Planting Ajuga, The Field is Ready, Anything Made With Pizza Dough is Good

Ajuga from Hanover Farms in Richmond. They specialize in ground covers. I bought five flats which were enough to plant under four trees.

Nice, moist cow compost on my knees!

Spacing for Ajuga is 6-9". I went with 9" since I know they spread heartily.

Baby Ajugas set out and ready to plant.

1. My gardening motto this year is "Simplify". To facilitate easier mowing, I'm planting ground cover under all the trees. Ajuga 'Burgundy Glow' will form a beautiful carpet where it's planted. I'll return to these photos at the end of summer to see how they're filling in.
1.a. I think of gardening as play. I can crawl around on the ground, get dirty, lie on the grass and gaze at the sky, and not care what I look like (unless someone is snapping my photo).
1.b. Gardening is also work. But Steve helps me and it's an opportunity to work on something together. He hauled the topsoil and manure home and helped me dig out more sod.
1.c. Gardening is a creative outlet. It's about dreaming up ideas and turning them into reality. It never becomes dull because a garden is ever changing.
2. Audrey works in the horse pasture, tightening the fence, scrubbing out the water troughs and generally getting things ready for horses to return next week. The elderly Cahoon brothers stop their truck and chat with her for a minute. Other neighbors wave and beep as they drive by.
3. A satisfying dinner of Stromboli. Click here for recipe.