Site prep work for PE&A

Work on the new PE&A site has been underway, although a bit more slowly than planned due to some weather delays. Some very nice weather in March led us to believe spring had made an early arrival, but then April turned unseasonably cold including snow on multiple days. Here are a few pictures of what I've been doing the past few weeks around the site.

I wanted to remove the dead branches around the base of the spruce so they don't fall down unexpectedly on top of the railroad. I was able to get most of them with the help of a ladder.

The resulting brush pile from the spruce cleanup.

It turns out that the mystery shrub that is in the way of the railroad development is a forsythia.

I really enjoy forsythia in the spring, so instead of getting rid of it I dug it up and transplanted it to a new home in the front yard. It's now visible from the street and will get much more sun here.

Within just a day of transplanting that forsythia we woke up to almost four inches of new snow. Winter again!

Today I started modifying the area that will be the primary focus for the railroad. The retaining wall boards are rotted and needed replaced here, but rather than replacing them I decided to remove two sections (about 24 feet total) to allow the ground to slope down to the grass.

Work in progress. The wood was rotten and the screws were almost rusted away, so removal of the boards was pretty quick.

Removal of the posts, on the other hand, required much more effort. They weren't set in concrete but they were deep enough that it took a bit of work.

Mostly done.

Four of the five posts were manageable but the fifth one is particularly stubborn and does not want to come out. I'll try again tomorrow, and if it doesn't budge I may just saw this one off below ground level. I had to stop here today as a convective cell was quickly approaching from the northwest and it looked like it had the capability of producing lightning. Time to get inside!

Meanwhile, around the garden, all the native shrubs are now leafing out, like this golden current.

And this pacific ninebark

The forbs I planted last fall are also coming up quick and strong. I forget which this one is, as my puppy stole the plastic tag. I'll look it up in the plant guide and get it labeled again.