What is up with the weather? It hasn’t rained here in almost a week. The sun has been out, it "soars" to the mid-fifties in the afternoon, then as soon as the sun dips behind the hills, the temperature drops like a rock. Below freezing every night for a week. Great weather for doing yard work (not!)
Last fall, I had a unit of bark mulch delivered to my back yard, not thinking much about where they dumped it. I figured I could deal with it as I got the chance or the inspiration. About three weeks ago, as I started my preparations for the first event of the season with my concession business, I realized that the mountain of bark was between my trailer and the way out of the back yard. "Move the bark" was added to the To Do List.
We had new sod put down last spring, and the dope who installed it refused to put weed barrier under the bark borders surrounding the lawn. "I never use that stuff…it doesn’t work anyway." Translate that to, "I’m too lazy to deal with it…" We live in a natural grassland. Grass and weeds will grow, abundantly and practically overnight, in any open space of ground, no matter how inhospitable. We had the lawn installed in May. All summer long, we struggled to keep the lawn grass alive, while the weeds in the borders were vigorous and thriving. Just what we had spent $1500 to accomplish—turn a high maintenance weed-patch into…a high maintenance weed-patch.
So, for the last two days, I’ve been hacking my way through perma-frost, chunking out the determined weeds (how can they be green when their roots are in ice????) leveling out the beds by dragging the old weedy bark off, and diminishing that pesky pile in the back yard, one wheelbarrow at a time. The result will be (crossing my fingers here) that along about July, when I’m too busy to deal with yard work, the house will not take on that "abandoned rental" look of weeds growing three feet high in the parkway around the house. We can only hope…
Those of you who are still hibernating under feet of snow and ice, and are casting a jealous eye toward the Pacific Northwest and our "early" spring…count your blessings.
Don't wear yourself out, and spread the word about that incompetent lawn man.
ReplyDeleteAnd post pics. I need some inspiration for my back yard! ~Sie
ReplyDeleteI don't want to think about the endless yard work yet. You'll hear no winter complaints from me (today).
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Don't work yourself ragged!!
we finally raked our yard last weekend, for the first time since October! We just like the natural look! (yeah, right)
ReplyDeleteMarti
Good Luck with the yard. Yeah, for some reason the weeds grow no matter what and the plants you want...........turn up their green little fronds and turn brown. LOL
ReplyDeleteJackie
I have several bags of spring bulbs I need to get into the ground! But the ground is semi-hard. Damn it! I'm ready for spring.
ReplyDeleteWow...sounds like some hard work. Glad you're having good weather.
ReplyDeleteI have a brown thumb I would be lost in your yard..as I am in mine. I even killed house plants this winter. Good luck with that. I love black mulch. And the tempeture has been playing mean nasty games
ReplyDeleteI don't remember what show I saw it on recently but it said to pour boiling hot water on weeds, enough to soak it to the roots, and it will kill them. A lot of good that does now that you hacked them out. But, maybe it'll help you next time. However, remember that I am the one who wouldn't comment on your journal for the longest time because I have a brown thumb and your green one left me speechless. :-) ---Robbie
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