Charlotte – This Might Be A Thing

You maybe thought I gave up on this project, but no, Gentle Reader, I actually doubled down. I have a week off from work and woke up with a bit of an anxiety attack for no reason, which is easily cured by several hours of hard work in the hot morning sun.

The Path was reclaimed all the way down to where it meets the landing area, and I got stuck there momentarily when I realized the need for additional flagstones. I quick trip to no less than three big-box landscaping stores proved fruitful when I found a pile of mostly broken pieces of sandstone that the sleepy checkout lady agreed to sell to me for two dollars each. Huzzah!

Here are some photos of how all that business turned out, including one of my very cute supervisor, Clio:

You can see that I’m pulling up stones, shoving cardboard in there and covering it up with a layer of sandy / rocky dirt, then filling that in with fresh pea gravel. This is an attempt to keep the weeds out for a year or two. It’s a variation on “lasagna gardening” which I also referenced here.

The Lasagna Project is basically me burning up gigawatts of energy by taking a shovel and digging up the entire back yard. It’s fun. The dogs love it. I’m doing several things at once here: (1) taking off the entire top layer of weeds and throwing them out, (2) digging out a layer of plain old dirt under that and setting it aside, (3) putting down corrugated cardboard as a weed killing hot-box barrier and future compost, (4) putting the plain old dirt on top of the cardboard to make a layer of mulch sort of, and (5) leveling all that out a patch at a time so I can plant Dog Tuff grass plugs next Spring on a nice clean bed.

Over time, the two sections that are supposed to be grass have layered up with dead grass and weeds, and are probably 1-2 inches taller then they used to be. I’m also fixing that by taking the whole top layer off and getting rid of it. This will make the yard a little more flat and manageable, especially around the edges.

You can see how I’m using the level of the sprinkler heads as a basis for determining the new levels in a yard that has a variance of maybe 6-12 inches in height. Working out from those seems like a good approach.

More pictures of that process:

It’s not glamorous work, but next Spring when I have a clear flat back yard to stick those grass plugs into, I’m going to remember these days and do a little dance.

I’m also posting two more pictures of my dogs here because I’m working on illustration styles for a children’s book project and I hope you like them. Bye for now.

“Do your work, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance and Other Essays

Early Saturdays in early June are high season in the Unicorn’s Mane. The beds have been prepared and are conflicted about what to grow – territorial disputes are breaking out everywhere. Intervention is required.

In the back section, which has been patient about things, I’m just barely keeping the peace. There’s a Bully Vine that grows fast and chokes out anything in touches. There’s Creeping Charlie everywhere. I begin by reclaiming some rebels that have survived – a Salvia and a little ferny flowering groundcover guy:

When I squint, the area looks like this in my brain’s eye:

The garden has not flourished. I didn’t mulch it properly, and the groundcover took over. The tom starters, nice little three-inchers with true leaves, got hit with a late frost and then a rainstorm that washed out the crippled survivors. I started a new set of heirlooms, cherries, and a packet a friend brought me from Italy, in a free-standing planter. They’ll get transplanted once things start settling down. Strawberries barely hanging on. Carrots totally ignoring me. Melons and Zucchini just poking up. Brussels seeming just fine thank you very much:

I pulled up Sprinkler Zone 9 (good band name) and moved it into the Garden area last Fall, and am in the process of moving hoses around so they point at the right things. I secure them with stakes:

In the Xeri section, the Mystery Bully is back. This thing grows 6 inches in a week and spreads like fire. If anybody can tell me what this is or how to control it I’m all ears. You can see where I cleared it and where it came back between my new Spanish Broom bush and Pink Lady tree:

In this same section has emerged a thing that looks like Sigmund the Sea Monster. I don’t know if it’s supposed to be there or not. Again, I’m all ears.

Ongoing projects: spray the Crabapple tree again with a milk/canola oil solution to try and keep the Powdery Mildew in check; water the potted greens to keep the salad coming, get another layer of mulch around the Honeysuckle to keep the roots cool; mow the front yard, hand-water lots of stuff…