Corner Flower Garden (Shade garden?)

Before finishing the grass, this needed to be taken care of~

What you see in the foreground are all the "roots" I've cut off that string down from the branches and roots that grow down the tree trunk. This particular kind of tree is a Banyan which grows to unbelievable sizes. I will insert, further down, a photo of a giant, very old Banyan tree that I personally took at the Sydney Botanical Garden Park in Sydney, Australia in December 2019. 


The roots attached themselves everywhere and grew with the bark as they reached down to the ground and embed themselves into the ground to grow extensive roots to help the tree spread.  I have a small plot of land which would not lend itself in any way to a giant expanding Banyan tree! 


Now what to do with the corner.  It's mostly shady and not much was growing under the tree, so I wanted to find some plant that couldn't handle the heat.  I had already experienced the dying plants in the front of the house I tried due to all day exposure to sunshine, so I put some of those under the tree.


But, how would I build up the soil, lift the whole area for healthier growth.  I began with this:
https://learn.eartheasy.com/guides/raised-beds-soil-depth-requirements/ and thought through how deep the flower/plant/bush roots needed to have.  This type of tree has all kinds of sprouts coming
    out of the trunk, so bringing the soil up the tree trunk was not a problem.  But then I found these
    ideas: https://www.thespruce.com/raised-bed-garden-ideas-4172154 and moved forward with the
    blocks for height. 

 I definitely needed some "design" and visited a few local nurseries to pick out blocks.  I had to swallow the amount I paid just for the blocks, but they fit well into the corner to create a fun look. 

I really will have to wait and see if these plants will make it or not, and I even tried a lotus flower plant in the big clay pot, so time will tell. 









Below, you will find close-ups of my Banyan tree which shows proof of those little rascals sprouting new roots.  You can see where I shaved off a bunch of other sprouts and branches. 

Another photo looking down the tree where you can clearly see the remains of the branch I cut off, and now there is a new "root" growing towards the ground.  Guess that one will have to go too!                

  

The next photo will give you an idea how big a Banyan tree can grow.  I was totally amazed this giant lives among us because nothing like this grows in Michigan! 

 

The Weeding Continues

Impossible to do this all at once~

So, I continue on with round two of weeding the side...

Then I go for the back....

 And then another day, I try again...

But as you can see in the photo that I posted last time...

it's a never-ending cycle of weeds.  The weather and rain during the fall definitely helped the weeds continue, and continue and continue hahahaha!  Then one day, my friends decided it was time for me to stop weeding and just simply get the grass laid...

Well of course it was time, but they helped me so "quickly" that I didn't even get to pull out anymore major weeds or rake the dirt flat before laying it!  You can see how much we got done before dark and needing to go back to the nursery for more grass pieces.

There is no doubt in my mind that I would have kept on weeding and weeding, yet I did make progress with demolishing the weeds, just they always flourished before I could get the next section done.  Besides that, the arthritis in my fingers were getting a heck of a workout.  We happened to get the grass all laid (on this half of the house) just in time for dry season to begin.  Hence, the watering began twice a day to save the grass.  I paid the neighbor to come down and water in the morning and evening while I was gone to Brisbane, Australia for three weeks.