Forsythia, Ajuga, and realizing I can't do it all

Diana bought us two Forsythia shrubs.  Forsythia is a bush that my father grew, and in fact he planted two of them, telling my sister and I that the second bush was "Firesythia", because Fire (pronounced Feer-Ah) is the number 4 in Norwegian.  As a kid I heard it as "Feedasythia" but whatever the pronunciation the point is that he made up a name for it and so the bush took on a special meaning for me after we lost Daddy.

Because we have such a small yard Diana bought a dwarf variety, and to keep it affordable she bought small plants, but the shrub, over time, will get to be nearly 3 feet across.  I don't want to crowd my neighbor, and his driveway runs exactly down the property line, so I cleared a little plot that is along the driveway, sidewalk, and the arc that is 4 feet from the corner of the sidewalk/driveway.  Planting the shrub 2 feet from the sidewalk and 2 feet from the driveway should keep it from sticking out over either.  To keep the slope from eroding, help with the pollinator factor, and also a nod to Daddy I will also be planting Bronze Leaf Ajuga (Bronze Beauty Carpet Bugle).

It took me 2 days to dig out the sod/weeds/roots/stones and bricks for ONE side.  Yep, 10 bricks were buried in that little plot!  Also, the ground was quite wet from the weekend rain, so the clay in the soil stuck to the roots of the sod... I don't want to give the weeds dirt to grow in, and I don't want all of the good soil to go away (there is clay, sand, and humus/compost in the soil, not just clay).

We have so much to do and these new garden beds are taking me so long that I decided to hire some local college students ("Rent-a-Rower" from the Michigan State University Crew team) to help with some of the additional garden digging - they should be here next week.  Meanwhile, I can move on to other gardening tasks!