Six inches of rain and the ground was soft. Nature provided the perfect condition for digging a nice, clean edge around the outer gardens. I got out the flat blade shovel and started cutting straight down through the grass to dig out a perfect edge. Only 160 feet. No problem. I was enjoying the cooler temps and misty days for this task. The lyrics to Grazing in the Grass kept playing in my head as I made fast progress. I can dig it!
I was having great fun and was more than halfway around the garden when... along came my dear husband who had just finished up his daily five-mile run. I ran/walked/cycled last week. Enough of that - I was getting "real exercise" by gardening again.
Obviously, my task looked either too difficult and he felt like he should help... or, it looked like too much fun and he was missing out.
I'm not sure which it was, but he can dig it, too... only, he wanted to add a stone edging inside my perfect trench! My husband has been after me for three years to add a stone edging. I didn't want to spend the money. Call me cheap, but I just didn't see the benefit.
He persisted. I agreed, but said that I wanted to use square pavers and place them below the grass level to create a mowing strip. We had to dig the trench deeper as well as wide enough for us to work with pavers. We can dig it!
At the hardware store, he found a different cast concrete edging that he decided would look better and loaded up the cart with forty (yes, 40) "samples" to take home. That's a forty foot long sample! He removed twenty pieces at my request (pitiful begging). He said the edging matched the stone in our chimney, foundation and fence columns. True. He immediately laid the twenty stones in a section of the trench and declared the result to be fantastic.
At this point, I realized that he'd made up his mind and I was just going to have to surrender control of my project. Okay, I'll admit it. He was right and he was helpful... but, I really could have done this all by myself!
I can dig it, he can dig it
She can dig it, we can dig it
They can dig it, you can dig it
Oh, let's dig it
Can you dig it, baby
- lyrics by The Friends of Distinction
Words and photos by Freda Cameron; Home garden; November 2009; Lyrics referenced - The Friends of Distinction.
