Ouch, creak, groan
Those are the sounds made by a middle-aged mother of 2 after spending the day outside digging holes, digging up and moving rose bushes, planting more rose bushes and ripping out jungles ;). Tomorrow will bring more of the same, but I'm very pleased with the progress I made today. I dug up the pale pink rose which was under the Knockout rose by the pool steps and moved it over by the solarium. Years ago when I first planted the Knockout I had no idea it would get so big and so thought the pale pink one (I can't remember it's name and I lost the tag) would be okay next to it. Over the years the Knockout has taken over and almost smothered the pink one so it was past time to see if it could be saved. Because of the location (on top of a retaining wall) the digging was tricky and I didn't get as many roots as I would have liked. I very gently put it in it's new spot (lots more room and more sun), filled it with the very nice dirt from its old hole and watered well. Hopefully it will survive, but even if it doesn't it was doomed anyway, so at least I'm giving it a chance.
On the other side of the solarium door from where I planted the pink rose I planted a 'Ballerina' rose. It's an old-fashioned shrub rose which does well with part shade (which is this area exactly) so I'm hoping it will do well there. If these two survive next year I'll look into planning a couple of mini beds in that area. It's been ignored for several years but I'd really like to have something pretty there to look at from the family room :).
Then I moved on to the pool garden and the wild rose which had come off the roots of an English rose many years ago. I cut it down to the bone and dug out the rootball which wasn't easy--hardy roses are hard to remove! I had planned on planting another rose I bought there, but changed my mind when I saw the open area created by its removal and the digging out of a lot of the lirope which had overgrown there. It's not a good place for a rose--not enough sunlight, so I'd probably just end up with another rose going off its roots in a year or two and have to repeat the process again ;). So I bought a foxglove and a couple of Marguerite daisies to plant there instead, and I'm going to transplant the big clump of Phlox from the wall to there also. I think it will look nice and next year I may get some Delphiniums to add some tall blue color to that spot :).
The lirope was the worst of the bunch, the hardest and the cause of most of my soreness. But I'm very happy with how much I got out today--it cleared up a lot of garden "square footage". Tomorrow I'll go out again, chop down the honeysuckle that's threatening to kill the dogwood, and clean out some more of the lirope. Once that's done I'll put an edge around it to keep it where I want it--I just have to remember to make the edge again in the fall and next spring, and twice a year after that. It is some work, but it's better than going through this every couple of years!
I'll take pictures soon, once I get the new plants in the ground and everything cleaned up :).
On the other side of the solarium door from where I planted the pink rose I planted a 'Ballerina' rose. It's an old-fashioned shrub rose which does well with part shade (which is this area exactly) so I'm hoping it will do well there. If these two survive next year I'll look into planning a couple of mini beds in that area. It's been ignored for several years but I'd really like to have something pretty there to look at from the family room :).
Then I moved on to the pool garden and the wild rose which had come off the roots of an English rose many years ago. I cut it down to the bone and dug out the rootball which wasn't easy--hardy roses are hard to remove! I had planned on planting another rose I bought there, but changed my mind when I saw the open area created by its removal and the digging out of a lot of the lirope which had overgrown there. It's not a good place for a rose--not enough sunlight, so I'd probably just end up with another rose going off its roots in a year or two and have to repeat the process again ;). So I bought a foxglove and a couple of Marguerite daisies to plant there instead, and I'm going to transplant the big clump of Phlox from the wall to there also. I think it will look nice and next year I may get some Delphiniums to add some tall blue color to that spot :).
The lirope was the worst of the bunch, the hardest and the cause of most of my soreness. But I'm very happy with how much I got out today--it cleared up a lot of garden "square footage". Tomorrow I'll go out again, chop down the honeysuckle that's threatening to kill the dogwood, and clean out some more of the lirope. Once that's done I'll put an edge around it to keep it where I want it--I just have to remember to make the edge again in the fall and next spring, and twice a year after that. It is some work, but it's better than going through this every couple of years!
I'll take pictures soon, once I get the new plants in the ground and everything cleaned up :).
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