Today I stayed home from work to supervise two garden helper in a mammouth re-location project. We started at 7, which is not my favorite time to be up, dressed and ready to work
Plantsthat haven't done well for years and I didn't like were thrown out: grasses, siberian iris, .
My beloved 20 year old daphne got tossed. It was dying section by section and I couldn't stand to watch its lingering death.
Plants in wrong places: rhus Low Grow (get very wide and sprawly), fothergilla (too shady and dry), viburnum "Snowflake" too dry but I have a feeling it may not be all it's cracked up to be.
calycanthus (out grew its spot by yards)
hibiscus Blue Satin , Viburnum Brandywine, cornus sibirca : all too shady and dry, 3 hicks yews
Never planted or replanted: hydrangea Light O Day: sat in a tub all summer. Loooked pretty good for an orphan. I bet it never flowers, but the foliage is quite nice
Moved a huge plain green hosta: too many in my hosta corner
Of course, all of you get that these weren't just dug up: I had to make decisions about where to put them. I don't know how often I stood there,speechless with indecision, with these two hardworking young men watching me.
If I started walking around looking for the right spot, they often thought I had made up my mind and followed me like puppies. They looked perplexed when I turned around and went in another direction.
When they weren't perplexed, were laughing good naturedly at me when I asked them to dig the 30th hole. I'm sure they thought I was absolutely nuts to move plants around like checkers.

I was so glad I had a dentist's appointment at 2 so I could send them away. I couldn't walk another step. It is really hard to keep two 25 year olds productively busy, planning the next step, then catching up with them.
Did I mention watching every planting to make sure the plant wasn't too deep.?

So that was my very good day.
idabean