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LABOR DAY WEEKEND LABORING

September 2, 2014

Geez, you would think I was vying for the “Most random posting blogger” award or something. I left you hanging all last week! I’m sorry. Life. You know?

It is hard to believe that Labor Day has now come and gone. It has been such a lousy summer weather wise. I know I am a professional weather complainer, but I feel like I’m justified this time. I can count on one hand the number of times the temperature got over 80 degrees at my house. And the nights, which were frequently in the 50s, were killers for the vegetable harvest. The tomatoes have been sparse and the few I have harvested have not tasted very good.

But there will be more time for looking back on summer when summer is really over. Since I contend that it never really started, I’m just going to keep waiting and pray for a really warm September and October.

The big project at our house this weekend was moving 20 yards of topsoil. This is a job we knew we had coming and we knew we had to get done but other than the satisfaction of having it finished, there wasn’t much joy in it.

We wanted to fill in grass around the driveway and grade the yard a little bit in the process. Fortunately the only thing that made this job tolerable is that we were able to borrow a machine (I don’t know what these things are called) from Mr. Much More Patient’s employer to move the soil around. All we had to do after that was rake it out and compress it a little (to avoid odd settling later). That was enough work all on its own.

After that we just had to seed it and mulch it. Unfortunately we ran out of mulch. I always buy too little of everything for a project and need to run out for more. Except it was Labor Day and nothing was open. So mulch will wait.

In addition to the satisfaction of having a big job checked off the list, there’s a certain amount of satisfaction that comes from having done this ourselves. Mr. Much More Patient got a quote from a landscaper to do this job. It was about $2,000. So far we’ve spent less than $400 ($300 on the topsoil, plus seed, a little mulch, stakes and ribbon to cordon it off).

Anyway, here’s what it looks like at our house right now.

But there is a complicating factor. And that’s this.

We picked up the newest addition to our family on Friday night and have been busy acclimating him to the family and remembering how much work puppies are! His big sister Rita is not at all pleased at this point but we have hope she’ll come around soon. Poor little guy still doesn’t have a name!

Interesting factoid: If you spread dirt all over your yard and then get a puppy you will end up with a very dirty puppy/house and little foot holes all over your future lawn.

labor day lawn newfoundlands
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
5 Comments

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Comments

  1. Ms. Wis./Each Little World says: September 2, 2014 at 11:11 pm

    You are a glutton for punishment: big job AND new puppy! But he sure is cute. We hosted a big crowd for brunch Sunday a.m. and spent yesterday recovering. Today we bought a tree, a shrub and perennials. I'm ready to rest again!

    Reply
  2. anne57 says: September 2, 2014 at 11:20 pm

    Such a cute puppy! We spread 20 yards of mulch at our house over the weekend, which is much lighter than soil, so I was happy you had equipment. I can't imagine how difficult that would have been to do by hand.

    Reply
  3. Heather - New House New Home says: September 3, 2014 at 11:51 am

    I'm so happy you got a puppy!! I'm sure the house feels alive again (especially in the middle of the night!).
    Great job on the landscaping project. Moving topsoil with a machine made it a bit easier, I'm sure. But that's still a lot of work!! And it was hot out there this weekend!

    Reply
  4. Devon says: September 19, 2014 at 1:56 pm

    Question: Why did you spread mulch over the newly grass-seeded area? Was that just to protect it from the puppy? I wouldn't think you would want mulch in a grass area…but then, I don't know much about these things.

    Reply
  5. Erin Schanen says: September 22, 2014 at 4:12 pm

    The mulch (which was some kind of paper-type product) helps keep the ground moist to help with germination and growth as well as keeping the seed from washing away in big rain. Interestingly, now that the grass is coming in, the mulched areas have far fewer weeds than the non-mulched areas so I'm thinking maybe it also helps protect it from airborne weed seeds.

    Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
Well you’ve seen simple, this is clearly not tha Well you’ve seen simple, this is clearly not that. Let’s just say I threw a lot at this window box. 

Metal ring (inspired for years by Deborah Silver) was made by a local metalworker. 
Greens: fir, cedar, juniper and magnolia 
Branches: budded willow, cardinal dogwood and fantail willow
Garnish: pinecones, faux berries, faux amaranth and faux fuzzy ball things

My takeaway from this container is that I need more windows and a much bigger window box. 😀
This is what happens when it’s nice enough out t This is what happens when it’s nice enough out that I can actually feel my fingers. One minute you’re hanging garland like you do every year and the next minute you’re pilfering dried flowers from your hydrangeas and sticking them everywhere. 

This all started because the bay that I bought in the cartload sale at the nursery in August is still very much alive and looking good, so I transplanted it to the pot outside the garage (last picture). But it needed a little something to fill out the pot and I glanced around for what I might have and the next thing you know, I’m harvesting hydrangeas like crazy. 

If I had given the garland even a couple minutes of thought before I started throwing things in there I would have gone for an asymmetric look, but when you’re working outside in winter in Wisconsin, done is done.
If it were only this easy.😀 If it were only this easy.😀
Are you on Team Simple or Team Elaborate? For as Are you on Team Simple or Team Elaborate?

For as much as I love creating somewhat elaborate winter containers, I’d still never be without the simple ones. This is why the front of my house looks like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were decorating. I simply can’t restrain myself to a theme or design concept. 

Anyway, this trough planter is in a spot that’s not easy to get electric to, so I don’t bother with lights. Cardinal twig dogwood, fir and magnolia are all it takes to give this the simple look I need after going nuts with other containers.
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