Friday, April 27, 2012

Rock Garden Re-do, continued

Chuck is helping with the rock garden. Sort of. A little. Well, he's helping a bit, and he's doing so only a little grudgingly. He makes fun of it, too. Growl.

I pulled all the big rocks to the sides of the garden space and then shoveled up most of the small rocks. The smaller rocks came with a lot of soil. I kept thinking I needed a shovel equivalent to a slotted spoon. The rake was too big, and the shovel brought up so much dirt.... well, anyway, I ended up with a wheelbarrow full of stones and soil.

Meanwhile, I put down the new barriers to (hopefully) keep the mint in its place. I hear you laughing, readers. I think the layer of 20 Mule Team Borax under the barriers will help quite a bit. Oh, and Petunia? The pizza box from the leftovers went to good use as part of the rock garden barrier, so thank you.

Then I attacked the stones. I pulled up a chair next to the wheelbarrow and started pulling stone out of the dirt and dropping them in a bucket. The trouble was, it took a long time and felt like I was only getting, well, a drop in bucket. I started to ask Chuck's opinion. He interrupted with, "bigger rocks" before he'd even heard the full question.

So much for advice from the engineer in the house.

I moved back to the wheelbarrow and got another bucket full of stones. Chuck, full of remorse (not really), came outside and suggested I buy a few bags of decorative stones instead of plugging away at the chore of picking them out and rinsing them off at the rain barrel. I hesitated. It's a point of pride that I created this rock garden last year at no cost - seriously, not a penny. But when reminded that my time investment is worth money, too, I gave in. Chuck dumped the wheelbarrow's load on our soon-to-be berm in the backyard and we bought three bags of rocks from Home Depot.

The rock bags had some ridiculous marketing on them. Who designs these things? "Will not decay." Sure, but will it erode? "Easy to apply." Um, yeah. Open bag; dump.


Readers, look at the above photo. Chuck thinks I need at least two more bags. After I spread these, we'll make a decision. Or, I'll make a decision. This time, I think I'll proceed without the engineer's input.

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5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Rock on, sister!
I need to head to a home improvement store next week for a few things, too. It's that time of year!

4/27/2012 9:25 AM  
Blogger Charade said...

Oh my, I'm married to one of those guys, too, and every day comes either a science lesson or unsolicited advice. Haha.

4/27/2012 11:36 AM  
Anonymous Jen on the Edge said...

I'd say, yes, at least two more bags.

4/27/2012 2:48 PM  
Anonymous Petunia said...

Larger rocks are at the Plant Station and they weren't costly when we went there. A few medium to large help fill the space.

4/28/2012 11:04 AM  
Blogger Club 166 said...

Ah, I have the perfect "rocker" for you. Unfortunately we don't live in the neighborhood, otherwise I'd send him right on by. Rocks are one of Buddy Boy's favorite things (along with now, vacuuming, of all things). Today I found him with a tupperware container of stones culled from a bag of gravel in the garage-he was washing them off in the bathroom.

Buddy Boy brings home rocks all the time from school. If we lived in the neighborhood, we'd have a win-win situation. He could detour past your place everyday and empty his pockets. You'd have a rock garden in no time!

Joe

4/28/2012 11:02 PM  

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