The Never Ending (Landscaping) Story

'Round about last September, we decided that the current landscaping was no longer working for us, and in fact, was working quite valiantly against us.  When we purchased our beautiful new home (in the dead of a Minnesota winter, I should add), we also inherited the hardiest sumac this side of the Mississippi and a killer vine with roots extending clear to China.  Each year we hacked away a little bit more of the jungle - helped immensely by an unplanned and unannounced afternoon clear-cut when my mother came to visit one weekend - but still, the process wore on.

There came a point when we could no longer see the sun from the sunroom.  Something had to give, and that something was my patience and a month's worth of disposable income.     

Adam and I spent a few weekends last fall finishing my mom's original clear-cutting methods (slash-and-burn would have undoubtedly been quicker, and probably cleaner, but we didn't want TJ getting any ideas.)  Then we decided to call it good enough for one season, and we hoped that winter would kill off whatever we missed.

 

When the snow melted and spring returned, we saw the brown and barren results of our latest project, and we remembered that we had forgotten to complete Step One.  We needed a plan, and we needed someone else to come up with it.

Step One: The Plan, or What $75 Buys You at a Design Center 

We met with Megan from Gertens, and Adam and I both agreed that Megan is the new leader on this project.  What she says, we complete.  No arguing, no complaining, no substitutions.  This time, there will be follow-through (and probably blood).  

 
We purchased our shrubs and evergreens from Gertens and began to lay out the foundation of our project.  I scored some great deals on flowers, plants, and grasses from the Friends School Plant Sale.  (Well, they would have been great deals had I not bought five of everything.  Now they are just "deals".  I won't even tell you what that bill was.)   

It took me several days/weeks to get everything in the ground, likely due to the fact that I measured everything to the nearest quarter-inch.  Adam helped by removing the straggler roots from last year's sumacs and by conveniently going on "radio silence" whenever I had a request for help.

Step Two: Stonescaping, or How Many Rocks Can I Get for $40?

I will leave out the details of this little project, but it should suffice to say that the more you try to level something, the more you need to drink.  After nearly breaking down into tears over a concrete bench off by mere millimeters, I decided to hand my hour-long leveling project over to Adam.  Then I followed my 3 cups of breakfast coffee with the rest of the Pinot Grigio and some string cheese.  Approximately 7 minutes later, everything was perfect, including the bench.  Thanks Adam.  It turns out that you don't need an app for that.