There are so many little nooks and crannies in our yard...once I start poking around, I find some neat things that I forgot were there.
1. I have wanted a stormwater marsh since last year, and found directions on how to do it, blah blah. Well, we already have one. The pipe that carries the sump pump water off the property is leaking or something, because we now have this nice little marshy area outside the fenceline and it seems that some water-loving plants are colonizing and the grass is dying back. The flying insects love it and hopefully the frogs do, too.
2. Our humble compost pile: Composting works. Last fall, the compost pile was 3 feet high and about 3 feet wide. By wintertime, it was almost completely flat. I like to think that I saved three feet of landfill.
3. Isabelle and checked out the "beer" box, but no takers yet.
4. The weigela is really thinking about blooming. Mom gave me this plant last year, and I haven't gotten to see it bloom yet. It's going to be awesome.
5. Isabelle started her own garden last year; strawberries and pumpkins. The pumpkins didn't survive the drought, but the strawberries hung on. We got two tiny, half-red strawberries last fall, and this year I'm sure we will be getting lots more. The plants look very promising.
4 comments:
Looks nice!
Strawberries... mmm is it June yet?
Hey Susan, since you are officially the family's Mother Earth, can you tell me a natural way to rid our yard of poison ivy? We tend to have a rather wild yard too (how surprising is that?) but the PI is slowly encroaching on everything. Any ideas for how to put a stop to it without herbicides?
:-)
Cath:
There's not alot of good news when it comes to getting rid of it without chemicals. You have to completely remove the roots and leaves but you have to protect yourself with gloves, and then you THROW the gloves away, because urushiol (the stuff that makes you itch) can stay on things in a dry climate for DECADES. No kidding. Garden tools, boots, clothes, etc.
Things to try and pour on it: Boiling water or also vinegar. Just don't burn it. The urushiol can be carried in smoke and cause serious lung irritation.
Most people in the know say that you can't really get rid of PI, you can only control it.
And if you get exposed to the urushiol, wash within 15 minutes, with warm soapy water BEFORE you go inside.
Do I sound a little anal? I am MAJORLY sensitive to it and don't want anyone to go through the crap.
Otherwise, it's time to break out sensible quantities of weed killer.
Yeah, I think you're right.
I go every spring (usually around this time) to the doctor with a ridiculous case of PI...I'm surprised my HMO continues to pay for my annual stupidity. Then I load up on steroids and it eventually goes away. This year I haven't succombed - maybe this dog HAS learned a new trick.
But after taking the tour of your yard and reading how "natural" yu are I figured you might know something we don't about controlling it. Well, perhaps it's yet another way to keep snoopy neighbors out of the yard!!
(Loved Geoff's article, BTW.)
xoxox
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