Playing in the Garden ( again )

I have, in a past post, fessed up to liking to work in our peace garden. That is, in the parts of our property that are not grass. I’ve enjoyed both weeding ( in part for the more or less instant gratification ) and installing a border to separate the garden from that which borders it.

I didn’t make much of it, but that post showed a border I had installed everywhere, several years prior. The border consisted of a series of three-inch diameter, half-round logs, with alternating lengths of three and five inches, with each series of nine having three long metal spikes which poke into the ground, to stabilize the border.

I said, in that post, “( You can also see the three inch half-round border I put in several years ago; that was fun while it lasted, but it certainly appears that its lasting is about over. Another story, perhaps. )” I am here telling at least the beginning of that ‘other story.’

Figures 1 and 2 give a pretty good indication of what that border looked like just after installation.

Figure 1 - What the border looked like right after installation
( and the buried old plastic border highlighted )

Figure 2 - Another view of the view following installation

There were some graceful curves between the lawn and the garden that were created a long time ago and this border followed them very nicely.
( See Figure 3. ) 

Figure 3 - A graceful curve, which the border follows nicely

The border is high enough to keep a significant quantity of wood chips out of the grass, the half round logs look very rural and the varying height of the logs adds personality. I really liked it.

My installation put the bottom inch or so of wood into the ground; I am unsure if the installation required this or if I just did it. I put the half-round logs deep enough into the ground that they were quite solidly packed between the earth on the garden side and the sidewalk ( or old border ) on the other. Over the years, the earth’s moisture played havoc with the wooden logs ( which I might have realized would happen if I had given it much thought ). Figure 4 and Figure 5 present a representative view of what that border looks like, in various places, today. Rather unattractive. 

Figure 4 - The wooden border has rotted out
( Notice the graceful curve it followed, though. )

Figure 5 - Another view of the rotting border.

Not being one to rush into things ( a highly polished skill of mine,
procrastination, according to my dear Ellie ), this year I looked at other options for this type of application and bought one ( yes … one … a single unit … uno ) section of a rubberized material intended to resemble brick. A section is about four feet long, and long plastic nails pounded through pre-drilled holes in the rubber, into the soil, provide stability. There are four of these per section of border.

Ellie and I weeded our peace garden recently, and I removed most of the half-round sections of border that had rotted out. She had suggested that removal of these sections would improve the looks of the border even if I did nothing else. She may be right; I believe the jury is still out. Regardless, I used the occasion to check out the newly purchased brick-look border. ( See Figure 6 and Figure 7. )
 

Figure 6 - The 'looks like brick' rubber border.

Figure 7 - A closer look at the 'looks like brick' rubber border

I think it looks great. I may even replace other sections of the wooden border that have rotted out.

If you would like to comment but don't care to use the comment field, send an email to  wrjsojourner@gmail.com.