This just about killed me today ...

This might not look like much, but I wanted to collapse on my front lawn after completing it. When we moved in 5 years ago, I brought the Japanese Maple with me in a pot. My dad had given it to me (a small, baby plant from his that was HUGE and mature and actually died the year they moved) and it never did very well at my old house. When I planted it in this spot, it took off! I decided to plant Hakone grass around it after seeing that it could look like this after the plants matured ...



So, plants in hand, I got all set to remove some sod. Now, I know all too well how hard it is to remove sod. I usually recruit Mr. T for that backbreaking work. I decided to do this small piece myself. Little did I know that the maple had some surface roots all throughout the sod. After less than a quarter of the section removed, I wanted to give up. Exasperated, I moved on to something else to take a break. For a minute I considered begging Mr. T to do it. However, I refused to give up. I returned with renewed determination. I would remove that sod if it killed me. I ended up doing it a section at a time, alternating between planting the grasses and removing sod.

I don't think people always realize how physically demanding gardening can be, but I've always felt like the end result (as can be seen in the second picture) makes it worth it. I hope my near stroke from the work and the heat provides me with that reward.