Moving Time

As fall moves along, I wanted to prep as much of the stroll garden area for when I extend the garden fece along the edge. I already moved the Black-eyed Susans elsewhere and removed the 6 x 6 timbers.

It was time to tackle moving the large Spirea at the transition point between the stroll garden, and the viewing garden. It took years to grow, but this year it was finally looking nice and full sized. It also flowered really well. 

I suspect the slow growing duration had a lot to do with the poor soil. Regardless, it was originally planted with the neighbor's white fence in mind. The new fence I plan to install requires that I move it forward at least two feet. So, with shovel in hand, I dug it up and moved it.

It was a lot more work than I had planned. First, I had to rake a lot of pea stone out of the way. I also had to dig out the large stones that were used as edging around this shrub. Then a new large hole had to be dug in front of it so that it could be shifted into its new location. The roots were solidly planted directly at the center bottom, so it was hard to get it to finally release and move. 

Once loose, I just shifted it and reused the same soil that it had been in. I hope this doesn't prove to be a mistake. I should have amended the soil, but I forgot to plan ahead, so I went with lazy. In the spring I will fertilize to help it adjust.

While moving it, I had to place it close to one of the new stepping stones. As a result, there is more of an entry way into the stroll garden anchored by two large shrubs on either side. I actually like this better. It will help to separate these two areas of the garden into separate "rooms."

I also took this opportunity to cut back some of the Super Blue Liriope (Liriope mascara 'Super Blue') that was growing into the False Cyprus shrub. I used the remnants along the edge of the viewing garden to fill in the gaps where it didn't take after transplanting some of the same Super Blue Liriope a couple years back.

The stone edging and transplanted Spirea look fine, but the bed looks awful and will need some of work next spring, but the more I can get done now, the less I will have to do in the spring.