My garden is so depressing right now, and not just because it's fall, and the gardening season is pretty much over. Yes, everything looks tired and spent, but that's not what's making me sad. It's a number of small, disheartening things.
I hurt my back a few weeks ago digging and transplanting some shrubs, and haven't been able to get down on my knees to weed or pull out old annuals or cut back finished perennials since then. It's painful just to be upright, sitting and walking. I've had a bad back for decades actually, ever since I ruptured two disks lifting something heavy. But this is the first time in quite a while that I've been in this much pain. Despite the pain I did manage to pull out my diseased and ugly tomato and squash plants. And I planted my garlic. But I haven't done much else. I had so much I wanted to get done this fall, lots of plants that need to get in the ground. Maybe they'll survive the winter in their pots, and I can plant them next spring. Now would have been ideal though, so they could get watered in by the fall and winter rain.
I also had a platoon of plumbers out in my front yard this past week, digging up and relaying our sewer pipe, which got plugged a week ago this past Saturday, and flooded our downstairs bathroom and hallway. When the plumber came out to snake it, he also discovered that not only was it plugged, but about 30 feet of it was "bellied," which means it wasn't draining correctly into the main in the street. A considerable chunk of change later, we now have a working poo pipe, but I also have a big expanse of bare soil in the middle of the front lawn (not that I care about that), as well as somewhat trampled and messed up front beds (which I do care about).
 |
| Three guys digging a big hole |
 |
| Colorful hieroglyphics in the street |
 |
| A bunch of guys standing around looking into a big hole while one guy on a backhoe digs up the street |
 |
| All patched up |
Everything eventually got put back, more or less, but not as neatly as I would have liked. It was a stressful week.
 |
| I now have some extra rocks that I didn't have before, as well as painted rocks with arrows pointing every which way |
 |
| This corner of my dry creek that I worked so hard on last fall has been obliterated. |
 |
| I should consider myself lucky they put the concrete pavers back |
 |
| Painted arrow says "This way to the mess" |
Dislodged and missing rocks -- I swear, workmen are worse than moles and deer (and maybe raccoons) for messing things up.
 |
| Poor trampled plants -- they'll probably survive, but right now they look pretty pitiful |
 |
| I should show some mercy to this poor Baptisia and just cut it back all the way to the ground, it'll probably come back ok next season. |
They're all small things, but still. At least we're doing the work on our front garden in the right order -- dig it up for plumbing, and then build new beds. I wouldn't want to have planted it all up, and then have to dig it all up again to solve plumbing problems.
