"The winds may fell the massive oak, but bamboo, bent even to the ground, will spring upright after the passage of the storm."
I thinned out the four bamboo plants that I had originally planted along side the gazebo. They were never spaced far enough apart and were very crowded, especially after a couple years of growth.
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| First Planted |
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| On Year Later |
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| Two Years Later |
I decided to move two of the plants to the opposite side of the back entry way into the garden (along side the house). There was a grass plant located here that was doing very well.
I decided to split the grass and move it to the end of the walkway between the house and garage. However, the split did not go well. One side seems to be still alive and may fully recover by next year. The other side (left) looks pretty sad and may not do well enough to keep in that location - only time will tell.
I considered splitting the bamboo, but after splitting the grass with such poor results, I opted not to do so. Instead, I moved two of the four plants. Over the next couple of weeks I made sure they got plenty of water and now they seem to be doing very well. In fact, they now have more room to spread out and both sides of the entry way and now look well balanced.
In the spirt of using gravel throughout a Zen garden, I decided to remove the landscape timbers I was using to define the original walkway between the house and garage. I also removed the mulch I placed within the defined beds during last years transplant of the Hosta into the walkway.
Now gravel extends throughout, making the area seem much larger and spacious.
I also balanced the plantings - 2 Liriope Grasses and one Hosta on each side in the front, and three Hosta and some grass on each side in the back (The grass was a transplanted and split plant I moved from the backyard - it didn't do well as a result of the split. I may have to wait until next year to see if it needs replacing).
I also added a yard of gravel to the original pathway - it sloped considerably. I then toped it off with a thin layer of pea stone (just under a yard). It is now level and solid to walk upon. In the future, I plan on placing some sort of large stepping stones down the center of the path, but for now I plan to leave it just pea stone.
I still need to build doors for the gate, but I won't be able to get to that project until mid to late August (or maybe next year).
