I kind of at a loss what to do with this area. A couple of years ago I had all kinds of ambitious plans, but I'm scaling back on that. Just don't have the energy or time. Now with my wife retiring and the house needing a new roof, funds are limited.
The only thing I've planted there are three Japanese Golden Forest Grass plants, about 3 or 4 years ago. They're still the same size as when I planted, only holding their own. The ground is very rooty and compact, making it hard to dig.
Up until recently I used to rake up all the pine/fir needles and willow leaves. I stopped doing that last year. Since the leaves and needles have been left to decay, I've noticed that moles have been digging around in the soil, they never used to do that. Tell me if I'm wrong, but to me that indicates that there are grubs in the soil, which is a good sign.
I'm thinking that come spring, I'm just going to put the mower in mulch mode and mow over the entire area to chop all the leaves and needles up fine and see what happens over time. The only way to make a good hole for planting would be to rent one of those hole-drilling machines I've seen. Yes, it's that rooty and hard.
