2011 May -- New Season

A beautiful and precious site !  50 year old trees ... but planted in the wrong place ... under the power lines.  So when the branches started to hinder the power lines and trimming was no longer practical, my Spruce Tree at 60 feet tall, had to be cut down.

Not all is lost. I decided to create a garden. A much larger task than expected.
The first thing was to remove the massive stump ... a stump grinder did that , leaving roots meandering all over the place, just under the surface of the soil.
Then finding out that the land developer had used huge amounts of gravel to fill the undulating ground was a bit disconcerting.

As you see in the photo I decided to frame in the garden area with about 300 patio bricks. This is what was really satisfying. Creating something of artistic pleasure with practical ideas just simply gives one some Soul Satisfaction. Fortunately the bricks were a gift from the next door neighbor.

It will take a little time to arrive at a satisfactory soil mix over the complete plot. So, here is the excellent time to use my eBook  There is so much very useful information in this almost 100 page manual. Everything from when to plant, to what to plant...how to test the soil and how to make the soil correct for good growth.
My Rhubarb is an indicator of how well this Gardener Guide works. So far this year I have had 4 great feeds from this wonderful plant. I reminisce.  Back to my new garden.

First thing was to establish a good watering system as we live in a near desert area.
Then wait patiently for the soil to warm up so the seeds will germinate properly. My bean seeds, after some good soaking over night, came up quickly and proudly but I was too early with the corn.
The excitement that always happens is when one finds something unexpected jump out of the soil. Some wonderful forest ferns found their way into the garden. Came from the other flower garden that you may have noticed in an earlier blog post.
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