Grow, grow, grow!

They're in the ground!

Finally a nice (though warm and humid) day - a Saturday, no less - with no big commitments. And some other workers to lend a hand. :)

Good thing, too. I wound up renting a sod cutter (not the powered version, but the hand tool) from the hardware store for 5 bucks, and I sure needed the extra help. :(



It worked pretty good, although I felt like a horse (or an Amish farmer) tilling the soil by hand. I got an idea of what it was like when farm labor was like that. Oof. Thank God it had rained and the soil was moist. I can't imagine how tough it would have been to do if it was bone dry.

As it was, with J2 & I taking turns grunting and shoving it through the dirt while the other one rolled up the sod and loaded it into the wheelbarrow, we were both dripping wet afterward, and puffing. Yes, even the 20 year old. :)

And while I measured the distances and lined up the spots, he dug some holes for the plants.



Then D, the master-gardener-in-training ;) , had mercy on me and did the actual planting. Aww.. thanks! Don't they look nice?



Finally, I set up the protective "grow tubes", put the bamboo stakes in, and tied the stakes to the tubes. (Some assembly required!) You can see the vines neatly tucked inside where the deer can't get at them.



The tubes come off in late August, so the new trunks have a chance to harden up before the cold weather comes. They will take their permanent shape then, so I have to straighten and retie them to the stakes when I take off the tubes.

I was afraid it would be a bit of an eyesore in our side yard, but.. they don't look so bad. :)




And I have a whole year now to think about sinking the big posts next Spring that will form the trellising. Oof. That will be an ordeal. Hope J2 is still around to lend a hand. He's right helpful, he is. :)

Next year, after the posts go in, so do the rosebushes on the end of each row. D will be picking out the winter-hardy varieties to plant. Since the vines are the new Marquette varietal... can you get roses in blue and gold? ;) Oh, I suppose I'll settle for yellow...