Naked Ladies on a Hot Summer's Day
...
Today, we heard that the City of Oakland approved our application for the permits needed to replace our foundation.
This means that the jack-hammering commences tomorrow!
And that means that the plants growing next to our foundation needed to be moved, pronto! Of course, today was hot, hot, hot, and not a good day for transplanting anything. But it was either move the plants in the heat, or watch them get trampled and jack-hammered.
The soil next to the house is the stuff of gardeners' dreams, black, friable, just lovely. Digging out these plants (which I think are Calla Lilies) was insanely easy. Replanting them was another story. The soil in my back yard is hard-packed silt, with the density of stone. I think that digging through the sidewalk might have been easier than digging in this soil. But it had to be done.
While I was at it, I also tackled the pathetically overgrown mass of Naked Ladies. (What did you think this blog post was about, anyway?) These bulbs were in miserable condition, strangling on each other. I broke the clump of bulbs apart, as best as I could and replanted them with lots of breathing room.
The more I work in this garden, the more I wonder: When was the last time someone took care of this place? I cannot believe the sad, neglected state of this garden.
Today, we heard that the City of Oakland approved our application for the permits needed to replace our foundation.
This means that the jack-hammering commences tomorrow!
And that means that the plants growing next to our foundation needed to be moved, pronto! Of course, today was hot, hot, hot, and not a good day for transplanting anything. But it was either move the plants in the heat, or watch them get trampled and jack-hammered.
The soil next to the house is the stuff of gardeners' dreams, black, friable, just lovely. Digging out these plants (which I think are Calla Lilies) was insanely easy. Replanting them was another story. The soil in my back yard is hard-packed silt, with the density of stone. I think that digging through the sidewalk might have been easier than digging in this soil. But it had to be done.
While I was at it, I also tackled the pathetically overgrown mass of Naked Ladies. (What did you think this blog post was about, anyway?) These bulbs were in miserable condition, strangling on each other. I broke the clump of bulbs apart, as best as I could and replanted them with lots of breathing room.
The more I work in this garden, the more I wonder: When was the last time someone took care of this place? I cannot believe the sad, neglected state of this garden.
Comments
Love from "Black Thumb" Becky
I used to dig up and divide my hostas every year since they grew so much and I called around and discovered that Habitat for Humanity will also accept plant donations for free landscaping around the houses and community parks they put in (in Detroit, anyway).
Pick out a spot to put in a future veggie garden and toss all your old plant matter onto it- your packed soil is probably starved for some sort of activity- physical or micro-biological, both.
Fall leaves are starting to turn here. We won 2 ribbons at the local fair- first place for giant sunflowers, and 4th for a seriouisly freaky cauliflower.
Did you have your soil tested yet? Try to get some sleep if you guys can! HA! I know what you are doing to get the place ready, and you guys are probably sleeping 4 hours a night, right?! We did that for 6 months till we surrendered to "Well, maybe that shelf actually IS straight and I can learn to live with it".
Annalisa and Gary
So (to make a long story short, and not trying to be presumptuous by giving you info about your part of the world ;-)) we went to the NPS site to read up on Alcatraz. Turns out in the rehabilitation of the area to a National Park, they did/are doing work on the garden areas that the families had. It's rather fascinating, as they have found some plants that are still in the place they were planted 100 years ago. And they found an heirloom rose that was thought to be extinct. So.... sometimes grown up gardens yield great surprises!! Hope yours does the same!!