Last night I publicly committed to my plans to dig up the front yard and replace the weedy grass with flowers and shrubs. Today we took the first step to initiate a course of action. I bought a second small cherry tree from Costco as soon as plants started showing up in the spring. I got a cherry and another nectarine to pair with the one that took off like gangbusters in the back yard. The nectarine was planted more than a month ago, and if it is true that it takes two or more of them in relative proximity to each other to convince them to bear fruit, then it has already worked. The nectarine is covered in small walnut sized green fruits, all fuzzy and full of promise. (Murray needs to get serious about chasing off the squirrels -- it's on him now to protect the yard from them, and he doesn't seem as diligent as Bumpy was.) The cherry tree, on the other hand, stayed in its cardboard box for far longer than it was supposed to. It totally leafed out, and did its level best to thrive even under less than ideal conditions. Now that we have agreed that the next flower bed that we planned will be a full-on berm and rock garden, we decided it was time to break ground.
Mr S-P thought the tree was going almost straight out from the front door. I nixed that idea immediately. From the time the flower bed was conceived, in its reduced footprint, I intended it to go closer to the little spruce tree that came from the mining claim property. The spruce struggled the first two years we were here, losing all of its spring growth last year. We thought perhaps it was water-logged, and we considered raising it up on a berm. I wanted to shade it with the cherry tree, thinking that might make it feel more like the cooler climate where it came from. This year, we haven't been overwatering as much, so the spring growth is looking better. But we still have plans for the berm, so we will need to work out the math for the new topography around that spot. To get it going, he dug out the hole for the cherry, but then we ringed it with temporary flagstone supports, and we amended the soil around it. We bought some annuals (petunias) to cover the soil for the time being, but we need to build up the area around it before winter, so that the roots have enough insulation to keep it warm.
I noticed two things about this latest step: first, the rock ring feels absolutely right, like it was supposed to be there all along. I worried that I'd regret the change, but as soon as I saw the first phase, my stress level went down, like I'd been waiting for this transformation for too long, and was relieved it had finally started. (I say this knowing it hasn't been a week since I agreed that the front grass had to go.) Second thing, I am reminded of the house we had in North Carolina, the first one we ever bought. It had a terrible garage conversion when we bought it, and the room was essentially useless for anything but storage for us. One day while I was working at the library, I got a phone call from then-Sgt S-P. "Guess where I am? I'm in the doorway to our new den!" He had come home from a TDY somewhere, and had a few days off. He took his circular saw, and zipped an opening from the dining room into the crappy not-really-a-bonus room. Once he made the committment, we had to move forward with the remodel. It was a ton of work, but when it was done, it was spectacular. We all loved the room. This first phase in the total overhaul of the landscaping feels just like that. When it's done, I truly believe it will be perfect. There will just be a lot of digging and hauling between now and then.
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