The regular crew went to work with definite goals in mind: extend the upper landing and celebrate Canada Day by planting our showcase Japanese Maple tree now that our bridge was in place. We had help from K of course since he would be here for another half a day before heading out again.
D was working on taking the rough gravel and rock layer out of the planting area, while K and P work on carving out a landing in line with the bridge. Photo credit: YS
We realized that we didn’t have a way to efficiently carry the debris away from our overcrowded work site now. So K and D unveiled the new Jack to take out the roots blocking our way from using wheel barrows over by the South side. The roots were gnarly and this didn’t exactly work. Photo credit: YS
Y digging a hole for the Maple after clearing out the top layer of gravel and rocks from the area. Photo credit: POChange of guard as D and K take over from Y and P to dig, dig and dig!! Photo credit: YSBut that wasn’t enough for the Maple tree hole. We needed to call in the muscle to go at it with a pick axe at least thrice. Video credit: YSY massaging the roots of one of the Wooly Thymes that she and D were planting by the far side before putting in the Maple tree. Photo credit: POD’s mix of the goo that trees like: Bone Meal, Perlite, some Black/Top Soil and water at the base. Photo credit: YS
Bringing in the prize. Photo credit: EO
Gently lowering it in. Video credit: EO
Lift it a bit and shift to your right! Photo credit: EO
Add in that good top soil. Now some more native soil. Now more top soil again! Video credit: EO
Praying to the tree goddess. Photo credit: EO
There she is, Japanese Maple ‘Tamukeyama’. Isn’t she stunning? Photo credit: EO
We were all very happy to celebrate the day with this tree planting. Afterwards, Y watered the plants, and P and D worked on adding some gravel to the side of the Maple area, around the bridge, to reduce the wood’s contact with soil and water. They worked briefly on carving out the path and top landing beside the bridge before the group broke for lunch. We had a special visitor, A, who came in briefly to meet us and was delighted to see the progress we’d made with the garden. The group called it an early day given it was a national holiday. Later in the afternoon, D and E left to drop off K with T. Thanks so much for building us such a beautiful bridge, K and T and for injecting some much needed vigor back into the crew with this masterful addition. Next, we continue to complete our path to the East and the West sides. Also coming up is D’s ‘palisade’ beside the East side of the bridge and an embankment to ease the steep height gap. More tomorrow…
Our special guest, A, who joined us to see the garden we’ve made thus far. We also had a surprise visitor, aka Mr. Troll found lurking underneath the bridge, to the right! Photo credit: YSThanks mama E for the Canada Day lunch special, it was very tasty! Photo credit: YS
We began the day by checking if the rock substitution and more foam had fixed our waterfall. It had indeed, and just in time for Father’s Day – we were chuffed! Next, the group had a planning session to discuss where the next few expansions would take place. D and P plan to have an…
The crew was up and about early on this hot day. P2 went about pruning all the pokey and prickly greens by the big, old ash tree. P continued to work on adjusting the height of the path by the North end of the garden. While he put Y to work on digging up the…
Thursday morning turned out to be cooler than the prior week and we could see the clouds building up early. The crew started work around 8:30 am this day with their focus on the upper bridge landing and the lower embankment where they’d left off work yesterday. D and P2 started by building up what…
The crew started the week with some different tasks than we have previously, now that our main water features were complete. P picked up where he left off the landing step by the patio and the upper pond. P2 had the responsibility to change the orientation of our gate where our garden path would begin…
It was the start of the weekend and we planned to get a lot done the next couple days. We started around 9 am by capturing the measurements to assess whether our pump could handle the waterfalls we were envisioning in our two ponds, and whether the pipe we had bought would fit the trench…
Wednesday morning greeted us with some more warm weather, though the high in the day was expected to be just 22 degrees C. The crew met outside at 8 am again. After an initial discussion on what adjustments were needed to the patio steps, most of the crew went on to their own separate tasks….
