My plugs from Heartland Restoration Services were starting to get restless in their nursery pots. After several rain and scheduling delays it was finally time to prep the bed for planting and install my plugs. Larry went to Do It Best on Calhoun and rented their sod cutter for us. It was $45 for 4 hours. There are likely cheaper options out there, such as S & A Rental, but this location is 2 blocks from the orchard which is incredibly convenient. It certainly runs pretty well in loamy soil but puts up a fight in our dense Indiana clay. Thank goodness for husbands with strong arms and hearts of gold.
When planning for this day, I made several drafts of a site plan and still did not end up sticking to it. The portion of my lot that faces S. Harrison St would be subjected to the front yard setback (as it relates to zoning) should I want to install a fence someday. The house that was originally on the land was set back 20 ft from the public sidewalk, which is also where the remnant sidewalk ends. So my initial plan was to do those “front yard” sections first. Each planted portion would be roughly 160 sq. ft. But when we got the sod cutter to the property, I decided that I wanted to remove everything up to and around our fire pit area.
When selecting plants to put here there are several things I considered.
Soil Type - Sand, Loam, Clay
Soil Moisture - Wet, Mesic (Not Wet or Dry), Dry
Light Requirements - Shade, Pt Sun, Sun
Plant Spread & Plant Height - The goal is to have a mixture of heights and spreads that will eventually grow into one another and prop each other up.
Bloom Time - Year round interest is always the goal for me. Even in winter a variety of textures and leaf shapes can help add to the beauty of a snowy garden.
Here’s yet another shameless plug for Heartland Restoration. They have a downloadable spreadsheet of all of their offerings and the above referenced information. They make it so easy to order from them.
It’s really important to do a light and water study of your land before planting. The Orchard has a significant downward slope. When it rains, the front of the lot collects a lot of water. So I knew I’d need something that wouldn’t mind the occasional wet conditions. In addition to that, there was dappled shade, evening sun and loamy soil. Just 15 ft away from this spot is thick dense clay, pt sun and mesic to dry conditions. Even with all of the research I did, I’m sure not all of my plants will survive/thrive where I put them and that’s okay. I’m keeping track of all my plantings in a binder so I can understand what is and isn’t working for my conditions.
My next door neighbor found out about my dull shovel and let me borrow hers until I can get myself a new one. How sweet is she?
This is the “extra” unplanned section that I ended up planting. So everything here was initially supposed to go toward that street in the background but I changed my mind. I’ll be killing and weeding out all this remnant grass you see around the fire pit area and sidewalk.
C is now a pro at removing plants from their pots and planting them at the appropriate depths. Also, I do not recommend gardening in Disney princess shoes. :)
To create the site plan I used a piece of graph paper and each 5 x 5 square represented 2 square feet. Once I got a baseline of the site down I made copies of it with my printer. That way I wasn’t starting fully from scratch with each draft and had a template to work with. This made it very easy to graph where I wanted to put each plant. Because we extended the footprint of where we cut the sod, I moved a significant portion of my plantings east on the lot but it ended up working out really well.
My next step is to level the ground and prep the area where we will install a tree swing. Once that is complete, I’ll order more plants and finish this large chunk.
This is just a rough fit of the blocks that will become our tree swing platform. I’ll be leveling this area, installing weed barrier, and installing the stones. I bought this hammock swing from Amazon to hang up. Initially I bought two hammock straps to use around each tree, but after doing more research I found that I could unintentionally girdle my trees which I absolutely do not want to do. So the plan now is to get two very large and heavy duty eye hooks. A hook will be installed into each tree, a strap from each tree will then support the swing. Here’s to hoping that works!
It honestly good that this area didn’t get planted yet, because I for sure would have accidentally trampled something.
I’ve also installed a couple more solar lights. They look great but I need to go over when its dark out to see if they’re actually getting enough sun to turn on at night. We saw a monarch fluttering around twice while we were working. Hoping this becomes a haven for them over the next couple of years. We also made friends with two robins who came and ate worms and insects in our overturned soil for hours on end each day.
As we were leaving on planting day #2 a woman stopped by to ask me what we were up to. I talked to her for a few minutes and she reached in her purse and handed me a $10 bill saying "use this to buy more plants." I resisted but she said she lived just down the street and was happy to see what we were doing.
I was so taken back by her kindness that I didn’t remember to get her name. So if you’re reading this, please stop by again so I can learn your name. :)