Best time of year

Not living up to all of my responsibilities, but the low maintenance plants keep going.






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Deforestation

I made a pass along the front street and pulled and cut oak trees and chasmathium. Found poison ivy on Paul's side of stone steps. Can't spray right now because it starting raining.













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Exhausted

I did some stuff this weekend, stuff that really needed doing, but I feel I'm farther than ever from having the place fixed up.

Basically, I cleaned up the front yard, and FINALLY mowed it. I'm not sure if I ever mowed it last year even once. I raked, and I pulled myrtle out, and I cut off the tops of an entire oak forest.

The reason I feel like I'm farther than ever is the ivy and myrtle have run rampant and so have my aggressive natives. I feel the front is looking worse than ever. There is so much still to do.

I also hand-pulled weeds in the back lawn, and Clara helped me mow it.

The only thing I planted was ginger by the dutchman's pipe-vine. I bought some stuff at farmers market, but it's not planted yet. Neither is most of the stuff from Behnkes last week (or was it two weeks ago?).

Further behind and sinking fast.

It stays cool out.

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Commitment

I spent quite a bit of time this weekend, and hopefully it will make a difference. Most of what I've done is maintenance but there is at least one capital improvement.

Between yesterday and today, I weeded and cleaned up the corner, up and down. I cut the jasmine back a lot, and I'm considering going for even more. I'm much more aggressive at pulling out or cutting back some of the more aggressive volunteers, like strawberry. Down on my hands and knees, I painstakingly untangle and pull the runners out from around more fragile young plants. Trace those runners back, get a grip on the node and pull! It can be satisfying when a whole colony comes with it.

In the dog's yard, I rooted out a bunch of the gray dogwood along the fence. There, one time when I was pulling on the long running root, I actually pulled a whole whip plant through the ground and up into my hand! Again, very satisfying.

I planted a peony, my first ever. I am so afraid of commitment, and it might last for fifty years. I stuck it in between an azalea and the serviceberry. It's a red single one, the previous post has the tag with the variety name. I flanked it with a tiarella and a heucera. Hopefully the combination will work out. I'm a little uncertain of the degree of sun it gets.

The yellow creeping jenny has become a problem on the corner. I've also got spots where desirable plants have died off and need new fillers. Yay for plant shopping! But the thrifty person in me wants to be sure I've got the maintenance under control.

Speaking of maintenance, I mowed the grass! I never got the final fall mowing in, so it was really long. It definitely looks better now.


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Progress

A lot of work so far, more to come.

Apple Tree

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Apple Blossoms

Poppy

What I planted today

After Planting

More planting soon

My fence bed to be filled in

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Lawn?

I spent some hours in the dog's yard yesterday. I raked, trying to scuff the top layer of the soil. I dug out some of the gray dogwood suckers. I planted a Nelly Moser clematis in the front corner, by the butterfly bushes. I spread grass seed where I had raked, after pulling lots of strawberries out of the area. I watered.



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Myrtle

Spent just half an hour, rooting it out of the natives slope, around the ash tree. I'm letting it grow around the blueberries, but on the slope I want to have space for other things.

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