Amazing what some sunlight and
water will do. A few weeks later, I had plants. At
times (and still) I wasn't sure if I was looking at a plant, or a
weed. So
I proved to myself that I don't have a black thumb; I'm just not sure
if
it's green.
Wildflowers On Terrace
Growing
Wildflowers on the
Corner Growing
I wanted to plant ground cover as a weed block
which I will probably do
but this was not the year. I learned that it would cost me a
fortune to buy
hundreds of Creeping Thyme plants to cover 2500 square feet and
they just wouldn't grow
fast enough for my purpose so I had to come up with another plan.
I contemplated planting clover but my CA buddy Steve recommended
against it telling me that it grows fast, but it's difficult to get rid
of it. So, instead I decided to go with wood chips which I spread
across the front and side. I aimed for 4" depth which across 2500
square feet is 20 cubic yards. That's a pile that is 20
yards wide, high and deep. This was so much that the landscaping
company had to make 2 deliveries. It was a monstrous pile and for
a time
I thought I had over calculated but as I started to spread it, it came
down in size. The picture above shows the size of the pile as I
was just starting. Angela's husband took pity on me watching me
trying
to scoop it up with a shovel into a wheelbarrow and lent me a
pitchfork. I told him that I was ready to do a photo op of
"American
Gothic", or for a dated contemporary reference, "Green
Acres" (da-da, da-da,da, duh, duh). So, one wheelbarrow load
at a
time, I moved wood chips from the pile to the designated area and when
I
got to what I thought would cover 100 square feet, I spread it with a
rake. I was so disappointed to find that what looked like a large
amount of wood chips in the wheelbarrow really didn't go that far on
the
ground. Over a period of over 3 weeks I finally got a base layer
in place. I have more to spread for a deeper bed, but I put
that on
hold when the temperatures started to climb.
Woodchips Spread on
Front
Woodchips Spread on Side
The pile in the middle is the amount that I still
have to distribute.
Wildflowers Bloom
And the wildflowers started to bloom!
Wildflowers Bloom
Wildflowers Bloom
The colloquial term "busy bee" is definitely appropriate. Bees are visiting this patch every day.
