Yesterday, I got a good deal of work done! Now the NE tree garden is completely cleaned up and all the plantings are fertilized there. 
I had to reset the brick border and it looks so much better! The brick border stops at the approximate point where this garden will connect with the new "forbidden" garden. The bricks were in disarray, and 3 bricks on the alley side were completely buried, no thanks to the neighbors directly across the alley, backing their cars on to them. 
It seems they moved out, which motivated me to dig out those bricks and reset the whole thing. 
This photo of the old tree garden exemplifies how bad the brick border at the the NE tree garden looked, before resetting it:
These photos show the NE tree garden with the border bricks all cleaned up and reset:
In this second photo, you might have noticed landscape timber as part of the border on the alley side. I did that bc I ran out of (good) bricks, so a trip to Menard's is in my near future to get more brick.....oh darn! 😏
This year's plan for the old tree garden was to install two or three courses of retaining wall, to reduce the slope of the garden grade for erosion control purposes. Even mulch, on the back side, would wash away during downpours. I was afraid my back injury might have put that off until next year.
But thinking further, I really would need help with that installation, regardless of the condition of my back, so, it could still happen!! I would probably be less involved than usual, that's all! 
So, in addition to all that work (the NE tree garden took three days), I cleaned up and trimmed the edges around all of the trees and ornamental grasses, and the brick border along the future grass pathway, so it was a good two days!!
The Chiropractor has officially given me the okay to do gardening, as long as I don't bend at my waist, lift with my legs, and that I continue my home exercises! After today's evaluation, I'm standing in almost perfect alignment! There's a stubborn area in the small of my back that needs more time to get where it needs to be. I'll be starting once a week appointments, which will continue through July 28th, and knowing how bad of shape I was in after injuring my back, I couldn't be more thankful that I'm even standing, sitting, and moving as close to normal as I am, so quickly, and my gardening can continue this season, which is a huge relief!!
