WHAT was I thinking ???????

It started out in pure innocence - it sounded like a good idea - I was inspired by what all the work fellow garden bloggers were doing............  I was going to cut in my new "South-by-Southwest" (later to be called the "Cottage Garden") garden and prepare it for next Spring!!  I had a few key foundation plants in place, floating out in the middle of the yard, time to encase them in the new garden.  There was a "plan".  I would amend the soil and let it 'simmer' over the winter, just waiting for spring 2011!

WHAT WAS I THINKING????????

A little history retread:
2008:  Backyard = rough shape from home renovation, started out looking like this in spring:

"Icky bad" 2008

2010 - The design plan:

Trace paper - covering an existing picture to sketch plant ideas on ...

2010 (Sept.) - The implementation:

Day 1 - THAT was as good as it was going to get!

Jim and Pat over at illic est haud equus quoque mortuus barruo did an amazing job cutting in a new garden;  so much so that they inspired me to get a jump on 2011 too!

The Problem? ..... My aching back!

I was so glib!   "I was woman, hear me roar!"  Get out the tools and just get to work.  I had my newspaper to cover whatever sod was out there, then I was going to pile on the sphagnum moss, compost and a little top soil.  Let the grass compost under the paper, let the paper breakdown and the nutrients of the amendments give me something to nurture new plants.

I had only edged the shape of the garden before fatigue set in!  Clay with a veneer of topsoil has the texture of  30 year-old concrete by the end of summer.  Shoulders throbbed in pain, arms were like wet noodles and my profile bared a resemblance to Quasimodo...

To add insult to injury, the weekend was over and I wasn't going to be back to finish up until the following weekend.  THAT's when the real fun began - the next weekend...  In a moment of brilliance, I decided to loosen up and stretch before I went out take on the SSW garden, my back was still tight from 'week 1'.  That's when I felt the 'pop' in my lower back - and I caved!  Down & out for 8 days!

But then the miracle happened...

"All" it takes is a little pete moss .... 

Now the foundation plants are 'grounded'..... 

And I owe it all to my kind and generous husband!  While I ignored his pleas for 6 foot high privacy fences over the years, he still lugged tons of pete moss, compost and top soil to fill in the rest of the garden.  I cannot wait to get my hands on that garden next spring!  I continue to impatiently wait for my plants to mature, but then there was a time, when THIS is what our maple tree and the backyard looked liked (looking towards our neighbors back yard)!

"A long time ago when the leaves were green....."

So, it's time to chill - like the weather.  No more grandiose ideas for now.... no more monumental tasks.  I'm starting to think about over-wintering some of my favorite annuals, just to see if my thumb is 'green' indoors?