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"Kinda' Before" This was taken just below the area that I've been working on and is "kinda'" what it used to look like:




"Almost After" There's still alot to do, but I'm gettin' there! It's slow going because everything - from taking out stumps to moving dirt - has been done by hand, one axe/pick swing/shovelful at a time and most of the ground is a rock/clay mixture and tough to work with... BUT I LOVE IT!





Whatcha' think?

as a fellow gardener I recognise the amount of work that mustve gone into that - you will have to show us progress reports when things start to grow - what are you going to grow there?

Looks like a lot of hard work went into that, can't wait to see the end product. Is it for veggies or flowers???

Vegetable and flowers both. The small "steps" you can see at the top of the lower picture are 3 tiny little gardens that I carved out last year, in which we raised polebeans, tomatos, okra, corn, herbs and a few other things I can't think of right now.

I've still got some more dirt work to do as well as conditioning/fertilizing the soil, but we should have a pretty good garden(s) this year. Also, you can't see it in the picture, but there's a small area that will be specifically dedicated to roses.

my bessie friend up in Scotland planted a hedge of rosa rugosa about 5 yrs ago and it has hips on it the size of plums - small birds nest inside it now too - really beautiful she loves roses too and has got lots of specialist ones

some of the most beautiful roses i have ever seen was when i took a trip to Scotland. they were sooooooooooo big!!!! i had never seen roses that big, and they were in almost every garden. i guess the climate there is good for growing them.

For Valentine's day, I bought Jackson a miniature rose and that will go in there, plus she's got a rose from her grandmother that she calls her "Grandma rose." And I'd like, if at all possible, to get some wild roses from Kansas transplanted to go with the native Tennessee wild roses she has down here.

(Can you tell I'm excited about this?)

oh I know the excitement, I really do - about 5 yrs ago when I first moved in here I had a similar experience. Theres a little river at the bottom of the garden and the earth was backed up right to the edge but I figured there may be big old stone paving slabs like the ones further along the banks - so I got a prodder, tested in a few places and just had to get the shovel out - all the earth just went into the river so it was no problem to move but there was such a lot - Im rushing off out now but will post you the piccie another time, its gorgeous, the slabs are about 3 or 4 feet by sameish and a good few of them - i planted an arch with roses and clematis which should be pretty nice this yr - I love my garden

Sorry Don, just getting back from church and Earl said you had posted your pics..love them, as a matter of a fact, gives me a good idea for a Honeydo for my Honey

I bet she would love some of the old fashioned english tea roses - they have a perfume to die for and some are repeat flowering too - some of the floribunda are amazing as they flower all summer long

Well done Kansan!.. that looks like its already taken a lot of hard work

Can you do my garden please

Sure! --For a price!--

Actually, I've always kinda' had a knack for landscaping and gardens - If I weren't a "professional tourist," I'd probably have a landscaping business - Seems like I can look at an area and instinctively discover what would look best/ most natural. One key to doing that is to not be afraid to listen to yourself and make spontaneous changes/additions as you go along.

And - if you folks are serious - I'd be happy to post progress pictures from time to time. (After the way the 3 tiny gardens at the top of the 2nd pic turned out last year, we're really looking forward to the newest addition!)

Have you tried to grow the Moss Rose .... such a delight to watch those mossy buds.

I've found one small shrub at a back yard of an abondon old house ( a family from Holland used to live there, perhaps they have brought the Moss Roses from Holland cause they are not native to our area)

That's the must be plant in every Garden ... so bizzare in looks and touch

Morning Trish

I like an idea of a Step Garden .... Why you do not want to make a Rockwall instead of wood frames.
You said that soil is heavy clay and rock. Did you take in concideration water run(from the top) in a spring time or during havy rain falls? Just wondering.

In a garden I work in ... ( I am a Gardener) we have exactly the same type of soil .... and it is very crucial to know about Natural water conditions (undergroung springs including) Clay and rock do not absorb water very fast ... and it can harm a plant ( Root rot) one of them.

actually a very good site to play with Azaleas and Rhodies .... Spring bulbs to be Naturalized.

I so love when men have passion for Gardening, they look so Damn sexy when they play in a Garden

My post was for The Kansan

Hi Marina

I just found page of the most amazing rosegardens and just know you will be blown away by them

http://www.justourpictures.com/roses/williamlobb.html

I couldnt agree more


especially when its my garden too - I have a secret crush on Monty Don

yeah ... you want to make me envious ... because here in Nova Scotia we can't grow roses. Well, we can ... but they do not perform to full extend as they do perform in perfect conditions. Nova Scotia is a piece of Granite and Basalt with a tiny layer of soil.

But anyway, sure I'll take a peek

Finally! My week is over!

I'd kinda' forgotten about the Moss Rose, but I agree - I've always loved portulaca and it will definitely figure in somwhere in the future, perhaps along the borders or at the base of the walls.

Speaking of the walls, rock walls would have been nice and there is a chance that they will eventually replace the timbers. For right now though, it's a matter of cost/labor/time - I wanted to get the lower garden ready for planting this spring and it was plenty labor intensive as it was without the added work of placing rock. Then there's the matter of aquiring the rock; I could probably 'gather' the rock I need for the walls, but that would mean digging - and then transporting by hand - from a nearly inaccessible ravine on our property. (Way too much work for the limited time I have.) I could buy the rock necessary to build the walls, but part of the beauty of our gardens is that they haven't cost us anything but a little hard work. (I aquired the lumber at zero cost as it was initially used for dunnage on a couple of loads I hauled and was considered scrap.)

I'm planning on mixing a cubic yard or two of sand in with the top layer of existing soil (clay and rock) so as to somewhat negate the drainage problem. And I'll use a mixture of topsoil and manure and a sprinkling of lime mixed in with that to get things in shape for the growing season. The topsoil, manure and lime will be the only things I'll actually have to pay for, so - when you get right down to the nitty gritty - our gardens will have cost us only about $60.00 (and a hundred or so man/hours) from conception to finish. Pretty cheap when you consider the rewards we'll reap from the vegetables we'll grow and the beauty of it all - Plus the sheer satisfaction of knowing it was a labor of love.