A major project in the rear-view mirror
I think I’ll be working on my dad’s place forever.
Still working on the flowerbeds, I broke down and paid someone to come out and do edging around them. My back just can’t take all of the shoveling anymore. My landscaper friend came with a machine last week and busted the job out in no time. Certainly far less time that it would have taken me, and also a far superior job than I could have completed.
Once the edging was finished, I knew I had limited time to get mulch laid down before the edging job became compromised. Anyone who has ever tried to keep their yard in check will probably agree with me that nature does not wait for anyone.
Stepping off the subject for a second, I will say that I actually find it quite fascinating how quickly the earth takes back what man has claimed. Look at any property that has been unoccupied for a few months. Not only does the grass get out of control, but vines and leaves will begin to encroach up the porch and across the windows. After a relatively short period of time, it becomes a monumental task to reclaim the property.
Kind of like what I’ve been going through, with my mom passing away several years ago, and my dad being ill before his passing last fall. He kept up what he could, but the flowerbeds were beginning to cast a wild feeling on the whole place. I have been slowly working on reclamation, trucking mulch home in my car after work every day; I ended up getting some delivered last week. The guys who delivered it distributed it through my yard near all of the places I expected to need it.
The beds having been prepped, the plastic having been acquired, and the mulch having been delivered meant that this weekend was the prime time for putting the project all together. I enlisted the help of my sister and my children, and we got started early Sunday morning. After the morning rain and before the evening deluge, we spread 75 bags of mulch. We pulled weeds, we moved rocks, we dug around walkways, we laid plastic, and we dumped the mulch. We got sunburned, we got dehydrated, and we got done.
After the mulching was complete, I got the lawnmower out and mowed around the beds in their new shape. A small hole in the deck allowed some grass clippings to fly into the mulch beds, which I wasn’t happy about, but it could’ve been much worse. The yard looks very crisp and semi-professional, but I was so grateful to be done that I would have been OK with a mediocre job.
In the afternoon we sat on the porch, looking at our job well done, enjoying a cold drink and nursing our sunburns and sore muscles. The beds are beautiful. My mom would love them, and although my dad’s passion was found elsewhere, I think he would be OK with them too.
Now on to the next project.
Laura Zoeller can be reached at zoeller5@verizon.net.