This was another week of punishing heat at Overleaf, with temperatures in the high 90’s almost every day, and heat indexes over 110 degrees. Luckily the heat is forecast to break somewhat as I post this. An unseasonal “not hot” front — I can’t call it cold or even cool, since the temperatures are only supposed to drop from near 100 degrees to a “refreshing” 92 degrees, but it is is expected to bring much needed showers to the area. Since I’m not on any deadline, and not in any hurry to finish anything, I’ve decided to take things slow and easy. I still haven’t finished my plan of clearing out the beds around the edge of the garden, but I have a good reason. Since it’s been so hot and dry, many of the weeds and vines that have taken over those spaces are wilting and weakening in the heat. I’m hoping nature will take care of some of the work I had planned to do by knocking out some of the invading weeds for me. I try to make the best of anything nature will do for me, so if it doesn’t do irrigation, then I’ll let it do some weed killing.
One thing the heat definitely WON’T do for me is install any of the hard scape I have planned for the garden. Last Monday I posted a revised garden plan showing brick thresholds at the intersections of the pathways. I’ve been collecting reclaimed concrete stepping stones, brick, and flagstones for a while now, and took the opportunity this to place the majority in their proposed locations. The final design calls for them to be recessed into the ground even with the grass and ground cover pathways. The pictures in today’s post show the interim placement until I get them set into the ground. For now they are sitting on the surface, where I’ll leave them for a while until they kill the grass and weeds beneath. That will give me an exact pattern to excavate for the final installation.
Next week: Small steps towards cleaning out the border beds and continuing soil building in the raised beds. Creating a list of what plants I’d like to see in the garden. A look at the front yard.