Landscaping for the Lazy

Here's a quick hint for anyone installing play equipment that will only be used for a few years (like toddler sets and sand boxes) - install it someplace you want to put a flower bed eventually.

You may remember that last fall we took the Bermuda Tree Triangle of (Lawn Mowing) Doom and turned it into the site for Liza's plastic castle? Well, part of the reason it's there is because when she outgrows the castle, I've got a date with a large shovel and a gross of hostas that are going into that same location. In the meantime, the castle and all the foot traffic do a great job of killing off the grass and weeds in preparation for the garden.

We've got even less lawn to mow this year, and the castle has a new neighbor ...

I got all motivated and actually prepped the ground underneath the sandbox so that when we're ready to plant in a few years, the soil will look more like soil and less like PlayDoh than the surrounding area. Hopefully. And any time Liza throws sand outside the box, it's just helping to improve the surrounding soil.

And if you look real closely at the left side of the photo above, you'll see that an old friend has finally found a new home ...

Poor Bessie has been sitting in a pile on our deck for a year. I bet she's glad to be back in action!