Seeding the Old Perennial Bed...

Early this spring, I decided to get rid of my big perennial bed.  Over the course of several weeks, lots of friends and friends-of-friends came and dug out starts for their own gardens.  I thought I would miss it...and when I look at old pictures, I do!  But I don't miss all the work of mulching and weeding.  At all.

This morning, it was transformed.

First, the ground was leveled out and clumps of weeds were removed.  They got dumped into a low spot on the field lane.  Field lanes are good for that!

Next, we had several piles of dirt out in a corner of the meadow that came in handy for filling in and leveling out the uneven spots.  Notice the difference in the soil color? The garden soil is almost black, from years of composting mushroom soil. The piles of dirt have a much brighter color, but I'm sure it will still grow fine grass...

Smoothing out the piles and filling in the low spots...

Preparing the soil one final time before the grass is seeded...

...and all finished!

Hopefully Little Ed doesn't decide to stop and dig in the dirt as he takes his leisurely stroll along the garden. He is, after all, my garden kitty...

They were going to put down a straw mat, to help mulch the new grass seed, but decided against it.  We're into cooler weather now, (forecast for the mid 30's tonight!) and they thought the seed might not get enough heat underneath the mat, to germinate and grow.

There's a lot of moisture in the soil from all the rain we've had in the past two weeks, but we'll still need to keep this watered until the new grass gets off to a new start.

I'm looking forward to the new look!