garden work-

I've started replacing the edges of my garden beds. Here's some progress shots. Before (most beds built with keystone blocks alternating, front and rear beds of wood, rue has nothing around it):

Rear bed against the house wall, wooden edges removed (nice to see the blackness of the richer soil under the mulch!)

Rear bed rebuilt. I dug out all the back side and made it one, again. Because realized that in the three prior beds, the plants didn't do well on the side against the house. I don't know if this is because of shade/sun exposure, how heat is trapped against the wall, or because when it rains and I don't go out to water the garden, those areas don't get as wet. I did leave the sweet peas and climbing cantaloupe on little wedges of higher soil against the walls, for the remainder of season. When they die of frost, I'll dig those spots out too, so there's a walking path around behind.

Rear bed behind all the others. Yes, it has a funny curve and slope at one end. Because the ground slopes. I might dig it out some and straighten later.

Edges pulled off another bed- the greens:

Seen from the other side, with the second bed already done behind it:

Third bed done as well:

Permanent herb bed, sides removed (from both angles):

Concrete blocks laid in:

View of herb bed from the deck stairs. I made it longer-

Leaving space on one end to plant the winter savory (currently in a pot):

Photos are better when it's overcast. Next morning:

Edges set on the newer bed, (has the chard, green beans and one tatsoi plant left alive). Can see I had to patch in some ordinary bricks because the space didn't fit. Thinking of painting them gray to match.

Above view of the herbs and two beds off the end of deck. Compare to above photo in these posts. Um, they're still not perfectly straight, but it's a lot better than before!

There's still work to do- I need to redo part of the first bed (against the house wall) to straighten it out, do the fourth bed (alongside the stump and turtlehead patch) and set up edges around the rue. Then perhaps a small paint job here and there where I patched in old bricks for smaller spaces. It's getting there!