... this 10x13 foot shade tree bed emerged each spring.

In May, 2022 a crew showed up to begin a significant sidewalk renovation for our senior center. After listening to what was going to happen I asked for about 3 days to move and pot up plant materials that were in their way.
I was floored when the crew chief said his crew had landscape experience and then asked if they could manage the transplanting for me. They had everything dug and potted in good potting soil by the afternoon of day one. [All the plants survived the summer in pots... and were replanted when construction ended.]
And then they started digging in earnest...
They finished excavating in late May... and then they walked away to start other portions of the project.
The trench [and the shade bed] looked like this from May until late September...


In September they finished work around my place. Within a month I had all the construction debris picked up and disposed of... and the overall the project looks very different than before...
As you can see... a retaining wall protects two sides of the planting bed. I managed to convince the crew chief to backfill behind the wall with good quality topsoil. Thankfully, he obliged... and I've had good soil in which to plant the salvaged perennials...

The retaining wall is surprisingly attractive... the soil behind the wall [the backfill] is good quality... all the perennials [except brand new ones] are in ground... the ones in pots soon will be.

The growing season after the one where concrete reigned supreme [2022] was the summer of the Wrath of God [2023]. The garden was growing beautifully... it had potential to be the best year yet... and then we had a rain and hail storm. The hail absolutely devastated the large leafed perennials [Hosta, Heuchera, Hellebore, Tetrapanax, Hydrangea] for the entire season. It was a sad sight to behold...

The hail damage last summer was harder to endure than the construction. It got to where I was using the street-side door more than the patio one... just so I wouldn't have to look at it again.
Perhaps, God willing, I won't have a repeat again this year.