I've been working on the edging for the narrow bed between the house and the driveway. The elderly asphalt had eroded along the sides, leaving a random and variable width. Because of the intermittent hardtop, we couldn't trench it or do any edging that required burial. But we did have a rather large pile of discarded bricks picked up from random places around the house. We killed two birds with one stone by using the unwanted bricks to form a tidy dry-laid edging. I did have a find a source for a few more matching bricks when I ran out partway through the project, which was no easy matter. Who knew there were so many sizes and colors of "antique brick"? But I finally purchased enough and our little band of bricks is holding up well to chicken abuse.
Here are a few before shots. We had to wipe the slate clean of
weeds, scraggly thorned plants, two giant yucca with even giant-er
tuberous roots, and a small tree planted much to close to the
foundation. Then we raised the landscape bed with compost and mulch, before adding plants or edging.
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| Clean slate, after clearing weeds this winter |
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| Working the soil in the spring |
And now, with the matching brick and plantings! For the most part, the edging is containing the raised bed and keeping the chicken destruction to a minimum. I still have to occasionally scoop up some mulch from the drive and replace it in the herb bed, as that is Atomic's favorite worm-hunting ground. But for a $30 investment in bricks, it has been a very satisfactory improvement.
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| A nice view of the climbing vine shielding the porch |
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| My kitchen herb garden, right outside the mudroom door |
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