A New Start

First of all, thank you so much for your continued prayers. Saying goodbye to Don has been a lot harder for me than I thought. I guess time will heal. Things have slowed a bit now so maybe I'll be better about posting semi-interesting tidbits semi-regularly. It's semi-likely.

Last weekend Mom helped me get some petunias planted along the driveway. I asked her for advice on planting in ground so hard I could barely get the shovel in it. She jumped at the opportunity to create another one of her "magic soil" gardens. She rounded up newspaper and cardboard as the bottom layer to choke all the existing weeds and then added layer upon layer with her magic formula of carbon and nitrogen. Don't ask me to explain what is what. I'm still stuck on the concept that somehow freshly mowed grass is completely different from grass that was mowed a week ago. But I don't doubt her formula - it seems to have worked wonders for her. So, with Grandma's help, we layered and layered bunches of fresh grass, old grass, peat moss, shredded paper, top soil and finally it was ready to plant. Woo hoo!

I had enough petunias to line most of the driveway. Here is the result.





I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of the straw poking out the edges but Mom says it will compost down to just a few inches of dirt before too long. I guess it's a fair price to pay for good soil without weeds! I'm hoping the plants will grow together a bit and make a more solid wall of plants and flowers. We'll see how it goes. I'm just happy to get them planted. Even if it's not perfect, it's got to be a better first impression than the thigh-high grass that was there. I've still got a lot to do to fill the rest of the space behind the petunias with "magic dirt" but as I don't have anything to plant there at this point I'm not in a huge hurry to get it done. I have been working on a list of flowers to plant next year though. I may never achieve the Thomas Kinkeade look that exists in my head but it's fun to try.



I just love petunias! They are so bright and cheery.

I put together a few planter pots as well. I've never done this before so we'll see how they turn out when they get established and start growing. I have to admit, they look a bit lost in the driveway right now, but I think when they have a new deck as a background and there isn't quite as much driveway length they might look alright.



I'm really excited to start work on our new deck. We desperately need to get going as our current back step is likely to cave at any time. It will be nice to not fear falling through every time we walk in or out!