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container planting, food, garden, home, life, nature, plants, spring, Virgina

slow snow slide…try saying this fast

Yesterday marked the official end of winter in my landscape, so said I. The droopy snow slide of last week is now merely a memory. Today, with the sun blazing in all her glory, I headed out into the garden to complete yet another task on my spring checklist.

This planter, and her sister, survived many years of neglect, continuing to flourish season to season. However, during the winter, both planters collapsed, or the contents did, forcing me to pay attention.

sunken in the center

This sedum is bullet proof and flowed for years, simulating water, as the centerpiece of my restored herb bed—now it needed surgery.

with my trusty Rambo knife, surgery was successful

When I planted this container years ago, I placed onion bags filled with  packing peanuts into the bottom. This provides great drainage, reduces the amount of fill dirt, and will biodegrade in a thousand years, making this process very sustainable!

a good use for those non-biodegradable peanuts

notice the peanut filled onion bags tucked into the bottom of the container

landscape cloth and good earth await

operation successful thanks to a good knife

The old flat sheet provided a great catch-all for any wandering bits…

A few fresh peanuts were added

then all were covered with a bit of landscape cloth. This prevents dirt from clogging the engineered drainage

I just adore the color of these Angelina Stonecrop ‘Sedum rupestre’ ‘Angelina’ PPAF or trailing perennial.

In no time this plant will spill over the edges of this container creating a fountain effect

meanwhile the mower charges

I repeated this surgery on the second container, then proceeded to the lower garden where the eight sections of retired sedum were re-purposed. They should do well in this hot, sunny lower area.

Virginia soil is full of clay, therefore this mortar pan is handy when adding amendments like Pro-Mix.

slave girl at work–moi!

tools of the day

time for a late lunch–butternut squash ravioli

with brown butter and sage

a tasty reward following a good afternoon’s work

So fare-thee-well winter storms and heavy snow.
This gardener is out in her domain, making a small difference in her spring landscape on a highly productive Friday afternoon.

Copyright © 2013 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved