatively easy job I started working on the big pots for the main entrance. I began by filling the pots one-third full with soil from the compost pile near the garden shed. Then I mixed in potting soil and put the spruce trees in the pots and arranged the other plants around them and filled in the empty space with more potting soil. I had to take a lot of breaks while planting these pots. It seemed like such easy and quick work until I started doing it. By the time I was finished I was exhausted and drenched in sweat. But the pots look really good and I'm happy with the finished product. It was dark when I finished and past 9pm. The humidity was still very high which made it feel much hotter than it was. I can't tell you how happy I was to get home and be back in the air conditioning and to get cleaned up. I definitely do not take A/C and running water for granted! Be careful out there in the heat and I will do the same! 

Anchors Away

Okay, so the title for this post is a bit misleading. I didn't somehow combine gardening at the church with sailing. However, with all of my work with hoses, reels, and water I feel like I was coiling and uncoiling ropes on a ship for the past few days. Specifically it reminded me of the time Amy, Marcin, and I went sailing on a replica tall ship and helped pull the ropes to raise the sails.

Last weekend I bought two new hoses and two more hose reels to keep things organized. One of the hoses was tentatively going to be connected to the spigot I found on the front of the old chapel to the bottom left of the old stained glass window. But, I think the water has been shut off to this spigot and the wheel to turn the water off and on has been removed. I found a replacement wheel which didn't fit so I had to use a wrench and that's when I realized that the water wasn't going to come out.

So, back to the drawing board. I needed some way to get water to the main garden which is across the driveway from the old chapel. I'm not good at estimating feet but I'm going to guess that it is over 100 ft away from the spigot in the children's garden. I cheated on this estimation because I attached a 100 ft hose to the spigot and tried to reach the main garden with poor results. That's when I realized I could connect the 50 ft hose I already had to the spigot and stretch that to the playground fence and attach it to a hose reel just outside of the fence. Then, I could attach a 100 or 150 ft hose to the reel and stretch that to the main garden. This was all done of course during our heat wave. It was 102 degrees F at the hottest part of the day! So I waited to do all of the work until after 6pm so the sun wasn't adding to the mix. I also took frequent water and air condition breaks. It was well worth the effort though. Now I don't have to make several trips with the watering can from the playground to the main garden and I can give the plants a good soaking which is important in this heat. 

The other hoses I attached were over near the kitchen window and among the hydrangeas to the spigot Barry had told me was fixed (and it was fixed!). The kitchen window hose reaches to the tower garden and the roses as well as the kitchen garden and the flower pots in front of the elevator entrance. The hose among the hydrangeas reaches the hydrangeas. There isn't anything else planted on that side of the church as of yet. I want to put some pots on the porch outside of the upstairs, main entrance. No one really uses this entrance but the porch has a lot of potential. Ideally I imagine this space with big pots filled with miniature trees, shrubs, and flowers. I can also see some rocking chairs and/or benches for people to lounge in and visit with one another. It's a covered area and is quite large so it would be perfect for a little outdoor fellowship area. I think I already mentioned this but, I need to get onto some of the committees that deal with the landscaping and maintenance of the building and grounds. I don't want to start a project like that until I have an okay from the committee. I'll keep you posted on that.    

Please Don't Throw Me in the Briar Patch

I got a wild hair yesterday and decided to take on the tangle of vines and prickers that line the entrance driveway. I call this area 'my nemesis' for a good reason. I got a little bit of it cleared yesterday but came away with multiple scratches and a puncture in my palm from the thorns on some of the vines. An inch-long thorn went through my thick leather gauntlet gloves to poke into my left palm. It appears that I may want to wear long sleeves and two pairs of gloves for this area. Live and learn. In clearing some of the overgrowth I found an area that is edged with wood as if a patch of garden used to be there. It was a true Secret Garden moment; yet another surprise that hard work has yielded. I can't wait to completely clear that area and plant something welcoming and pretty to draw people in.

When I got tired of fighting the brambles I headed up to the tower entrance and tried to pound the garden edging into the rocky soil. That only worked in a few places. So the edging is lopsided and is driving me crazy. But, I didn't have the time or energy to straighten it out.

I brought the surviving seedlings to plant in the children's garden. I started out with about thirty seedlings and ended up with only about six consisting of five sunflowers and one basil plant. While I was planting them, the super sensitive stems of two of the sunflower seedlings snapped. I'd have to say that the dwarf sunflower plants did the best of the two types of sunflowers I tried to grow.

In happier news, I picked three cucumbers from the children's veggie garden and four baby yellow tomatoes. I'm hoping to have more tomatoes (there are only seven right now) so I can chop them up with the cucumbers for the Fourth of July cookout at the church on Sunday after the worship service. The pineapple heirloom tomatoes are ripening slowly so I won't hold out any hope that one of those will pull through for me by the picnic. It would be nice though.