Mulch

We had 5 yards of mulch delivered yesterday. Mari walked outside, stood next to it, and said in a very impressed voice, "Whoa... that's a BIG pile."

Then, she climbed all over it and enjoyed wheel barrow rides while Daniel and I ferried it to the backyard.

We dumped 1/3 of it all around the new bushes before dark. I am looking forward to doing the rest tomorrow and Monday. I really like mulching stuff. This also lets me see all the empty room in our gardens, so I can plan what else to buy.

I obsessed for a week about where to buy the mulch. We don't have a truck, and the neighbor who was eager to let us borrow his is only available on the weekends, when we are very busy. I called about 8 places, trying to find the best price. Most places charge a large fee if less than 10 yards is ordered, and I only needed 5 yards tops. In the end, John Atkins Grading in Apex turned out to have the very nicest mulch for the very best price. That is where I have bought mulch in the past. They are so friendly and their much is lovely. Last year, on a sweltering summer day, when I was very pregnant, Mari and I borrowed our neighbors 1970's truck with no air conditioning and bought some mulch. Upon arrival, we discovered the back tire was completely flat. Mr. Atkins changed it for me. First he tried filling it up with his awesome, heavy duty air compressor truck. Beyond saving, all the air leaked out before our eyes. Thankfully, I didn't follow through on my previous urge to throw the space tire out of the back of the truck in our driveway so mulch wouldn't get it dirty. Anyway, I will be a loyal customer for life.

So, that's all I can think to write about our mulch.

Yard and Garden

We have been working in the garden a lot lately. Daniel tilled in a few times. He dug up some massive roots from the pine tree we had chopped down. Finally, today we are ready to plant stuff.

We also dug up all the bushes along the property line. They were looking terrible. The new ones probably won't be big enough to offer any privacy until after we move away from this house, but they were the largest of the kinds we wanted that the nursery had. 6 Japanese holly bushes, 2 flowering quince, 2 small tea olive, one large camellia, one forsythia, and1 large osmanthus bush cost less than $50. I want to get a taller evergreen tree to plant in the back corner.

Old bushes at the curb. Each root required both of us to carry it. They were surprisingly heavy.

So, that's the latest progress on beautifying our backyard.