That's a sod cutter, taking up the lawn where we're going to put the rose garden. Operative words "going to" - the spring that works the blade broke when we were a third done. The tiller he gave us to replace it isn't working at all well. I guess that it's true that no plan survives initial contact with the enemy lawn.
Time for Plan B, once I figure out what Plan B is.
6 comments:
Plan B with gardening usually involves a shovel. Or a hoe. Good luck.
Luckily all the power tools I had to use for my yard work today worked like champs.
I'm sure that I don't need to tell you this, but it's best to backfill with professional rose soil.
Also, there is a rose out there that I highly recommend. It's called a Cecile Bruner. Otherwise known as a 'sweetheart' rose.
The flowers themselves are small, but they are very fragrant. They're an antique rose, so very hearty and not as prone to fungus and bug problems.
There are lots of varieties of good Hybrid Teas out there that will do well in Georgia.
I do have to say, what's helped me and my success in my two rose bushes out back? Ignoring them.
When we did ours, a roughly similar size (but a veggie garden not a rose garden), we started out trying a sodcutter, but it broke twice, and just didn't work well at all. We ended up going back to traditional spading.
We cut the borders and each row down to 6" with a well sharpened spade. Then we spaded in under the sod, and levered it up.
Yes, it's just as hard and backbreaking as it sounds.
Cutting the sod off with a spade isn't too bad. Make sure the ground is not sopping wet, or dry and hard as a rock before you start; or you will get some nice blisters and no progress.
Cut the borders, but don't cut rows in the sod until you see how much you can get with one cut of your spade. It usually works better to make several horizontal cuts under the sod, then cut that larger chunk out and toss it. Longer handles are better than short handles for spades.
This is one of the many things my parents had kids for. Learning there came in handy for a landscaping job that paid for some college.
I can vouch for Southern Belle's advice about ignoring rose bushes. But I think mine might have cat DNA - if I ignore them for too long, they reach out and snag me as I walk by.
I would think at this point plan B should be to get pretty good at drinkin' beer!
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