Border Building

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Almost the whole border

Time flies when you have a lot to do… Work, renovating more than half my home and tackling this beast of a border that I started on last fall. The border is going fairly well.

I’ve improved the soil in the shade curve with lots of peat based compost and I’m doing the same with the rest of it. Last fall I bought garden soil (around 20 tonnes) and it has been good in the sense that it is weed free (not counting all the maple seeds that since landed in it and then germinated) and it seems to be nicely fertilized. What I’m not so happy about is that it is a lot more compact than I would prefer. Hence, the continued improvement with the peat based compost. I want my soil light and airy and I know a lot of plants like it that way too. In some parts I have added gravel to the mix too.  I am a bit vary about adding leaf and branch compost since the one we have frequently has weed parts in it. Some wood chips have also gone in to the mix.
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The shaded curve in the back, planting going on in the front

But, the FUN part, planting: I added a lot of tulip bulbs that I got on sale last fall after it turned out that Matkahuolto was incompetent enough not to understand my address and sent back my Dutch bulbs. The bulbs were a bit more run of the mill than I had intended, but they flower nicely enough all the same!

I have also planted a lot of plants that have been waiting for a new home for quite a while, a lot of things that had been raised from seed and I have transferred plants that were growing in bad spots. I also ordered a few rarities from Kevock and I did some shopping at a large fair in Türi last weekend. My local garden center (Muhevainen)  has made some contributions as well… 
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The end of the shade border with Carex morrowii ‘Ice Dance’ and Rhododendron ‘Princess Anne’.

I still need to place a few stepping stones in the middle of the border, plant a lot of small plants, move some larger ones from elsewhere and tackle the steps that run through the border. So there is a lot to do, I hope my flu goes away quickly. Had it not been for it, I would be outside digging right now 😉
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Glaucidium palmatum var. leucanthum in improved soil.

(It is annoying, wordpress seems to have some picture uploading issues and I’ve been forced to use photobucket – and my pictures get resized…)