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Tuesday, June 18, 2013

My Back is Sore

The major yard work is done. There's plenty of minor work to catch up on like weeding and maintenance, but those things are hardly blogworthy. So Saturday morning started out like any other morning when you've had 2 cubic yards of gravel delivered. You know, breakfast and coffee and a whole lot of "Whoa! That's a lot of gravel. Did we order too much?"
This is what was left on Sunday night (eventually this will be used to beef up the side yard path). Turns out we ordered exactly the right amount. Good call, Nate. I would have ordered only a yard for fear of having too much left over. I moved all that gravel. All. By. Myself. I suppose I prefer labor intensive work over a workout anyway.
The gravel was spread out as pathways around the yard. This side yard used to be all grass. It is now an enlarged flower/rose bed, a gravel path and a fruit and veggie garden. We were able to use up some of the broken concrete from the stair demo last year. Overall, I like the side yard. There's something not quite right with the transition from the gravel to the grass, but that can be reworked later.
We had leftover bricks that I couldn't just bury somewhere or throw in the trash, so I reused them for a small pathway within the shade garden. The shade garden is a big joke right now, it's next years project, folks. I was impatient at this point (2:30pm Sunday), and I wasn't smart about my posture while laying these bricks. My back is still paying the price on Tuesday. Learn from me - get on your knees to lay brick. Anyway, the transition from gravel to brick isn't perfect, but it's one of those things we'll get used to and forget that it was ever weird.
Here is the view of the back yard as you exit the back door. This expanse of gravel is bigger than I imagined. We are going to put some potted flowers here and there. A couple of large flat stones would be perfect, but only if they are free. Maybe I was holding the camera low? I feel like it doesn't look this awful in person.

So, now we wait...

...we wait for all the edibles to grow. The slugs are loving my delicata squash seedlings. Pennys don't seem to be thwarting them or their slime.

...we wait for flower seedlings to bloom. I've scattered California poppies everywhere, because they make me happy. Unfortunately, the sunflower seeds I bought seem to mostly be duds. Also, since when do hops bloom in June?

...and finally, we wait for the grass to turn brown, as it always does. Then I can snear passive-aggressively at it and say, "I thought you knew that this would happen."

14 comments:

  1. we've had some luck burying a small container (like a hummus or salsa container) so that the top is flush with the ground filled with beer to kill slugs. They are attracted and fall in and drown. It makes for a gross container, but keeps them away.

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    1. I had forgotten about using beer as a slug killer. All I've got is Mirror Pond, but Oregon slugs probably expect craft beer anyway.

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  2. I really, really, really like your gravel path!

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    1. Thanks! We like it, too. Much better than before.

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  3. Sluggo works for slugs and is not bad as pest killers go since it actually adds good nutrients to your garden.

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    1. Ok, I'll have to look into that. Thanks for the tip!

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  4. I really like the brick to gravel transition. Brick is really beautiful in a yard. Hopefully all the hard work for the season is behind you and you can just enjoy the space you've created.

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    1. Yes! The hardest work is over. I have trouble with sitting still unless we have people over. I'm kind of like a border collie :) Maybe we just need to have more parties!

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  5. I bet your back is sore, but it looks awesome!! I have a really hard time sitting still around the house. I feel that there is always something I need to be doing or cleaning. I often feel that I need to leave the house in order to relax... I need to work on that!

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    1. I completely relate to that. The IS always something to do - haha! I pretty much only relax after 8:30pm :)

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  6. I don't know that I've ever seen your pups before, they're so handsome! Can't wait to hear how the gravel fares with the dogs (I'm worried about using it here since I've heard horror stories about dogs tracking it in) . . .

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    1. I didn't even think about that. We've had a smaller area of gravel for the last two years that caused absolutely no tracking problems. The black dog is ours and she has smallish rounded pads on her feet. We were pet-sitting the brown and white dog - she has much larger paws with more places for gravel to get caught. I'll pay more attention the next time she's with us to see if any comes inside with her. By the way, we used 1/4-10 rather than pea gravel. Maybe that makes a difference?

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  7. I have been down that path with gravel . We ordered the same amount when we did the veggie garden. I was the spreader and it was a great ab workout. Yours looks amazing. I saw on pinterest that grapefruit is suppose to work on slugs but I don't know if it is true.

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  8. Thanks - it's definitely an improvement. Moving that much gravel really is a workout! I've never heard of using grapefruit for slugs. I'll look that up.

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