Masybe this year I'll actually manage to keep this up to date... but I'm not holding my breath. I expanded the flower border last year & this is the 1st spring for the new section. I'm nervous about how well it will have overwintered which is ridiculous because I planted things I know - many of them transplants from other sections of the garden. It will be FINE.

We had a more traditional winter - a good 2 months of consistant snow cover & the border was heavily mulched with...

I always say that, yet always find more to do. I bought 3 bags of top soil today & slathered it on top on the leaf mould in the newest section. The 'sandwich' method of soil creation works nicely - a layer of soil, a layer of manure, compost, leaf mould - just keep alternating layers in no particular order & in a season or two, the worms have done most of the 'mixing' for me. It took less than 2 years for the 1st garden sections to go from sand & lumps of clay to laom using this method....

Once the bulk of the work is done, I can relax, look, look some more & start tweaking things. I added a donated rose today that I'm told is pink. I should have seen it out front last year but honestly don't remember. It's former owner tried her best to 'kill it' over the winter, not mulching or giving it any protection. It lived - when I dug it up today there were lots of new shoots above the bud graft. The presence of that at least, tells me it's a hybrid - I really hope it's a floribunda....

Even if I wanted to & I don't much, I've run out of useable land. I went halfdown down the final section of fence towards the front & then the 'soil' turned to builders' fill & what I swear is titanium. That & tree roots. And did I mention rocks? I had mixed feelings. The gardener cursed - no more expansion room, (there's always width & vertically!) but the small bit of sensible me almost wept with relief - no more backbreaking digging.

I'm left with a border of...

I thought I said I wasn't going to do this - extend the garden anymore. Okay, I lied. I think the border extends some 80 feet now - haven't measured it. I say dig - all I did was remove the top 3-4" of turf & clay & haul out tree roots. My butt is sore from falling back on it a good dozen times when tree roots finally decided to let go.

Tomorrow, I'll fork it over & dig in leaf mould & well matured lawn clippings. I've already got my rocks for stepping stones...