a sprout well budded out
Holy crap I can't believe it's already time to do another State of the Yard post. But spring has basically suddenly sprung itself upon us and my yard is telling me that I can't ignore it any longer. So here is SOTY 2016, #1.
I had a tree person come by last week and trim my much neglected apple trees. He was really careful and seemed to know his stuff and I'm pretty sure he didn't charge me nearly enough for the amount of time he spent on them. He says they could use another trim in another 6 months, which I'm happy to agree to. He pointed out that one of the trees is sick/diseased and should be looked at by a bigger arborist company, so that'll happen this week.
before (kindof, closeup of croci) and after cleaning the front flower gardenTons of green things are sprouting, and the crocuses are blooming! The flowers appeared at least a week ago, and I have patches of lovely purple all over my gardens. And one (just one) white. No yellow. Maybe I should invest in some variety? Their appearance and the really nice weather on Fri/Sat inspired me to do a whole bunch of cleaning up of dead things and weeding and some trimming. I was going to do more today, but the rain un-inspired me. Well, thanks to DST I have plenty more time after work this week, so I can afford to space it out a little. No point in getting myself burnt out on yardwork when we technically aren't even done with winter yet. I also discovered that SOMEONE has been nibbling at my tulips, which were chopped down right to ground level. I'm blaming rabbits. Maybe sprinkling some cayenne will deter them?
Mini daffodils look like they're going to bloom any day now, and hyacinths maybe not far behind. I <3 flower season!
Things I have done:
I had a tree person come by last week and trim my much neglected apple trees. He was really careful and seemed to know his stuff and I'm pretty sure he didn't charge me nearly enough for the amount of time he spent on them. He says they could use another trim in another 6 months, which I'm happy to agree to. He pointed out that one of the trees is sick/diseased and should be looked at by a bigger arborist company, so that'll happen this week.
before (kindof, closeup of croci) and after cleaning the front flower gardenTons of green things are sprouting, and the crocuses are blooming! The flowers appeared at least a week ago, and I have patches of lovely purple all over my gardens. And one (just one) white. No yellow. Maybe I should invest in some variety? Their appearance and the really nice weather on Fri/Sat inspired me to do a whole bunch of cleaning up of dead things and weeding and some trimming. I was going to do more today, but the rain un-inspired me. Well, thanks to DST I have plenty more time after work this week, so I can afford to space it out a little. No point in getting myself burnt out on yardwork when we technically aren't even done with winter yet. I also discovered that SOMEONE has been nibbling at my tulips, which were chopped down right to ground level. I'm blaming rabbits. Maybe sprinkling some cayenne will deter them?
Mini daffodils look like they're going to bloom any day now, and hyacinths maybe not far behind. I <3 flower season!
Things I have done:
- Filled a bag and a half of yard waste from clearing out dead leaves and brush and dead stuff from flower garden, mint patch, side yard patches, and herb garden.
- Got apple trees and blueberries trimmed, and trimmed back my raspberries and perennial herbs. Parsley and rosemary (and maybe kale?) look to be not dead. Oregano and chives are growing again.
- Weeded random bittercress (not much) and wild alliums (tons) from front flower gardens. I suspect weeding the alliums is a losing prospect, but it at least makes things look nice for a week or so.
- Transplanted a few random yard crocuses to bare patches in the front garden.
- Transplanted my potted rosemary to the herb garden, since it looks like the rest of the month will be fairly mild. Hey, I kept a plant alive inside for ~3 months! Woohoo! (This is a new victory)
- Clear the rest of the dead stuff from the side yard, tie up the loose sticks, and take all of it to the yard waste recycling.
- Take out the rest of whatever bush I have in the front yard that is almost totally dead. Maybe replace it with something else pretty.
- Start planting things.