It was a long, cold, and often wet spring. Nevertheless, we made amazing progress on our landscape. I'll hopefully get around to talking about the details in later posts. I don't usually like to play catch up but I think in this case I should because we had some significant work done. And can I say. I like having someone else do the work!
This morning I went out to spray weeds. Oh what a battle this is going to be for us here. I used two full spray containers of 100% glysophate mixed 6 Tbsp per gallon (like RoundUp but stronger) and didn't even get through the whole yard. I hit the shade bed, the rock wall, the patio bed and most of the west side along the house. I ran out when I hit the columnar oak. Rob seems to get a lot further when he sprays. I wonder if I'm putting down too much or if he is not using enough. I noticed we have a big crop of field bindweed actually growing out of the mulch that we had brought in from the landfill. If we are importing more bindweed with that mulch I am not happy about that.
When I finished with the second container of weed killer it was too hot to continue spraying so I changed direction a bit and dug out a spot for two stepping stones coming from the man door to the shade bed. The actual digging wasn't too hard. I didn't hit any big rocks, just a bunch of smaller ones. The hard part was carrying the road base from the patio area (up the rock wall in buckets since we are not walking on the lawn yet) and trying to get it to the right level. I should have used string and levels to make sure the stones were in correctly but I was hot and tired so I left it at good enough. I should take some time redoing them to get them a little higher. When we are ready to add mulch in the bed they will constantly get covered up by the mulch because they are at dirt level now. But they aren't a tripping hazard this way and I don't know how long it will be till we can mulch this bed.
(Not sure square stepping stones work with a curved planting bed but hey, we had the stones so we may as well use them)
Thoughts from the morning:
The yard is coming along. The rock work has helped make the property feel less overwhelming and the lawn is starting to come in and just those two things make a world of difference.
It is still hard for me to not be frustrated by the work remaining. It's really just finalizing the design and planting and mulching (and saving money for the putting green) but the weeds!! The rocks!! I get so overwhelmed at the thought of dealing with those before we can even start to plant and then we have to make sure the appropriate drip irrigation can get to the plants too.
I wish I could afford to hire someone to clean out the planting beds. I'd even love having someone dig the holes (rocks are hard to dig and it just makes me feel old and tired and sore). Rob wants to put down mulch as quickly as possible to help keep the weeds down but I want the big rocks cleared out and the dirt at least leveled before we mulch. I wonder what our compromise will be.
We can't let up on the weeds at all. Keeping the weeds out of the yard may prove to be as difficult as dealing with all the rocks in our dirt, if not more, because once the big rocks are out of the beds the small ones will be covered with mulch. Also. I have decided I am going to use weed killer whenever and wherever needed.
I need to spend at least a morning adjusting the existing drip lines but everything I've planted this year is doing well so far so that's not a huge rush. The most important step is adding a line for the trees in the front yard. Luckily it hasn't been too hot yet so they aren't showing stress. But once the temps hit the high 80's (and higher) and stay there consistently the trees will need that water available.
Bella was outside with me and she loved being on the grass. It makes me excited to be able to actually use it! I hope we can let the girls run on it before they leave.
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