I finally came up with a solution. We have a rose bed that I never take care of. Those poor poor roses. They have/had so much potential... I put an add on craigslist saying that anybody that was willing to come and dig them out could have them. Could you believe that about 15 people responded to that add within 1/2 an hour! Free labor, SWEET!
Just look at all those weeds and swamp grass! Yuck!
This nice couple came from 30 minutes away to dig them out. They thought they were getting a great deal and I knew I was getting a great deal. Yay! Everybody is happy :)
After the roses were taken out I made a trip to Lowe's and bought me some weed and grass killer, top soil and a hand tiller. I sprayed down everything that was left in the flower bed and waited a few days until it all died then pulled weeds like crazy. Next came the hand tilling. Let me tell you! I am glad I go to the gym on a regular basis because that hand tilling was killer! My neck and shoulders and back were so sore! Not to mention a HUGE blister on EACH hand! Chris and Wade helped me though. They got in there with their shovels. They really worked hard.
After that I put in my top soil fertilizer and tilled it in with my existing dirt and fixed the sprinklers. I got so lucky that the sprinklers in there were working. I only had to replace two heads. The others only needed a little bit of tweaking.
My flower bed is 4 feet deep (which is way to far for my little body to reach) so I had to come up with a solution. I could do rows because I wouldn't be able to reach into the back. I could just not plant there but then that would be wasted space.
I decided to do squares, like square foot gardening. I did for "boxes" of 4 foot by 4 foot with a 1 1/2 foot stepping path between each "box".
I made a grid with string and skewers. The stepping paths between each row are newspaper and old shelves that have been sitting in my storage room for years.
Yesterday Chris, Wade, and I planted our garden. I am using a website called sproutrobot.com. It is amazing! You put in your zip code and it tells you what you can plant and when. It gives you all the instructions on how to plant what and when they should be sprouting and how to thin. It is amazing! (did I say that already?) It is a really great tool if you are a gardening dummy like me!
I'll keep you updated :)
Do you have a garden? Do you have any gardening tips for me?
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