Emergency planting of lavender

I bought 30 lavender plants to start our new business. Then Hubby's health went bad. Now I have these plants that need to go in the ground and it's do it myself or let them die.

I thought I could put down weed cloth, cut holes to plant in, then cover it all with wood chips. I think I could do all that on my own, but the directions say to pull all the weeds first, which basically means tilling this rock hard dirt. There's no way I can do that. Sooo, what if I just go ahead with my plan and ignore the directions? Will I just make a big mess and waste my time besides? I have enough chips to put 3"-4" over the weed cloth. Would that be enough to smother anything that might try to come through and cause trouble?

Suz, How is hubby now? Can you get SIL to build a 4 x 8 frame that can be set over weed fabric, then line the inside with weed fabric? You can fill with what ever you have or Cheaper Kellogg's large bagged stuff and plant them in there. You can still top with wood chips to keep evaporation down. Hand water with a hose? This could buy you time until hubby is better.

sanderson wrote:Suz,     How is hubby now?  Can you get SIL to build a 4 x 8 frame that can be set over weed fabric, then line the inside with weed fabric?  You can fill with what ever you have or Cheaper Kellogg's large bagged stuff and plant them in there.  You can still top with wood chips to keep evaporation down.  Hand water with a hose?  This could buy you time until hubby is better.

I'm scrapping the whole project and selling the lavender plants. It's time to simplify.

Hubby was diagnosed with severe arthritis in his already disabled back from an Air Force injury from 50+ years ago. It came out of nowhere with pain so severe it woke him from a sound sleep and sat him up in bed. The pain went on for 16 days with no relief from booze, meds, drugs, heat, or exercise. It was so severe he couldn't fall asleep until he just passed out from exhaustion. He averaged about 2 hours sleep a night for over 2 weeks, which had him almost passed out in a chair all day every day.

The strange thing is that the pain was just as severe in his hip and knee. He went in for X-Rays and that's when they discovered the arthritis and nothing wrong with hip or knee. It's all radiating from his back.

2 days ago, it all went away and he's been back to his normal self as if nothing ever happened. Now today it's all starting to come back again.

The VA is trying to schedule him for some kind of shots -- cortisone, maybe -- but the wheels of government never roll fast or smoothly. I'm just holding my breath that we aren't starting down the same road he had to travel for the past 2 weeks. It's absolute agony for him and the family that loves him.  

Anyway, this scare has made me realize there will be no more big, expensive, labor-intensive projects in my future.

Oh, Suz, I'm so sorry...

AtlantaMarie wrote:Oh, Suz, I'm so sorry...

Me too, and I also apologize for unloading on the group.

Suz,  I'm so sorry he, and you, went through that nightmare. 

CN I hope things soon improve for you and your hubby.

countrynaturals wrote:

AtlantaMarie wrote:Oh, Suz, I'm so sorry...

Me too, and I also apologize for unloading on the group.

We are here for you.  
Hugs from Kelejan

Kelejan wrote:

countrynaturals wrote:

AtlantaMarie wrote:Oh, Suz, I'm so sorry...

Me too, and I also apologize for unloading on the group.

We are here for you.  
Hugs from Kelejan

Yes, we are! I wish I could take some....

Wow, what an ordeal...sometimes you just need to scale back and focus on what’s important.  Your family, people in our lives.  Just think about that for now, and time will tell.  

The VA is a bit slow, however some of the best and brightest are with that institution...prayers and good vibes coming your way!

Scorpio Rising wrote:The VA is a bit slow, however some of the best and brightest are with that institution...prayers and good vibes coming your way!

Thanks, Scorpio. He's had wonderful care with the VA, but another week has gone by with no progress on getting him the shots, and now we have another weekend to go through.