You have an ambitious project ahead of you, Funn. Keep sharing the progress photos with us. Do you have a plan in mind. Is there a photo grid you can use for a layout?

DD

First - and most important....you are in withdrawal and need to reconnect with your hostas, stat! Lol Go outside the front door and start by moving some pots out of the way, so you can mingle in among them. Touch them, feast your eyes...but BE with them. Take the time to "stand and stare" or sit, or lie down amongst them, whatever catches your fancy!

Nothing wrong with you, woman! You are just not getting your daily fix like you were used to! ;-)

Second - wow! All I can visualize is beautiful gardens and countless hosta! Your empty slate/canvass is an envy to many of us, I wouldn't be surprised. All that ruckus is temporary - look at the beauty in your surroundings beyond dirt and noise. You are so fortunate and I am so excited for you - it will be beautiful when you are done....then you can invite us in to take a look. Lots of pix, svp.

I second everything that Jo said. I will llook for your future posts to see how things are progressing.

There is a seedless Mimosa? How's the scent?

bk

Funn, you have my sympathy. It will be wonderful someday, but the thought of having to amend all that clay makes me shudder.

We did something on a smaller scale. The landscaping guys did till in compost, but five inches down was solid clay. Even though I dug down 12 inches and added compost for each plant that went in, the drainage out back still isn't what it should be.

Never mind, this too shall pass................

I also agree with Jo....all I saw when I saw all that dirt was hosta, hosta and more hostas!!

michelle

The soil is not nearly as bad as I thought that it would be. It has some clay, but it's pretty loose, mostly. We were quite surprised to see anything but clay. We'll be bringing in 36 yards of new soil, 12 of that is going to be aged manure, and tilling won't be bad b/c it's already been turned over and is loose. We also have access to a bobcat, as you can see, so that is the easy part!

Hard part is being patient when you can't get out there and just do it yourself, but you're waiting on someone else. There is a lot of steps to go through this year to get to where I want to be by winter time. Patience is a virtue...sigh.

Bkay, yes, it's a new hybrid, Merlin Majic. It has maroon-colored foliage, a real beauty. I'll have to go out and sniff one of them, it's blooming right now. Didn't even know Mimosas had a scent, I've never noticed it and the in-laws, where they have several of the standard ones. Hmmmm. I've wanted Mimosas for years, but didn't want to deal with the seedlings. I'm pretty excited about these. They are VERY hard to find, but I stumpled on two of them locally.

Here's an update of the project, all the new topsoil and manure has been trucked in and almost all of it spread and worked in with the tiller. Oh, man, such black dirt! We don't see that much in the same place around here, ever. It's usually just clay!

I will be sooooo glad when I can bring my potted hostas back around here. It is driving me crazy having them sitting in the other area. I know it's doing some slight damage to the bed, I've lost a couple of Heucheras since the potted hostas have been incorporated in between the other plants. I am hoping to get them out of there this week and see what damage has been done. It's very annoying not having much shade around. I can't even see my hostas in the ground at all! Grrrrrrr......

I hate projects like this.

I can see a deck, curved beds, paver pathway...it is going to look so good.

Jon

I can so relate with the clay comment, Fun. All that beautiful black dirt......just want to run my fingers through it.

Honestly, it won't be long now and you'll look back at this headache and think (while gazing at your stunning garden off your new deck), "Sooooo worth it."

It's so much work but it will be worth it. Your hostas are going to be so happy. Yes, keep us updated - we love to see transformations!