Bag by bag, bit by bit

I decided the beds in the backyard needed mulch. In the past, I have shoveled big piles of it, but that takes forever. Now my MO is to purchase six bags at a time. I'm keeping count, as next year I may have Lowe's deliver a pallet of bags at the beginning of the season. That would be easier on my SO, who does the heavy lifting at the store.

Regarding the arches, I decided instead of cutting them in half, I could just remove some of the middle bits so that they can straddle the fence. Executing that idea is a bit of a challenge tool-wise and muscle-wise. I may solicit some assistance from my SO since I am using his tools and he has more upper body strength.

Besides mulching and mowing, I haven't done a lot in the yard this past week. Something was accomplished inside, though: a new tankless reverse osmosis device. The contractors not only installed it and replaced the garbage disposal but also re-routed the plumbing under the kitchen sink so that I still have plenty of room for the usual junk that goes there.

It's that time of the year when the coneflower starts to fade and the goldenrod begins to come on. The pineapple sage plants are HUGE but they don't bloom until the last minute, a gift to the hummingbirds. Blue jays are back from wherever they summer. I have to keep reminding myself that it is still August because it feels like change is in the air.

Mulch volcano or donut?

One sure sign of spring is the proliferation of mulch, especially on commercial properties. Mulch is good for keeping down weeds, BUT. All too often the mulch is piled up around a tree like a volcano.

BAD!

Mulch should be applied like a donut or lifesaver. The point is to leave the trunk flare exposed. One would think the landscaping companies would know better - or maybe they do, but don't want to take the time to be careful.

GOOD!

Even the landscaping company that redid my yard made this mistake (along with a few others). I rectified the situation myself. For more information, go here. The tree you save may be your own.

(Another mistake the landscaping company made was to apply mulch under the Japanese maple and 'Limelight' hydrangea. Both have shallow roots that need to breathe. I *told* them not to mulch under those two, but did they listen? NOOOOOO.)

Other signs of spring:

Crocus

Witch hazel

Daffodils

Yesterday was *gorgeous*. Since we were facing two days of rain, I tackled the fall cleanup. I don't get on the north side of the house much in winter, so was surprised to see the goldenrod still relatively intact. Something, probably a rabbit, chewed on the asters I planted in this bed; I hope they survive (the asters, not the rabbits).

Goldenrod (before cleanup)

I am SO glad I had the landscaping redone in my yard. The cleanup took just a few hours instead of days. Some nasty weeds are already staking a claim, though, so that is the next yardening task on my to-do list.

Be careful what you wish for

I signed up with chipdrop.in, in hopes a local arborist (who is also signed up with the service) would drop some wood chips at my property. No one did, no one did, and when I looked at the map of local chip drops, they were all on the far east side of town. I live north central, far enough away to not be worth the trip, I guess.

Lucky for me, neighbors on the next street decided to eliminate the pine trees fronting an empty lot they recently purchased. I usually hate to see trees removed, but the lot looks better AND I got a load of wood chips. It smells like xmas.

The guy who brought the truckload over kept warning me it would be a LOT of chips, but there really wasn't any way for him to dump less than the full load. I will share them with my immediate neighbors, but not before I use up as many as I can. And I think I can actually use them all myself, if I mulch the area between my privacy fence and the privet that belongs to the neighbor behind me.

Thank goodness for my riding mower and garden cart, as there is no way my SO and I could move all those chips using just body power. On day one, we managed to eliminate enough of the pile that I could get my car in and out of the garage. Today I took down the wire fence in the backyard, to make it easier to dump chips around the raised beds. It's still a lot of work, and I hope to never have to repeat this labor-of-love-my-yard.

BTW, if you inspect the photo above, you will see my SO semi-crouched behind the pile. Behind him is the 'Perfect Purple' flowering crab. I detached its trunk from one of the supports the other day, so now it is free to wiggle about a bit, as much as the second support system will allow. It is my understanding that the swaying of a tree helps it establish its roots as it struggles to cling to the Earth and remain upright.

Help not wanted

Ordinarily, I am perfectly happy to accept yardening help, especially when power tools or heavy lifting is involved. It is usually best if I do the weeding myself, though. For one thing, I know which plants are weeds and which are weedy-looking perennials. Not that I don't occasionally yank out the wrong thing, but I'd rather blame myself than some poor soul who only wants to be of service. More importantly, working on garden beds myself gives me the opportunity to examine the health of the plants and contemplate the future direction of the bed in question.

A case in point are the beds on the west side of the house, near the gas meter and air conditioner. When the meter reader still had to actually look at the meter to get a reading, I kept the dials visible by installing a pea gravel mulch. This strategy also helps the AC maintenance tech on one side. Once upon a time, I moved most of the tiger lilies and daylilies to this area, just to give them a place to sit and wait while I decided their future. Now I would like to move them elsewhere, and mulch that area with pea gravel as well. But pea gravel - blech. What could I do to prettify this area while still keeping it clear? AHA! Containers! So that is the plan for this part of the backyard.

Adjacent to this area is a newish bed that is a work in progress. The iris plants next to the house need to be divided and shifted to the west, so they will get more sun and hopefully bloom better. I divided and transplanted some "ditch lilies" to this area and added a few zinnias for the interim. In the back is some fleabane and catnip, but I would like to put a small shrub there. Any suggestions?

A non-gardening but beautifying chore is to clear the deck (literally). But first, must clean out the garage. It is amazing how quickly crap accumulates.

Dem boids

Sparrows have become the bane of my gardening existence. Not only to they mangle the tulip tree, they ruin the pea crop and take over the blue bird houses. I may be gaining the upper hand, though. Hanging strips of mylar (made from a cheapo space blanket) over the peas and topping the blue bird houses with a web of fishing line seem to work.

Just to *prove* both sparrow deterrents work, I sat on the deck for an extended period of time, observing the pea patches and the blue bird houses. Nary a sparrow at either. In fact, there were no birds at all at either. Now that I have foiled the sparrows, maybe some blue birds will actually take up residence.

While keeping an eye out for sparrows, I spotted a rose-breasted grosbeak - actually two - visiting the sunflower seed feeder. I think this is the first time I have seen this species in my yard. Almost makes up for the stupid sparrows.

This bird is supposed to favor orchards. My mini-orchard has eight trees (so far). Maybe that is enough to draw them in.

Today I had a disappointing visit from a local landscape company. My goal was to have them at least clear out the weeds and shit from the two shrub beds that line the backyard, and edge and mulch them. The rep claimed it would cost $2000 in labor alone, to do the job. And then, without constant vigilance on my part, within three weeks the weeds would pop through the mulch. Huh? They must not put down a barrier between soil and mulch. Newspaper works quite well for me. If my brain hadn't gotten stuck at the labor cost, my mouth might have asked about this.

After the rep left, I got a little pissed. This company has the reputation of being the best (if the priciest) here in town. And he did not know the difference between poison ivy and Virginia creeper, nor was he familiar with the Blackhaw Viburnum (which he wanted to prune - why? It has reached its maximum size.) So I took my anger out on the yard, sort of. I edged the hydrangea bed, mulched around the kitchen compost bin, and mulched (with stone) the deck (to discourage burrowing critters).

The rep was impressed with my stunted Serviceberry, but did not notice the rhubarb that ate New York. Or maybe he did not know it was rhubarb.

Can you say "PIE"?

Wood mulch vs. bark mulch

This week Menards has wood mulch on sale (half off after mail-in rebate, limit 80 bags per household - I purchased 30). I have used this before. Even though it looks weird compared to bark mulch, it does a good job of smothering grass and weeds, plus does not break down as fast as bark. The bag says "100% recycled", so I am guessing it is made from pallets. Not exactly wonderful stuff, but better than shredded tires.

Several of my flower beds are so densely planted that there is no room for mulch, which is the ideal as far as I am concerned. Elsewhere, I need help, at least until I get the right plants and the beds fill in. That is where the wood mulch comes in. By buying it now, it will be on hand when I need it, plus bags are easier to handle than bulk. (I'm getting old.)

In a separate category of mulch, I hope to get a local tree service company to part with some of their wood chips for use in the incipient orchard. According to The Holistic Orchard (by Michael Phillips), ramial wood chips are best for feeding the fungi duff and keeping trees healthy. Even though I purchased a shredder/chipper, I don't have many twiggy branches to process. Again, I need help.

In the past, I have used grass clippings for mulch, but this has been problematic. For one thing, sometimes I treat my lawn with weed killer (I know, bad, bad, bad), and don't want to use those clippings, especially in the vegetable garden. In dry years, when I need the mulch the most, there are few clippings to be had. Also, leaving the clippings on the lawn helps feed it (I have a mulching lawn mower), limiting the need for weed 'n' feed.

Do you mulch, and if so, what do you use and where do you get it?

My plan worked

While I was unloading mulch from the back of my CRV, I heard a voice ask, "Are you going to make me yell at you for not using my truck?"

It was my neighbor from across the street. Two years ago, when he owned a beat-up blue Toyota Tacoma, he offered said truck for mulch-hauling. But now he has a nice white Dodge Dakota. I didn't want to mess up his new truck.

"When you get up close, you'll see it's not that new and not that nice."

Okay, then, I will take advantage of him and his generosity.

But if you don't have such friendly, truck-owning neighbors, I can recommend the SUV liner pictured above from Lee Valley. It protects your vehicle when you need to tote something not-so-nice.

The above-pictured mulch (and a load of compost) were free, courtesy of our county biosolids site. Residents can drop off yard waste for a nominal fee, and if they load it themselves, take away compost and mulch for free. (There is another nominal fee if they load it for you.) Since their frontloader would not fit inside my CRV, my SO helped me first with a load of compost, then a load of mulch. The car looked full each time, but what I brought home did not go far. That truck will come in handy.

The compost went into making beds for peas and onions, but the weather is not cooperating. I was tempted to plant this morning, but I see the forecast is for freezing temps this week. Must be patient.

The daffodils are not, though. Last fall I ordered the "Hybridizer’s Pink Daffodil Mixture" from Brecks. Below is a sample.



Between ordering them and seeing them in real life, my mind's eye had pictured something different, something pinker. I may replace them next fall... or not. I'm lazy like that.