An Unexpected Obstacle

Most of the projects here are long term, with no real beginning or end.  Yesterday, I needed the feeling of accomplishment that comes with FINISHING something, so I chose to work on the new bed on the south side of the house.  I showed it to you originally in THIS post.

Here's the bed, outlined in Richmond cobblestones.

I want to soften this view.

The roses I decided to use to climb the wall are Reve d'Or, Marechal Niel, and Alister Stella Gray ... all are yellow Tea Noisettes that should love the warm brick and bright sunshine on this side of the house.  Earlier, I sprayed the grass and weeds inside the bed with herbicide, waited a week for it to do its thing, and added a few tractor-bucketloads of topsoil to raise the bed a bit.  All I had to do yesterday was lay out the roses and peonies, dig holes and plant them, and spread mulch.

There was a surprise waiting for me with my first attempted shovel-full of dirt.

Concrete!

Under about 6 inches of soil next to the driveway, was the remains of a concrete pad.

The husband went to the garage to get the sledge hammer to see if he could break it up. 

He succeeded in chipping off a bit of the corner, only to find that the slab was at least 5 inches thick.  We agreed that it was not going to come out without the encouragement of a jackhammer.

He and I stared at the slab, brain-stormed a bit, and worked out what we think is a pretty good Plan B. 

We decided that this is the perfect place for a half whiskey barrel planter filled with trailing roses.  I dug the soil off the top of the slab, and he laid concrete blocks on top of it to raise it up to the level of the surrounding soil.  I'll go to the store in a few days and buy some tumbled pavers to cover the concrete blocks, and I think we'll have a nice feature. 

I have to straighten the cobblestones out a bit.

While he was laying out the concrete blocks, I planted 6 pots of peonies on the far end of the bed by the light post.  That's all we had time for, so I never did get the roses planted. 

Still no finished projects ... sigh.

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In honor of the first flower of the year, be sure to check in here on Friday for "Friday Flowers" and the first Give Away of the season.

(written by Hartwood roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)