A few summers ago the city notified us they would be digging a trench through the front yard and driveway of every house on our side of the dead end street. They were putting in a new water line for a house under construction. It might have looked good on paper, but such an undertaking would be expensive. Not to mention the destruction that would probably last for months. We invited the mayor to make a personal visit before he made the final decision. When he and some of the other city planners got a look at what would be involved they decided to dig up the street instead.
I was relieved since my garden of English roses and ornamental shrubs plus dozens of tulips had been threatened with extinction. I also knew that a sidewalk might be in the future for that same location. I decided to move the whole garden to a safer place.
The area after the sod and the shrubs traded places
This would involve swapping an area of lawn by the house for the shrubs and roses by the street. There were probably easier ways to do this job if equipment and big muscles were involved. But during this same time my father passed away. Spending a month digging and sweating and hauling sod was a good way to blow off all the emotions that came from watching a parent and best friend die a long slow death in a nursing home.
The re-located garden the next spring
to be continued
3 comments:
Good therapy that rendered beautiful life. Sorry 'bout your father. These things are never easy, are they?
Planting life always helps to soothe the loss of life. And then what happened?
One of the most difficult things to do is to watch a beloved parent die. Good to keep busy working it off.
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