Ledge and Gardens

More ledge revealed!

High 59 F
Low  34 F

For the past couple weekends, in addition to planting bulbs and other necessary chores, there has been an uncovering of another piece of ledge which sits at the back, northwest corner of the vegetable garden.  Covered ledge is hard to mow and as a result, unsightly and weedy.  The EM and his Dad are taking a look at the situation before the pressure washing commences.  The large rock is sitting on the bony bit of ledge.  We don't own a pressure washer but the EM said he would fix his co-worker's as it was not working properly.  The EM can do anything.  Tucker is sitting next to the chainsaw created bench which has rotted to the point of collapse.  Tucker is crazy around anything water related but the pressure washer did not interest him.  I think he knew that it could be painful if he wasn't careful.   Pressure washing is dirty work.   Some ledge is nice and hard but this ledge is quite brittle in many areas although the front edge is nicely grooved and at a good angle to the ground.  There is still a bit of fine tuning to do in this area but I like the finished look of the ledge and find it an improvement over the previous ridge. I could put some fine pea gravel on the top of this to level it and provide a bit of media for assorted alpines. There will be grass planted at the bottom in the dark compost area for ease of maintenance. What would you do with this area?  Would you plant this or leave it as is?

Ledge

High 78F
Low 32.6

It has happened once again!   Cold, rain, cold and then temps in the  70's and 80's and not enough time to get all the gardens cleaned up!  I know I should get the debris out of the garden in  the fall but many of the oak trees do not let go of all their leaves until spring and the fallen leaves do provide a bit of protection from early frosts.  I enlisted help from the 'Equipment manager' who did a major portion of the raking while I was attending to those previously mentioned barrels.  Since this blog is entitled 'Ledge and Gardens', I thought you should all see some of the ledge.

It can be a challenge but, as I learned long ago, Don't fight the site! These were taken before the raking! Here is one after the raking.

Not too much to see in the way of plants but there is one shrub blooming, the Cornell Pink Rhododendron.  This is a Rhododendron mucronulatum  'Cornell Pink' pictured in bud and bloom here.  It is a deciduous shrub which grows to about 8'.  It is a very lovely, true pink and looks beautiful in the woodland border.  It is hardy from Zone 4 through 7 .