Yard Day!
It didn't rain today, so I decided to do as much outdoor work as I could, figuring that if it did start to rain I could always move my energies indoors to the less fun tasks of cleaning, unpacking and re-arranging.
Today's yard adventures began with taking my bypass shears to the grass around the pool pump. The weed whacker did a good starting job, but I was afraid of damaging the electrical cords or the pump with the whacker. I think I'll kill all the grass in that area and lay down some landscape fabric with rock on top. The grass is just going to cause problems if it doesn't go away. I'm going to put rock around the edge of the pool too, just to simplify mowing and keeping things looking tidy. Raked out a BUNCH of leaves from last fall. Found a couple of really big spiders too. Still no snakes in my yard that I've found.
Next I cleaned up the irises on the south side of the house. There were lots of dead stems and lots of grass growing up in there. The air conditioning condenser was pretty well overgrown with grass too. That'll be another ongoing Round-Up job. I'd like to get the fins on the condenser unflattened too. Right now there is more area flattened than actually able to do its job.
I edged the south side of the driveway. The north side of the driveway isn't anywhere nears as overgrown, but it's on the schedule for tomorrow. I did it all with a spade, so it's not completely straight and some parts have a gap between the pavement and the lawn, but it's a whole lot better than it was. Listened to the last half of Prairie Home Companion while I worked.
Then I weeded and pruned the rosebushes at the front of the yard. While I was at it, I re-did the little front wall. The pavers were all out of line and the whole wall just looked untidy. Of course, having zoysia grass growing everywhich way between the pavers didn't help. Found half a dozen ant colonies (and thoroughly panicked all of them). So far I have not found any fire ant colonies, which is fine by me.
Next was raking up all the messes I'd made with my trimming, weeding and pruning. That probably took the longest of everything. I had not only the front and side yards to rake, but also around the pool and garden. I also raked up the big chunks of grass clippings that were getting matted down into the lawn. I think I took 8-10 wheelbarrow loads to the brush pile.
I'm going to have to get a burn barrel set up soon. My brush/weed pile is going to grow much faster than it will break down and the compost bin is already full. I wonder how hard it will be to find a metal 55 gal drum that nobody wants. Then I'll need a couple of cinder blocks to set it on.
The last activity of the day was to Round Up the stuff I want to die. I went along the inside of the fence, along the dog run, around the pool and along the deck. I also sprayed the poison ivy on the trees, avoiding the bark of the trees as much as I could. Finally, I continued the defoliation of the poison ivy corner. I'd already hit it a little a few weeks ago, and it really shows. Now I've got most of the non-trees hosed down. In a couple of weeks I should be able to rip out the last of the plants and get them bagged up for garbage pickup. Ain't no way I'm going to burn poison ivy or just wait for it to break down and become harmless.
Now I'm enjoying a nice relaxing evening on the computer and watching TV. Had a frozen chicken/noodle skillet thing from Stouffer's for dinner. I don't know exactly what it was called, but it was pretty good. Chicken, wide egg noodles, green beans, peas and carrots in a creamy sauce. I added shredded swiss cheese and some crushed red pepper flakes. Had a fresh peach for dessert.
Tomorrow if the weather cooperates, I'll edge the other side of the driveway, finish weed whacking, rake things up, then mow the lawn. I'm also going to see the movie Invincible in the afternoon.
Well, the TV is calling....
Today's yard adventures began with taking my bypass shears to the grass around the pool pump. The weed whacker did a good starting job, but I was afraid of damaging the electrical cords or the pump with the whacker. I think I'll kill all the grass in that area and lay down some landscape fabric with rock on top. The grass is just going to cause problems if it doesn't go away. I'm going to put rock around the edge of the pool too, just to simplify mowing and keeping things looking tidy. Raked out a BUNCH of leaves from last fall. Found a couple of really big spiders too. Still no snakes in my yard that I've found.
Next I cleaned up the irises on the south side of the house. There were lots of dead stems and lots of grass growing up in there. The air conditioning condenser was pretty well overgrown with grass too. That'll be another ongoing Round-Up job. I'd like to get the fins on the condenser unflattened too. Right now there is more area flattened than actually able to do its job.
I edged the south side of the driveway. The north side of the driveway isn't anywhere nears as overgrown, but it's on the schedule for tomorrow. I did it all with a spade, so it's not completely straight and some parts have a gap between the pavement and the lawn, but it's a whole lot better than it was. Listened to the last half of Prairie Home Companion while I worked.
Then I weeded and pruned the rosebushes at the front of the yard. While I was at it, I re-did the little front wall. The pavers were all out of line and the whole wall just looked untidy. Of course, having zoysia grass growing everywhich way between the pavers didn't help. Found half a dozen ant colonies (and thoroughly panicked all of them). So far I have not found any fire ant colonies, which is fine by me.Next was raking up all the messes I'd made with my trimming, weeding and pruning. That probably took the longest of everything. I had not only the front and side yards to rake, but also around the pool and garden. I also raked up the big chunks of grass clippings that were getting matted down into the lawn. I think I took 8-10 wheelbarrow loads to the brush pile.
I'm going to have to get a burn barrel set up soon. My brush/weed pile is going to grow much faster than it will break down and the compost bin is already full. I wonder how hard it will be to find a metal 55 gal drum that nobody wants. Then I'll need a couple of cinder blocks to set it on.
The last activity of the day was to Round Up the stuff I want to die. I went along the inside of the fence, along the dog run, around the pool and along the deck. I also sprayed the poison ivy on the trees, avoiding the bark of the trees as much as I could. Finally, I continued the defoliation of the poison ivy corner. I'd already hit it a little a few weeks ago, and it really shows. Now I've got most of the non-trees hosed down. In a couple of weeks I should be able to rip out the last of the plants and get them bagged up for garbage pickup. Ain't no way I'm going to burn poison ivy or just wait for it to break down and become harmless.
Now I'm enjoying a nice relaxing evening on the computer and watching TV. Had a frozen chicken/noodle skillet thing from Stouffer's for dinner. I don't know exactly what it was called, but it was pretty good. Chicken, wide egg noodles, green beans, peas and carrots in a creamy sauce. I added shredded swiss cheese and some crushed red pepper flakes. Had a fresh peach for dessert.
Tomorrow if the weather cooperates, I'll edge the other side of the driveway, finish weed whacking, rake things up, then mow the lawn. I'm also going to see the movie Invincible in the afternoon.
Well, the TV is calling....
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