Yesterday, I attended an earth day celebration at the local Middle School. I obtained lots of brochures, flyers and ideas for my garden plan as well as a new composter and a chinese dogwood. The composter is made of recycled plastic. I bought one last year too. A steal at $20USD. The dogwood I won in a free raffle.
Anyway, it needed a home and I've been long fiddling with the re-working of the moon garden for a few years. The composter and dogwood got me thinking ...
The project
The small tool shed 20" X 48" needed to be moved. Made of cedar it's proven perfect for in garden storage of the stuff a garden needs. One side has three shelves. The other is the full height of the shed allowing for storage of shovels and rakes etc. Last winter, the shed kept blowing over .. So it had to move.
The whole garden itself was in upheaval for some time now. I've slowly been moving the perennials, leaving only the shrubs behind. A white beach rose, A white bridal wreath spirea, a snowball hydrangea, two more hydrangeo varieties, two rosa sharon varieties (one with a red center and one without). The bordering hemlocks are not healthy (a common problem in this area) and poison ivy tries to weave its way into the garden when I'm not paying attention.
Anyway. on the stone and brick foundation where the shed was last year, I place a birdbath and some planters I keep in the garden. I had help to take down a few of the most sickly looking hemlocks and some weed trees along the border w/my neighbor. There was a dogwood to the south side...so I planted the new dogwood to the north side. Over time I expect the two to provide a lovely canopy over this bird's paradise.
Now for the shed. I moved it southeast, closer to the shade garden. It now sits directly in front of some strong hemlocks (which will prevent it from blowing full over) and on a stone and brick footing with a 4X4 rail tie surround in the back and two sides.
The composter was moved to the north side in the full sun -- and what remains of an old cedar compost bin surrounds it for aesthetics. There were other odds and ends and yes it was a lot to do in one day. And yes, I risk another bout of ivy... but alas I think it's coming together. When the spirea blooms, I'll take a snapshot to share.
The unexpected surprise
Mice! I had stored a bucket of some stone with a bag of some potting soil in this shed over winter with some extra grass seed. A perfect home for an expecting mother mouse. The cats were curious about the shed and found her of course. She ran one way. Her brood ran the other. While the cats busied themselves seeking mother in the rock wall, her babes sunbathed in wait. For a bit Whisper toyed with one but it played dead, she got bored and eventually went back to the wall. I checked a little while ago and three were still sunbathing.
Now, I don't prescribe to "keep" mice in the garden. But they are there. Cats keep their population in check, but if you have outdoor cats, be sure to get them all their shots and keep a some worm medicine from your vet on hand to keep your cats healthy. These mice however are nowhere near my vegetable garden and may not live if mother doesn't find them anyway.
A little about garden mice:
Mice eat what we eat. They shred anything to make a nest. In this case, the mother shredded some twine I had in the shed. Here you can see the size of it compared to a piece of gravel.
They don't 'travel' across the garden much. Where you find them tends to be where they live. They tend to be nocturnal. Sense of smell, hearing and taste are how they maneuver; their eyesight is somewhat poor.
I counted at least 4 offspring, about average. These have fur and their eyes are open which tells me they are at least 1 week old but hopefully closer to two. If not, in all likelihood, if their mom doesn't find them tonight, they won't survive. If she does, the outlook still isn't all that good. Hawks, owls, cats ..lots of predators view mice as a nice snack.
Writer's Compost... Take a look at that mouse sunbathing from beneath the shed. What brazen disregard for danger! There must be a poem here...
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