Mommy’s Little Helper + Deck Spruce-Up

Just so’s you all know: Josiah has a pretty sweet side to him too. When he’s not making messes and being ornery!! This morning I walked outside and found him doing this:

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He was watering all the new little plants I put in last week!  No one told him to; but he’s seen me go turn on the garden hose and sprinkle all these tender plants each day, so I guess he figured he’d take care of that chore for me today. What a helpful boy!!

For a bit of history, when we bought the house, this was the place the previous owners let their dogs sleep. It was a real mess, full of dirty hay (for dog bedding??) and looked like this:

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Early this year after the deck redo was complete, I finally got down to the business of cleaning out the hay and other debris.

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We pulled brick after brick after brick out from underneath the hay.

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I had lots of good help.

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And some folks who just wanted to play in the dirt, but hey that’s cool too.

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After our hard work, it was at least free of junk, and tidy-looking. But since January, it has sat feeling rather lonely and empty.

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Until last week: I visited a local nursery and got some advice on what to plant here in hopes that we could keep it alive despite mostly shade and no sprinkler system feeding this area. I wanted as many evergreen perennials as would work so as to minimize effort/expense in the future. Among other things I planted a jasmine vine which I am hoping will happily climb and bloom all over this cute little birdy trellis I painted black (I love my trellis!):

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And a Japanese Holly Fern, a Gardenia, Curly Red Coral Bells, and some Purple Shamrock.

I have yet to choose a plant for the corner, where I’d like something that will grow somewhat tall, yet narrow enough that it does not cover the kitchen window and block light from coming in. I definitely want to put something evergreen here. If any of my wonderful, green-thumbed readers have suggestions, please speak up! I need all the gardening help I can get.

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Looks like Josiah knows that, and it’s a good thing he’s jumped in to help with the efforts to keep my little plants alive and thriving. Let’s hear it for Mommy’s Little Gardening Helper!

2 Replies to “Mommy’s Little Helper + Deck Spruce-Up”

  1. We’re still conviced that your family is re-living our life, 20+ years later. (right down to the red hair) What a delight and blessing to us to watch the story unfold.

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