Under Clear Skies; Prepping the Beds

The end of April brought clear skies and cool (hovering around 50℉) temperatures which I find perfect outdoor working weather.
The light was perfect and the rhodies sparked color that is always too fleeting.

Front entry

This 'pjm' rhododendron is shown here in full bloom off the southwest front corner of the house and has since then, with the rains that followed this week, started dropping her blossoms.



Tackling the 4 yard pile of mulch I had delivered a couple of weeks ago,  I grabbed my straight edge spade and wheelbarrow and started the process of 'finishing' the planting beds.

The first part of the process began weeks ago with general clean up; clipping back the remnants of last years perennial organic matter and lightly raking out the debris.
The next step I take is accomplished with a variety of hand tools to remove any weeds that have taken root since the last round of weeding which ( as every gardener knows) is never ending.

Unlike the majority of landscaping projects I've been involved with on a professional basis, my gardens do not have any black plastic edging seated to create a permanent edge and help with the encroachment of grass into the bed.

This is where the straight edged spade comes in and requires simply 'cutting' into the sod a clean edge, or separation if you will, where the mulch will meet the lawn.  While this may create that extra step each season that is skipped with permanent edging, it does provide the opportunity to reshape or expand your bed as plants mature or your 'whim' may take you.  Since there's nothing static in nature, to me, this makes the most sense and I really don't mind the extra work.

The other notable difference is the obvious natural look created minus the plastic edge.   Here in the north where the ground 'heaves' with the extreme temperature from season to season, I can recall countless hours repairing (or re-setting) the plastic edgings used in commercial applications that were literally 'pushed' out of the ground.  As you can tell by now,  for me personally, I'm not a big fan of the plastic but do recognize that for some, it's the most practical.   

The icing on the cake comes with a thin broadcast of mulch.  In my established gardens I do this by handfuls at a time since all of the beds have been mulched in past seasons and only need that 'dressing' on top to give them a fresh look.  In newly created beds I dump the mulch by the wheelbarrow into the bed and then evenly rake it in to create ~ a 4" layer.
And that's all there is to it!   

This is also the perfect weather to start stacking the woodpile in the shed that will be used for heat next winter.

It's always a good feeling to see the wood under cover.  Each time I do this my mind always wanders to calculations of how many cord is stacked = btu's = warmth :)
As the saying goes: wood heats you several times over;  once when you stack it, again when it's moved to the woodfire and again when it's burning.

Here's my little 'helper'.