Got Some Yard Stuff Done

It wasn't easy, but at least it isn't raining most days,  That sure helps.  It;s uncomforable pulling up overgrown weeds when everything is wet.  I tend to agree with the cats - yuck on the WET!

So it was dry enough to get into the overgrowth.  And it was still bad.  Brambles, wild blackberry canes, and those damn little triangular green "sticky seeds" from some weed.  And those plants with purple stems and purple berries that stain everything they touch.    

Well, you start by cutting them all down. and dragging them out.  And heavy leather gloves even let you handle the damn blackberry canes.   So I got most of the bad stuff eliminated at ground level.  From there, I can dig without being grabbed by thorns.  

So of course, it started to rain...

I have a trailerful of sapling debris loaded.  But the County yard debris drop off place is a pit.  So if it rains,  its all mud.  And it has rained most of this Summer.  I need a week of no rain to dispose of this.  And I have 2 more loads to go.  

The extra unloaded debris has been stacked up in "easy to move" piles and the grass has grown up among it 18" high!  I need 2 days to bring it all away.  I'm not allowed to burn it.  

The backyard has gotten overgrown again.  I have a brush mower.  But thinking I would use it one more time last Fall, I left gas in it.  Now I can't start it.  And the only repair shop here is a slow expensive place for even such a simple repair.  I deal with wood, not engines.  I need to drag the darn thing out and try some tricks about cleaning carburators.  Or hand it over to the repair place and wait 6 weeks for a $200 bill.  I really hate messing with gas engines, so it falls 50/50.  But I need to clear the back yard of the overgrowth.  

I have other stuff that needs chain saw work.   Half a tree died and fell over a couple of months ago.  Fortunately, it barely missed the 2 nearest saplings I planted 2 Falls ago and are getting established.  But vines are growing up them.  I removed vines last Fall, and have to do it again.  I think I will cover the ground around them with 3 feet square of old carpet.  I've done that with other young trees and it works well,  Regular old carpet lets rain through but not weeds weed up.  Dont try that with outdoor carpet though.  It has rubber backing and rain won't sink through.

The meadow bed has reached its full growth of  weeds and grasses and desirable flowers for the year, so I know what to pull out and what to leave.  That should improve things a lot for next year.  The bad news is that it is mostly weeds.  One thing I have learned is that a meadow bed is HARD to establish and takes more attention than I realized.  The bad news for the weeds is that I am VERY persistent.

It is a constant struggle, but some meadow bed enthusiasts say that persistanse WILL win out and the the flowers will shade out the weeds.  I hope they are right.

Where I leave bare spots in the meadow bed from pulling up grasses and large weeds, I will dig up black-eyed Susans and Purple Coneflowers from the garden paths where I don't want them (volunteers) and transplant them.  And I'll be saving seeds from the desirable flowers for scattering around next Spring.  They are all self-seeders but I will help them a bit with a very thin layer of compost in March,

You do what you can...