Mowing and trimming

That's about all I do regarding yardwork, mow a couple of times a week, trim when I feel like it. I ventured into no-man's land - the area behind my privacy fence and in front of the neighbor's privet (which smells absolutely lovely right now, like lilacs or milkweed) - to see what it looks like. Thankfully, the neighbors have been keeping it mowed; I trimmed along my fence.

The 'Blue Muffin' viburnum is done blooming, and it looks like another fruitless year. I thought maybe the sparrows had been eating the blossoms - I've had that kind of problem with them before - and that was why I seldom saw any fruit on the shrub. I've been offering the birds millet, which they love, but that doesn't seem to make a difference with the viburnum. It's cousin, 'Chicago Lustre', is starting to come on now. I'm not sure either will survive the landscape update.

The climbing rose on the south side of the house, in an area to be updated later, is blooming its little heart out. Once I learned that it blooms better on horizontal branches, I made an attempt to make the branches horizontal. I was rewarded for my efforts.


I purchased some more sweet potato vine and a few geraniums for containers on the deck. By this time of spring, the pickings are slim at the local nurseries unless you want petunias or begonias. One pot contained some volunteer zinnias, which is what I favor when it comes to annuals. Next year, I'll have to start some inside.

While waiting on the landscaper, my SO helped me cut down mulberries - they were getting completely out of control and I'm allergic to them - and I treated the stumps with herbicide. They were starting to form berries. The serviceberry is absolutely loaded this year, but I've seen only a few robins and catbirds back there instead of the usual feeding frenzy. There is even uneaten fruit on the wild strawberries. I guess if my yard has an abundance of fruit, there must be an abundance everywhere.