We were pretty amazed to wake up to snow this Easter morning but all and all, a rest from the garden was welcome. On Saturday, we got after the Sinky Hole...yah, that's what we call it..."The Sinky Hole". It was on "the list".
Last time we attended to this was four years ago when the wheel on the baby tractor fell through the lawn. We think there's a spring under there, but who knows. Anyway, it has deteriorated quite a bit so it needed attention.
We don't usually hire, and try to manage as much as possible ourselves but.... saving a few dollars sometimes means spending some to begin with and this meant...'high five'...purchasing the handy dandy
sod lifter from Lee Valley which worked a charm.
Although the area between the firepit and the raised bed doesn't appear to be very uneven, it was, and someone (likely me) was going to do serious injury to an ankle if this wasn't taken care of.
The sod removed, we began to dump soil, trying to level it as much as possible. This deposit amounted to one and a half cubic yards of material. Tamped down with a trusty home made block, we lightly raked the area, added some fertilizer and replaced the sod.
Sigh... End of the day, we had a nice fire, relaxed and admired our hard work. Ahem....you will note the one spot that didn't get sodded. Well, the best of plans can often go awry, and the problem was, some of the sods just disintegrated, but we leveled this portion off, and put grass seed on there. Yup..we might have to do that twice if the weather doesn't cooperate but, at least, the sinky hole is gone for another few years (we hope) and it is easier to walk back there, for sure!! I will have to raise the perennial bed on the right a little bit but that should be easily done this time of year.
Now, back to nurturing baby veg and flower seedlings, and attending to the rest of the list:
1. re-stain the pickets
2. change the stain color on the beanwall not this year
3. edge the beds when it isn't snowing
4. spread some bark mulch on the front beds
5. get out the summer furniture
6. etc. etc. etc.
I've looked at those sod lifters before but wasn't sure how good a job they would do. Looking at your job obviously they work real well. Great to know as there's a number of smaller areas where a sod lifter would be a great help. Glad you were able to get this done before the weather set in, what a blizzard it's been today!
ReplyDeleteThe sod lifter worked great. We replaced the soil in this area about five years ago..with nice loam....but I don't think the sod lifter would work well if the soil was stony. Thanks Marguerite!
DeleteI thought about you all over there when I heard the forecast. Good grief! It's been a strange year. Your grow boxes are great! Hope things warm up, hang in there.
ReplyDeleteI'm shocked that your pictures were taken a day apart. What an awesome days work..and then a days rest. I bet you both needed it!! Happy Easter Brenda and Captain!!
ReplyDeleteAt least you won't be able to see the patch where there was no grass for now! We had a bit of snow last week too - not much and thankfully it was wet snow and soon disappeared
ReplyDeleteGreat job, we've got a sinky hole in the garden that I should attend to this year as well.
ReplyDeletePsyching yourself up to do gardening tasks and then waking to frozen ground is a pain.
Thats a long list of thing to keep you busy this Spring. Look forward to seeing all the updates.
Paul
I love the design of your firepit. Fire it up and melt that snow! :-)
ReplyDeleteHi, Your place is looking beautiful! I am having trouble with back and forth weather too and it seems like my things I do have in aren't growing very fast! I found your blog via Empress of Dirt. Just started a garden blog this year. We have a small lot. Come take a peek if you have time. Nancy at http://cozythymecottage.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteWe had the same snow cloud pass by us on Easter as well. We always get one last snow storm though, just to remind us to be grateful when spring finally arrives! Hopefully this was the last one. :o) Your raised bed looks lovely. I look forward to hearing about your other projects.
ReplyDeleteIt is a busy time of year when the "to do" list is extra long. Lee Valley is a great source for those more unusual tools. I am so glad that I found my black walnut picker-upper there. It really saved my back!
ReplyDeleteThe weather has been pretty odd this spring hasn't it? Warm and sunny one minute and freezing cold the next. I can't complain though. At least we haven't had snow like you did at Easter! Love the design of your fire pit!
I tried to comment last week, but for some reason (probably only known to computers ... hee hee) I couldn't get the comment box too appear!?? Anyhow, despite the snow, I hope you had a nice Easter. We didn't have snow ... but it wasn't warm enough for an outdoor egg hunt. Darn! Looks like you are getting lots done in your yard! And, I too, love your fire pit. Very neat!
ReplyDelete~Michele
Wow, what a wonderful photograph that top one is, it looks more like Christmas than Easter.
ReplyDelete