· Trim Crepe Myrtles – Done!
· Prep Crepe Myrtles for removal in December – Got the smaller one prepped. Started on the bigger one but didn’t finish. Will try to knock it out this week.
· Remove remaining sod in front yard – Got more of it – the strips on the side of the driveway, and the strips on the other side of the sidewalk, near the street. I managed most of the grass clinging to the bigger of the two CM trees. I still need to do the areas on the sides of the house and by the street sign pole (with no street sign).
· Transplant ornamentals from front yard flower beds to backyard – I dug up the semi-circle bed around the smaller crepe myrtle and got everything in it either into the back yard somewhere or into pots for the time being.
· Finish patching sod in backyard with remnants from the front yard – Done and DONE!!
· Plant the flats of winter flowers in the backyard – Done!
· Do some work on the path – something – measure, plan, draw, dig, more? – Didn’t get started on this.
· Move some plants in the backyard around to give them a better chance of surviving the winter – Didn’t get this done either. This can be done in bits and pieces throughout the week to come, but need to do it SOON!
Saturday Nov 15, 2008: I started patching the back yard last weekend and got some nice big areas done, but I wasn’t finished. I marked the rest of the bare areas with blue spray paint during the week, and this was the first thing I jumped on when I woke up on Saturday. The remaining sod would die if I didn’t get it into the ground, and I wanted to get this part done! The grass needs as much sun and time to get established as possible right now, before the cold gets here. The fact that the leaves are falling off the trees is helpful, since more sunlight will be getting to areas that normally don’t get that much. Don’t know if the grass will take since it’s entering its dormant stage, but fingers crossed. Bare patches can’t get “more bare” so if any of the grass takes root, I’ll be pleased.
Each of those trenches filled the little wagon to the top with soil at least once. The bigger trenches filled it multiple times. And each load had to be rolled out to the front yard and the dirt dumped into the dirt pile. It was slooooow going. But the wheel barrow had a hippo in it… (You can tell this photo is a recreation of events, due to the fact that the trenches that that load of soil would have come from are already filled with sod!! Tsk, tsk, Photo Documenter! Tsk!)
Wheeling it out to the front…
Dumping the dirt into the pile. EXCITING!
I make funny faces when working! Trenches filled with sod! Yay!
Here I am trimming the bigger of the two blasted CMs. I hate these things! But I read up on how to trim them correctly, so I think I did a pretty good job. You’re supposed to remove the trunks and branches that intersect with others as well as the ones in the center of the rough circle of outer trunks. Intersecting limbs create wounds as they rub together and while they can in time grow together and fuse, it’s not a good idea. When the wounds are raw and green, bugs and parasites can get in and hurt the tree. The central limbs are too shaded by the outer ones to really produce flowers. Removing them also allows more airflow through the tree which helps minimize molds and pests.
Maggie surprised me and came over to help. In a STOLEN shirt! Shhh, don’t tell the Austin Lyric Opera! Macaroni was a HUGE help. We cleaned up most of the remaining sod together, leaving the front yard as clean as possible. It’s still an eyesore, but it’s as tidy as can be.
See, see, I WORK too! I don’t just delegate.
Tired, tired girl. I worked from sun up to sun down. I had about a 2 hour break for lunch and to run an errand, but even so, it was a very long day. I’m determined to make this project take as little time as possible. I want the garden to be ready to go for spring crops!! We’ll see.
Sunday Nov 16, 2008: Disembodied hands point out the petunias, pansies, and violas I planted in this bed. This is one of the newer beds and is still filling out. I thought some cool-weather color plants would be nice. Need to work with Trent on picture taking…
Another patch. So many patches. I so hope they take!! There really are pictures from when I first go the house where the whole yard has grass. I hereby pledge to not cut it as short anymore, if only the patches will take…
It’s sort of hard to see, but this is where the pinks and grasses from the crepe myrtle bed ended up. I think they’ll help edge the trashcan bed nicely!
I dug out the semicircle bed that had been under this crepe myrtle. I also trimmed it up and started cutting into the roots to get it ready for transplanting to Ed’s yard. I hope it works…
I finished cutting out the little swaths of sod that remained in various parts of the yard. I have a little more to do – on the sides of the house and in the little nook where the street sign should be, and around the mailbox. But the majority of it is done. Praise Jebus!!
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