Big backhoe weekend (lots of photos!)

We had a big landscaping weekend for the first warm days of the spring. Yesterday, we hired a backhoe/bulldozer to come to the property to move and place stones (boulders) to build a rock wall retaining our vegetable garden. Then we shaped and graded the property to backfill the new wall and provide a flat tier for the veggie raised beds and a new lawn area. Finally, we had the backhoe pull out 11 stumps. Whew, that was a long, grueling day for Hubby. He planned on a second day of landscaping work for today, but his back muscles we in agonizing spasms all last night...a tell-tale sign of over-doing it on the first real "work" day of the year! For more on amazing Hubby, check out The Almost Stay-At-Home Mom tomorrow (hint, he gave up watching the Masters to shape my garden!)

And while Hubby was doing all the heavy lifting, Cavan and I were getting dirty in the flower beds. Cavan was dressed appropriately (adorably) in her pink Cardhartt overalls, thanks to a shopping trip to Farm and Home Supply with Grandma in the Midwest. We planted 10 baby blue spruce trees in milk jugs to establish a solid root system before transplanting along one of our property borders (an area that still needs to be shaped before putting in permanent plantings.) Then in the bed bordering our patio, we planted 12 new mini roses (rosa randilla 'raspberry magic' & rosa 'sugar plum') and then transplanted three light pink (rosa randilla 'pink magic') and three yellow (rosa randilla 'yellow magic') mini roses as well. They should be in full bloom by Memorial Day.

Then, we moved a lilac bush, planted some day lilies and did a preliminary weeding of all the garden beds, which were infested with wild onion growth! Ooh, those are a pain in the butt to dig out—if you miss getting the bulbs, they will just keep coming back. In addition, the seedlings spent the day outside, well-watered and monitored, to prevent them from withering and wilting in the sun and breeze. Overall, the day was a HUGE success and all three of us were in bed at 8:30, though Cavan was wide awake talking to all her stuffed animals as we passed out.

While today was very light compared to yesterday's accomplishments, we did go to Home Depot to pick up the boards to build the raised beds and bags of grass seed. And when we got home, I planted two full-sized rose bushes (rosa 'moondance' and rosa 'midas touch'), whose roots had been pre-soaking in a bucket of water overnight.  When digging the holes for the roses, I dug up several of last years gladiolas bulbs. They are not supposed to survive the winter in zone 6, but they looked healthy and were four times the size they were upon planting last summer. I replanted them in a new spot, just in case they will come back. What a nice surprise if they do!

Next weekend, Hubby hopefully recovered, will be another big backhoe weekend, as well as building/filling the veggie beds. Photos and updates to come!