John Andrews Gardening Thoughts

Today we moved the yew from the front curb. This shrub was planted too close to the electrical service box and in the summer is overwhelmed by the two large grass plants right next to it. Grandson, Ryan, came over in the afternoon and we moved the shrub to the fence to the back yard. This is what the area where we replanted it looked like before it was moved. Several days ago, I sprayed this area with Roundup to kill the grass. This area is hard to mow with the riding mower, so the plan was to make it into the planting bed by extending the existing bed over to the gate.

First we layed out the line of the bed using the garden hose. Then I painted the line with marking paint so we could see where to remove the sod. The sod was taken up and the river rocks were moved to make a mowing strip for this area. This also took down a double layer of rocks that made mowing difficult. The rocks were fitted into the soil leaving everything at the grass level to make a neat mowing strip. Each rock was fitted to the previous one to make a nice neat edge for the grass and to keep the gaps betweent he rocks to a minimum. After this, we tackled the yew.

Last fall I went around the yew with the spade and cut the roots in a circle around the shrub so we could move it. Now we went around it again and using the spade and the shovel we levered it out of its hole and rolled the root ball into the garden cart.

Now with a template of the size of hole we needed, we dug a hole for the plant, leaving a cone of soil in the bottom, then rolled the root ball into the hole. We backfilled the hole about halfway and filled it with water to settle the ball. Then we filled it the rest of the way with the soil from the hole.

That took care of the plant. We moved the excess sod to the backyard to fill in the low side of the swale for drainage of the back yard to keep water out of the neighbors shed. Ryan and I laid newspaper over the remaining grass to keep it from sprouting through the mulch, and then brought mulch and placed a three-inch thick layer over the newspaper. It looks really nice. This is what it looked like after we finished.

I have several pots of azeleas that will go in the area nicely.

Thanks, Ryan.