Three grapevines and two kiwis (of the pink variegated leaf and fuzzless fruit variety…really!).  That doesn’t sound like much, except of course for the minor detail of creating a garden bed running that side of the pergola.  You know the old term, ‘sod-busting’?  It has fallen out of use these days, but when the lawn is healthy, undisturbed for several decades, and composed of numerous perennial ground-covers (thyme, grasses, mints, violets, etc.) cutting through it becomes hard work.  You can bounce a blade off of it, if the angle isn’t vertical and the force isn’t great enough.*

I do hope the plants by the pergola do as they ought.  It will eventually include a honeysuckle, a rose, several clematis and space for a swing and a bench, as well as areas for the scented geraniums and the other tender perennials to be set out in the summer (I believe there is a fuschia and a begonia that are supposed to hang from the beams).  Very classic, which is of course in keeping with the location.  Well, the kiwis aren’t classic, but why not experiment a bit?

*Taking five minutes out to recreate even the most cursory of edges on the cutter makes a real difference.