movin' and shakin'

After heading to the Japanese Gardens on Friday, I was inspired to move three of the ferns from the northwest of the house into some of the crevices in the rocks in the front of the house. Happy that I put a purple azalea atop the rocks last weekend. Wonder if I'll put them all the way across the top. Could also put a row of irises or lilacs or ...too many options.

Also split and then moved some of the mondo (?) grass. Last year I moved a clump from under the willow to the north trellis in hopes that it would stop the dogs from digging. Instead, it's been trampled as they talk to the neighbor dogs through the fence. I pulled some smaller shoots and put them in the container with the Delphinium, in two spots along the stairs in front, and the rest back under the willow.

I'm also inspired by the pruning and shaping of the Japanese Garden. Even the willows! So, I came back and went to town on the Willow. Now that I see how clean it can be, it feels so overgrown. I didn't want to do too much (didn't want to break the 1/3 rule), but cleaned out a lot from the base and center.

John cut the bottom off of an old garbage can and I buried it a foot in the ground on the north side of the house (near the yard waste compost) for our kitchen compost. Will make the first deposit today.

Finished aerating the front yard, then sprinkled compost, and another bag of seeds. Hoping this batch will take better than what we did last fall. From the class last week I'll want to do this again in the fall and spring for at least this year and perhaps each spring after that.

The lillies are coming up fast. I think the tallest grew at least 2 inches this weekend. Only 5 of them so far. A 6th is barely peaking through.

The sage that I planted last weekend is about to bloom. The delphiniums are close to blooming. The African Daisy bloomed this weekend. Still haven't planted the dahlias and the gladiolas, but at least know where I want them.

Still so much weeding and pruning to do. Can't wait for things to grow and get big so I can figure out how it's all going to look.