Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, Mani the purebred border collie, filling in for the guy I live with, and here today to take you on a short walk. You may remember me from such posts as the highly-relevant “Employees Only”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose.
We’re going on a short walk, for not much of a reason at all except to look at the trough patio again.
First we’re going to the wrought-iron table, and we’re going to see something highly unusual, at least for Colorado. Not as unusual as seeing giraffes in the garden, but pretty unusual.
The guy I live with picked up those snail shells from the garden. He ordinarily would have said we don’t have snails here, but I think that’s incorrect.
Now out to the shed. I’ve shown pictures of this before, but it’s on the walk.
I was running, not walking, out to the back fence to bark at something, which is what I do.
Viburnum farreri on the left.
Behind the shed is the trough patio. You can now see the pattern laid down by the guy I live with’s wife.
The low wall in front is like the most level thing on the planet.
The patio abuts the Employees Only section, divided by a large hedge of Rhus trilobata, which is out of the picture on the left. I’ve shown a picture of this section before, and here’s another one.
It’s at least twenty-feet feet to the corner of the yard. I’m the only one who goes in here regularly.
And that’s the short walk. I’ll leave you with a picture of me on my much longer evening walk.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
You have so many interesting and various paths to take through your garden! I’m curious, though: how did the guy you live with move that large rock in place? We bought some large rocks on impulse earlier in the year and it’s possible that they will remain where they were delivered, looking as if they grew out of the tall wild grasses surrounding them, unless we find some place to maneuver them someplace else.
Thanks. Most of the paths were made by the first border collies who lived here. Running out to bark at things in the green belt.
The guy I live with has a small dolly, made for carrying a propane tank, and he used that. (He bought a Weed Dragon flame weeder but came to his senses before he used it, and he never bought a propane tank.)
There’s also a larger dolly that has a heavy piece of plywood duct-tape to it which he can use for moving troughs.
Funny; that flagstone sat on the driveway for a year, and then the guy I live with dented his car when he ran into the flgastone, and he told his wife it was probably time to move it. She used the big dolly for that; he helped, of course.
Curious whether that Viburnum farreri requires extra water beyond rain and snow.
The flagstone pattern is quite attractive.
Thanks.The guy I live with’s wife had “fill dirt” delivered, really gross clay stuff, so there wouldn’t be much subsidence.
Yes, the viburnum requires extra water. It’s one of the parents of Viburnum x bodnantense, but it’s much hardier.
Very hard to find these days. There’s a small one, ‘Nanum’, that you can sometimes find, and Cistus Nursery occasionally sells ‘Candidissiumum’, pure white flowers.
Reginald Farrer is one of the guy I live with’s favorite garden writers so he wanted one of these viburnums before he first saw it in flower at the botanic gardens one January afternoon. The flowers aren’t frost-proof but you know how we can have mild spells in winter, well, in the right position this shrub can be flowering then.
Otherwise, March or April.
Thanks. The two Viburnums I have also require extra water. (Maybe they all do.)
You’re welcome. The guy I live with says there’s a Burkwood viburnum in the shade garden, too.
If the guy I live with had had more sense at the time, he would have planted the Viburnum farreri in a place where it got more sun in the winter, like you do with snowdrops.
Enjoy yore walkiess Mani! An Guy two!
Thanks.
Yore furry wellcome!
Aww, Mani…thanks for taking us on a lovely walk. Wilson is a bit jealous of all the fabulous sniffs you must have from one end to the other. P.S. Those were some impressive snail shells!
You’re welcome. Sniffing opportunities are very important for us dogs, as you know.
I’m very fortunate to have the “neighborhood bulletin board” across the street; an old, rotten tree stump.
The guy I live with has no idea how we got snails in our garden.