Good Yardwork Day Yesterday

Yesterday was cool, dry, and overcast; a superb day for yardwork!

I had in mind planting a few veggies and flowers, but a neglected back corner of the yard caught my attention because a long-forgotten weigela shrub (1 of 3 originally planted) was struggling to bloom among the shady underbrush of unwanted tree saplings, vines, briars, and a single will-not-die asparagus plant from my original 20' row planting 25 years ago.  So I got out the loppers and waded in (carefully, as I also spotted a few small poison ivy plants).

The first thing was to cut down all the saplings.  Trickier than you might think, because that corner seems to be the last refuge of the nasty thorny locust trees that originally covered half the backyard.  They have thorns all along the trunk and branches like 3/4" needles, and they will grow back from being cut down 4" in a year.  They are very hard to handle, and harder to kill.  I once read that the original colonists used cut trunks as fenceposts (the wood is rot-resistant and the trunks grow straight) only to discover that the cut trunks would re-root when stuck in the ground!

It took me 10 years to finally kill them off.  These probably came from seeds of neighbors' trees since there weren't any in that corner when I planted the weigela some 10 years ago.  Because of a peculiarity of lot shapes and drainage easements there is a triangle of space just off my back yard that all 3 neighbors ignore.  It is utterly wild and filled with poison ivy, wild grape vines, mock strawberry, and (apparently) a few mature thorny locusts; all nasty invasive stuff!

Anyway, it took a while, but I managed to clear the surface of all the bad stuff, and I discovered a 2nd weigala barely surviving at a foot high.  With the additional light and less competition for nurients, it should recover.  There was no sign of the 3rd weigela.  I'll have to take a few stem cuttings and get them rooted in pots.

After that, and being in a clearing mood, I decided to tackle the forsythia growing into my flowerbed border from another neighbor.  Those forsythia, though outside my fence, are entirely my fault.  My street was built brand new in 1986.  I was only the 3rd house built on my street and my neighbor was the 4th.  She was elderly, friendly, and sneaky.  There were not borders then and the property lines were uncertain.  She noticed that I would mow any part between us that she didn't, and she gradually left more and more.  So I planted a row of forsythias to mark the assumed property line.  When I decided to build a fence (to keep the large off-leash dogs out, for cat-safety) I discovered pipes marking the corners of the property.  From the plat measurements and compass directions, I figured out the property lines.

On my father's advice, I inset the fence 18" to allow myself legal access to the outside of the fence for repairs.  That was the dumbest advice I ever followed, but more about that later!  Anyway, I asked the neighbor lady if she wanted me to leave the forsythia and she said yes.  I have regretted that ever since.  Each year, forsythias pop up on my side and some years I am too busy to get them out.  Well, when I planted them I didn't know they spread.

I usually just keep cutting them off at ground level, but this year I decided to get in there and dig them out.  I used my "poacher's shovel" (on right).

Its called that because it is only half the width of a regular shovel, is more curved so it makes a smaller hole, its lighter to carry, and gives a smaller soil ball.  So plant poachers loved it.  Its like a super trowel on a short shovel handle.  I like it because the small blade lets me get at problem roots in cramped spaces among plants you don't want to disturb.  Three digs, and you have a nice 6" circle cut around a plant.

So I first pruned most of the forsythia canes away so I could see the rooted stems and dug them out carefully one-by-one.  It took 2 hours!  At least I have most of them out by the roots.  The remaining ones are growing up through the roots of 2 shrubs I have disliked for years and plan to remove later. 

The pile of removed forsythias does not look like much, LOL!  But each one was an effort.  I had to stand awkwardly to avoid stepping on wanted plants, the shovel handle would hit the fence, there were forsythia roots among the butterfly bush roots, etc...

Those 2 shrubs I plan to remove later are nice enough, yellow and green evergreen leaves, but way bigger than advertised and they keep sending up shoots from the spreading roots (golden euonymus 'you-on-i-mus').

I'm going to try to kill the forsythias.  As the canes grow through the fence, I will cut the cane and put a dab of undiluted Roundup on the cut end.  It worked for the thorny locusts...

I got a lot more done, but this is long enough and I'll finish tomorrow.

Yesterday Yardwork

OK, the first thing I decided to do was get rid of the dandelions.  I have one of those forked dandelion diggers, but the height was uncomfortable and it is too small to get at the roots accurately.  But I also have a 2' handled mattock! 

It sure works better than those dandelion forks!  I spent an hour chopping deep to cut the roots.  Most will die from lack of leaves.  Some will survive, but I will just go around the yard and chop them deep again.  They will die eventually.  It was actually easier than spraying with herbicides.  Those would kill all the lawn crocuses anyway.

I set up the 4 way hose controller too.  The green hose reaches to the lawn around the back of the house, the black one connects to some drip irrigation hoses in the flowerbeds, the red one goes along the fence to the back gardens, and the jet nozzle is great for cleaning stuff.

The apples are flowering.  They will produce many apples.  I wont get any.  The squirrels will take most of them green.  I think I may just remove them. But I could put some boards across the top and drape chicken wire over them.  That would keep the squirrels out and still let the bees in to pollinate the flowers (I think).

One of the 3 pressure-treated posts on the 20 year old garden trellis broke last winter.  It rotted finally at ground level.  It was set in cement, so it would take hours to dig up.  I pounded in a metal pipe instead.  I intend to make a left-rotated "T" shape |-- wood construction and drill a hole through it to set over the pipe.  Don't worry if it doesn't make sense.  It does and I'll show a picture later.   I plan to take all the posts out in the fall and use pipes to support the trellis instead.

You see a lot of vines growing in at the beds.  They come from the neighbors yard.  I will HAVE to use herbicides to kill the ones in my yard and spray through the fence to beat them back a bit.  I've tried digging them up but they seem to have deep roots and are extremely invasive.  My neighbor won't notice; he doesn't actually live there anymore.  He lives with his girlfriend elsewhere (a sad tale of infidelity, suicide and a broken home).

The next project is replacing the rotting wood sides of my hauling trailer...

And I want to raise a complaint.  I bought a new Canon camera in February.  The battery has never lasted more then 3 days (about 50 shots) before needing recharging.  I merely asked them for a replacement battery.  They refuse.  After some extremely unsuccessful and unfriendly emails with Canon, I promised them I would mention their unfriendly customer relations on my blog.  So I will do that.  Often.

DON'T BUY ANYTHING FROM CANON!  THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS.

Happy Gardening News!

The tomato seeds are up, the broccoli and cabbage seeds are up.

And I've been OUT in the flowerbeds doing some work!

Those black-eyed susans that I planted near the lower deck have been stubbornly migrating toward more sunlight for years.  So I decided to help them!  Today I dug up a patch of ground in the brightest area and dug out the roots of the maple tree the neighbors wont kill.  I turned the soil nicely and  moved 18 of them there.  (The Black eyed Susans)  I knoew the are suited for the spot because they have been TRYING to get there for years.

It was good hard work.  Up, down, up, down, dig, walk, plant, up down etc etc, etc,  I'll sure feel it tomorrow!  But it was great to DO that. The gardening season has begun outside!

The cats loved being outside with me too.  Marley and Iza ran all over the place and caught 2 mice.  Well, Ayla stayed inside.  Marley and Iza chase her when she is out.  I'm glad for the 2 outside, but I miss all 3 outside.

This is going to be a major redesign of the flowerbeds this year.  I've had too many spots of "6 of this, 6 of that".  I am dividing existing plants to make areas 10x10' of the same ones to get a larger view of the plants in flowers.  AND to leave large areas for annuals that I am growing under lights in the basement.

I used to grow 12 ech salvias, forgetmenots, carnations etc, but this year I have 36 each of many annuals.  And 60 marigolds.  Its hard to go wrong having a LOT of marigolds around here. They bloom fast and dont stop.

But this is going to be a year of dividing and moving around the successful perennials.  My favorite online nursery changed from cheap 6 packs to large individual pots last year tripling the price per plant and I told them I would use what I had instead of paying 3X the price.  So  I am.

I will be dividing the appropriate perennials I have in halves in the next few days and making larger areas of the same kinds.  They may not all bloom THIS year, but they sure will NEXT year!  And I was going in that direction anyway.  I'm liking the idea of larger areas of plants blooming rather than a cottage-garden style of small groups.

The plant-cuttings I rooted last Fall of butterfly bushes are growing well.  They will partly replace the aging existing ones, but I have may more than the replacements, so I think there will be a whole row of new ones in the sunnier front yard area.  Its hard to imagine anything better than plants that bloom from June to frost and attract butterflied and hummers.

I have 2 plants that are invasive,  Monarda and Lysimachia Firecracker.  They are going to be moved to the ridge in the middle of the back yard.  I can mow all around it, so they will never escape.  And they can fight it out to see which ones survive in the limited area (about 60' by 20").  I like the foliage and flowers of both, just not their invasive ways.

With the more open areas after the trees were cut back in January, there will be a lot more sunlight.  Good for the flowers and veggie gardens.  I won't miss the tall junk trees and I'll be planting smaller specimen trees in their place (that won't shade the gardens).  I'm thinking dogwoods, sourwoods, hollies, and star magnolias.  There is NO way they will ever shade the flowerbeds and veggie beds like the sweet gums and tulip poplars did.

And there STILL are majestic mature oaks, sweet gums, and tulip poplars here.  Its not like I cleared the yard.  I just cleared a Summer sunlight path VERY carefully.  I've lived here 27 years; I KNOW which of the trees were shading the garden.  They are gone, all the others remain.