The Trench!

When we first bought our property, there was an awkward slope in the backyard just behind the house. It wasn't huge, but it was steep and long, running for about 75 feet. The soil was also poor and the former homeowners gave up and just tossed some mulch over the incline every few years. Even weeds didn't grow on this slope.. I was anxious to do something about this unslightly eyesore and when we cleared and leveled the area above the slope, we had the excavation company transform the slope into a stone terrace..

Then it sat for a year, while we were busy with the kitchen garden.. finally, last week we added more soil and were ready to plant (I still need to clean out the weedy grass the grew between the rocks!). So, we planned to put in a mixture of shrubs, perennials and grasses, yet this past weekend after our annual plant sale, the hubby mentioned that perhaps I could tuck a few of the extra heirloom tomato seedlings leftover from the sale into the terrace. Hmmmmm, I thought, what a great idea. So, what did I do? I planted 30 tomato seedlings and 6 peppers in the trench - no room for anything else!

That wasn't quite what he meant.. I should have known better, after all, he did say 'a few'.. Now, I don't know if I should let the tomatoes enjoy the hot sunny trench all summer and then in the fall tuck in some hardy ornamentals or pull out 1/2 of the veggies and put the shrubs/perennials in the trench now..???? Any suggestions?

Happy Gardening!