Berming It

See that heap on the grass in front of the archway? Well, it's the beginning of a berm.

What is a berm you ask? You might as well ask because I'm going to tell you anyway. A berm is really a ledge of sorts, although I think of it as a rather pretty bump, and it's sorely needed in my yard.

The back yard was originally a soggy marsh quite content to grow cattails and baby geese. Then some builders slam-bammed their way in and out, leaving behind lots of rubble buried a couple of inches under the soil and a sulky, marshy back yard.

The rubble is neatly hidden under bigger rocks around the fish pond and that leaves the bog/lawn. I'm not crazy about a huge expanse of green lawn unless it belongs to a sod farm; it can be rather boring. I might as well feel this way since my back yard is like an awkward pitch-and-putt.

I don't have a human digger and fixer-upper at my beck and call so I have to figure out how to raise the yard using very little money and a minimum of muscle and this is where the berm comes in.

Once the idea germinated, I began by using sod left over from digging out the raised bed (I lured a human digger for that one) and now the sod is composting nicely in the center of the embryo berm at present.

To make it larger I will dredge more goodies out of the two composters, and before long this berm will be a delightful sight with lovely undulating curves, full of yummy compost and worms.

Waiting in the wings are a couple of lovely shrubs glumly mud-bound but anxious to strut their stuff in their new penthouse spot, but they won't perform until their feet are dry.

Hang in there guys, help is slowly on the way.

One thing every gardener knows--patience is your best friend.