Gardening - Part 2: Rocks...Lots and Lots of Rocks.

Introducing to you, the long, rectangular garden bed next to the pool. Before this weekend, it was full of 3 tall palm trees, 1 shorter palm tree (as can be seen in the first photo below), a hibiscus plant and LOTS of grass and other assorted weeds. Oh, can I mention that is full of something else too? It is full of ROCKS!!! The first time we weeded this flower bed, we noticed that it was really difficult digging in the majority of the soil. We kept hitting rocks. After awhile, we realized that there was quite a deep layer of river rock all underneath the 2-3 inches of soil that we could see on top of the bed.

Apparently, the bed was filled at one time with decorative rock. Then, large bark chips were laid on top of the rock to help camouflage it. Later, a layer of thin landscaping plastic and a few inches of dirt were spread on top of that with a few plants thrown in for good measure. Most of the new plants that were there when we bought the house almost 2 years ago died within a couple months of us moving in. The one hibiscus that survived (okay, the Mexican heather survived, but I transplanted that to line my courtyard last summer) has not gotten any taller. The poor plants didn't have a chance to let their roots go deep.

But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. - Mark 4:6 (NIV)

Last weekend, we began working on removing the rock again. After two solid days of digging, not even 1/4 of the garden is complete. The task begins to feel daunting, and the end seems to be nowhere in sight. However, what good lessons in perseverance and patience can be gleaned from this task. We also have been talking about the parable of the sower and why rocky soil is not ideal for plant growth. The people who tried to hide the rocks, who tried to make the garden bed look like something that it was not may not be ones I would currently vote "person of the year," but my Heavenly Father is teaching me lessons through this tedious task. I wonder what else He has in store? :)

See those last two trees where my man and my firstborn are? That small section is what we spent 2 days laboring over. Oh, and Rob is pulling up the landscaping timber--the edging is going to get a major face-lift! :)

I love this kid! My firstborn and I had some great conversations while picking up rocks together over the weekend. (See the timber in the foreground? That is no longer there.)

Where is the rock going? Rob and I pulled the waist-high grass (most of it was dead due to Rob's dumping the remainder of a bottle of Roundup on it), laid down landscaping cloth and started dumping the rock pulled up out of the garden on top of it. The area around the AC looks much nicer now!