Demolition in the back garden continues apace.  Daughter Melissa and neighbor Aaron are almost finished pulling out all the brick pathways which is proving to be a tedious task.  A small crowbar, hammer and wire brush are the tools of the trade.  Piles of brick, stacked according to size and color,  line the two terraces.  When we built the garden we had lots of ideas and energy but no money for building materials.  Fred watched the freebie ads and stopped whenever he saw a building being demolished.  The pathways evolved as his stash of recycled brick burgeoned.  The bricks are all sizes and shapes hence the many piles.  We are hopeful that we have enough that match to build the new terrace on the north side of the garden.  We plan to play the leftover  bricks  forward– giving them away for free.

Once the bricks are all out we can pull up all the old, leaky soaker hoses.  Cannot believe that we are going to have an irrigation system for the first time and that I am liberated from the summer long purgatory of hauling hoses around the back garden.  Drip irrigation for the beds and containers means less consumption and that water is being delivered where it belongs.

Started digging and transplanting snowdrops this week.  A large colony is located right in the way of one of the new pathways.  The plump noses of oriental lilies are breaching the soil in the same area and need to be moved asap.  I’ll have help moving a huge  Hydrangea ‘Ayesha’.  Cutting it back to facilitate its trip across the garden means that it won’t bloom this summer but will live to flower again next year.

The rendering of the design for the back garden shows the location of the new terrace and walkways.   The paths are wider and more graphic repeating the lines in the front entry and lawn shape which is staying the same.   Fred is working on a plan for an over-the-top Victorian structure complete with roof to be situated along the fence line at the back of the new terrace.  Today we wandered around Woodcrafters, a haven for anyone who is a woodworker, looking for turned posts and period molding.  Can’t wait for him to begin building.

Walked up to our community garden yesterday looking for signs that spring has sprung.  Thrilled to see that the peas are up–an affirmation that our gardens are freed from the constraints of dormancy and entering the time of renewal and regrowth.