Our Gardens - April 2002
After a long but relatively mild winter (especially compared to the awful winter of 2000-2001) we have resumed gardening in our yard. This year we have a lot of changes we want to do. Getting them done should be easier with the kids being able to play a little more on their own.
Mark core-aerated the lawn thanks to our local hardware store getting a new rental equipment section. It worked out well, but Mark vows never to do this ever again. Why? The machine simply weighs too much to easily get in-and-out of the pickup truck and is cumbersome to operate even at low speeds. Cleanup of the machine was not a lot of fun, but the local car wash did a good job. Our local rental shop charged us $34 with tax for 2 hours, but a local lawn service will do it for just a little bit more.
We also had a spring lawn application done by a professional lawn service. Although we try to be 'organic gardeners' we view this as a necessary evil and only do the season minimum of 3 applications. The lawn simply looks and behaves better. Weeds are almost non-existent. We tried it without a lawn service after moving into the house and the dandelions and other weeds took over the yard within months even though the previous year the owners had used a professional lawn service. Mark would go out and dig up 200 dandelions a week, root and all, only to see more appear the following week. We're not happy about it, but what can you do?
We paid something like 79 cents for this forsythia bush
(actually it was a stick at the time) when we got it at Drug Town a couple years
ago.
By the back door - Ann's perennial garden. Some of these are going to be split off and planted elsewhere within the next month.
A new decorative landscaping wall built by Mark along the back of the house. It's a toddler-friendly height, as Isabel would attest. Very soon we'll be splitting off the sedums, the lamb's ear, and other plants. Maybe some re-ordering and additions.
This is what's now the herb gardens, behind the garage,
although these will eventually be moved to the SE corner of our yard (once we
cut the sod out and bring in new dirt) - since we'll have a swing set in the
area we want to decrease the instance of bumble bees and mud daubers when the
herbs bloom.
Daffodil and crocus blooming on April 14th.
Mark refreshed the lilac/viburnum/burning bush section
of our lawn with new mulch. The little 'mother's day' garden in the lower
left hand corner will need to be replanted. The damn deer are eating the
rose bushes, tulips, and whatever else is growing in there. We'll have to
plant things deer won't eat, which will probably limit us to alyssum and other
flowers.
