How is your yard doing?

[nowwhat?]

I got poisoned quite bad years ago, trying to kill dandilions for someone by using roundup. He bought farm grade and it had to be mixed and I must've been upwind. Weird feeling. I don't use anything but mother nature now.

[wletson]

Snow's all gone!

[Marylu]

We spent the last 2 weekends working and have most of the outside yards cleaned up and partially mulched. Next I need to get into the garden room and prune all the roses. Not looking forward to that as it always seem that I come out in worse shape than the roses! Normally I would have all of this done by now, but it has been so cold this year that everything is behind schedule including me! We had snow again last week. This is what the daylily bed looked like. Thankfully it has all melted again.

[KristenS]

nowwhat: That is precisely why I try not to use poisons to clean or fix my house. It's just not worth it. I'm so sorry you had to go through that.


Marylu: That is the greatest picket fence I've seen. My boyfriend and I are sweet on fleur-de-lis; we vacation in Montreal, and my boyfriend is a big Francophile. How cool!

[KathyJB]

Snow's all gone!

err, still wanting a "like" button. That's great W. I could almost say, "grass and tree's all gone" because it is so dry here. But I've been watering. do I want to see my water bill......the answer is no.

[Igloochic]

I am facing this summer in a much better frame of mind than last year when the gardens were some of crack pots idea of an English country garden. We put in some forty plus varieties of hydrangea and a couple dozen different peonies and despite a very difficult winter for plants all survived and are coming in strong now. We are gathering up the millions of bizarrely placed bulbs and grouping them in different beds and the ancient lily of the valley bed is thriving.

I hired a contractor this week to finish the back area which will house our eating areas, party pad and the knot gardens. I bit the budget bullet or is that tossed the damn thing in the cistern and also hired him to do the maze. All of this will be done by June 1. I have 160 dwarf boxwoods in the back waiting to be planted on June 2 or earlier in the case of the maze.

Summer in a beautiful and functional garden....I'm beside myself with excitement.

[wletson]

also hired him to do the maze. All of this will be done by June 1. I have 160 dwarf boxwoods in the back waiting to be planted on June 2 or earlier in the case of the maze.

Umm, "maze"? What are you up to? Haven't heard about this.

[KathyJB]

A"maze"ing. I can't wait until you find your camera and post some photo's of it. You'll need a good before picture.

[Igloochic]

Lol the before is hidious...especially where the maze will be! I will snap some photos of the weeds this week! (they belong in the ugly yard shots). The maze is going to be 29x13 done in dwarf boxwoods which will be (eventually) a 2x2 hedge that I will let grow to about three feet high (they are about 18 inches x 2' now). It's full of fun dead ends which will house whimsical chairs (mushrooms) and some wonderful planters I just found that look like tea cups (handle and saucer and all) then in the middle there will be a gazebo full of tiny river rock to dig in. When my son grows too old for digging (about 40 from what I see of men) I'll pull out the gazebo and put in a fairy garden. The goal with this was a fun English thing for the garden that does not require a huge amount of maintenance. The boxwoods only grow a couple of inches per year so we will just shape annually and rake out any weeds that grow. Way better than more garden (this from a girl who won't stop buying plants lol).

It will be the only maze in town (if not on the peninsula lol) so I think it will be a real treat for the kids to play in.

[Kansas. 1911.]

That is an inventive idea. Is there a re-use for boxwoods, or will they need to take their overgrown selves to the mulch machine when the time comes?

I admit--I've had my husband use Roundup on the back yard. In Kansas, the climate is harsh. There's rarely enough rain; stuff bakes in the summer; plants you want won't grown; and the weeds go like crazy. We tilled and replanted the entire backyard and pampered it, only to watch the Bermuda vine take it. My husband says he has only one more yard left in him. This year it will be mulched over on the big area, and planted to a huge flower bed in the small area. When I say, "Big," I mean 20 paces by 20 paces. It's a postage stamp.

We're on the long-term plan. Let the roofers mash the yard, and then the painters. Finally, we will drop the electric, and put in that last yard. By then, the Roundup will have dissipated somewhat.

Until then, I read that serious gardeners use wet newspaper, followed by black groundcloth, followed by mulch, with little holes for plants. Our mulch has to be heavy as the wind takes it.