Time to Use a Measuring Tape

 

I know myself.  I measured for the camellia.  I didn't measure for the first elderberry in anything but a general way.  I know that I have a tendency to do straight lines that angle.  So it was time to pull out the measuring tapes, yes, two of them.

The first measurement was the full width of the new garden bed.  The outside edge will be 8 feet from the house.  The big plants will be 5 foot from the house.  And the edging plants, asparagus and fall blooming crocus, will between the 7 foot and 8 foot mark.  I roughly marked the 8 foot point with bricks.

Then, using both tape measures, I marked the spots for the other elderberry plants and moved the pots into position.  Now I know where to accurately dig.

And I've got a lot of clearing to do down the side of the house still.  It looks like I can get in one more elderberry bush and the second camellia.  But that will be something to make a final judgement on when I can cleanly measure that area.

There's a short concrete walkway where the burn barrel is temporarily resting.  It leads to a door that hasn't been used in over 15 years.  For years now, I've blocked it with planters and outdoor plastic storage boxes.  Yet somehow, once in a blue moon, some fool delivery driver decides that is the front door and will leave packages there,  hidden behind the planters and boxes. That's all I'll say on that.

So I will be trying to plant the second camellia close enough to block most of the view of that door, while still far enough away that it shouldn't have a problem with the concrete.  And in spring, hopefully, if the body keeps cooperating, a knee height wooden planter will be placed across the concrete to block out people.  Or maybe a primitive wooden gate with lock, so I can still use most of the path to access the hose bib and that area.  That idea is still bouncing around.

Now, to the right, out of the photo shot, is a large silver maple.  The trunk is about 8 ft, maybe, from the brick marking the new garden bed edge.  My current debate there is whether or not to just expand the bed all the way out and around the tree, or not.  The base of  the tree is not a good spot to put plants or planters.  I've already tried both.  I'm currently debating sitting benches in a circle around it, with stone as "mulch". That would solve several of the issues with that spot, and reduce the area that requires mowing even more.  Again, another bouncing idea that the brain is working on. 

And the next batch of strawberries got planted today.  That's ten more strawberry plants in.  And I made the decision that, yes, I am going to expand that bed out about another foot.  Actually, from digging down some, I'm not expanding it, I'm putting it back where I had it originally.  But that was done about 4 years ago and nature has been encroaching on the edges.  So a new layer of cardboard and mulch will quickly resolve that problem.

By the way, the bush on the right, that they are all going around, is a blueberry bush.  And that bright yellow green plant that is the border on the left, is golden marjoram that has decided that it likes where it is.  So it has way overgrown the two pots it started in and is making it's way down the center of this porch garden bed.  I'm perfectly content to let it do so, although I'll be adding a few pavers so I can reach the strawberry plants in the back when it is harvest time.

That is a lot more strawberry plants than the photo makes it look like.  Hopefully, they will all survive and grow with lots of vigor.  I'm not sure I want anymore strawberry plants in that area, but there are other strawberry home options available for the future.  So tomorrow, I will get the remainder of the plants potted up and tucked into the front edge of the blueberry to hold for winter.  These will be in normal pots with the intention of pulling them in the spring.  So my main focus is just getting them into the pots.  Tucking them into the mulch bedding for winter will happen as I get the new layers of mulch placed over the next few weeks.