The driveway update ...

Last month I had the driveway shortened and re-built. The heavy equipment and operator I hired did a nice job of putting in a culvert, digging drainage trenches, and building up the drive. He also scraped out the old, hard-packed soil up near the house and brought in some new loam. After he had finished, the loam sat for a couple weeks because I was too busy to do anything about it. When I finally got around to seeding it with new lawn, it had packed down a bit, so I took a shovel, and hoe, and rake and made several passes with these tools to fuff up the soil in preparation for seed. This is what it looked like after a pass with the shovel:



That picture was taken on May 30 and I'm noticing how the garden was still in the early stages of sprouting. Amazing how lush it has all become. I've been harvesting lettuce for a good while already, and have had several repasts of peas in the pod. We are high summer now and the earth is host to rampant growth, lush greenery and all the creatures that call it their home. Including those that chewed the tops off half my romaine lettuces!

It's lily season now, several of my wild and hybrid lilies are blossoming.



The first and fourth picture are my own crosses, back for their 2nd year of blossoming. I moved them last fall and it worried me, afraid as I was that they would be set back. They were, a little, but they're blossoming anyway. I expect more robust plants next year.

So anyway, I seeded the lawn and watered it twice a day for a few weeks--we were in a dry spell and I was worried nothing would sprout. But it did, albeit a little thin in some places; I need to re-scatter seed here and there to fill it in. Should be a good lawn next year. I have spent a week and half planting rocks (stones from Vermont) individually to build a path from the end of the drive up to the deck stairs. It's been quite a toil, especially in the hot, humid weather but I'm nearing the end. The addition of a few planters has transformed the newly loamed area. I'm pleased with the way it's turning out. (I have finished more of the stone path since the picture was taken, in fact it's near completion now.) I continue to get ideas, and may implement some of them down the line. For instance, I was thinking a nice grape arbor would be nice off to the right, in front of the garden. I could use it as an outdoor 'room'. A rose pillar might look nice at the corner where the end of the drive meets the lawn. All in time. Click picture to enlarge:



Getting these stones in the ground is hard work. I outline each stone with a trowel, dig a hole conforming to the outline, check that the stone fits OK, put an inch of sand in the hole, plop the rock in, and fill in around the edges. In an hour I can get from 6 to 10 stones in place. When it's all done, I'll plant creeping thyme and other tough creepies in between the rocks.