Garden Clean Up, part two...

I had planned to wait until after the coming rain to start eradicating my Bouncing Bet, but this morning, I had the itch to do some damage. I decided not to go the Round-Up route-- I'll save that for the recurring rose bush. Instead, I used a more earth-friendly product, Bioganic Weed & Grass Killer. It works pretty well, but it took an entire bottle to cover everything. I've got another bottle ready for the other sprouts hiding in the fluffy mulch. The whole yard smelled of vinegar for the rest of the day, but that is better than the traditional commercial alternative. After just a few hours in the sun, check out the results in the before and after pictures below.



I didn't see as much difference after using it on the Quackgrass going wild along the chain-link fence shared with my neighbor to the South. The label says it works in 12 to 24 hours, so maybe there's still hope. (Do you get the idea I have nearly as many weeds as plants?) I also gave the struggling Tulips and Crocus another shot of Hot Pepper Wax, hoping to protect them from the hungry bunnies.

Later in the afternoon, I spent two more hours cutting down the rest of last year's remnants and thinning out the shredded leaf the mulch to uncover this year's early Spring growth. I decided to leave most of the leaf mulch out on the beds. I think I've uncovered the crowns of most plants and evened it out enough for it to stay in place. We'll see. In the end I was a good citizen and bundled up my yard waste and piled it next to the spare rain barrel. I hope the shelter of our giant White Pine will keep the bundles fairly dry until I figure out when the City will pick them up.

Further along, my Striped Squill and Pasque Flower became the second and third flowers to bloom. Lots of other things are putting up new growth: the Phlox, Sedum, Coreopsis, Alchemilla (Lady's Mantle), Salvia, Heuchera 'Palace Purple', Echinacea and even my I-ordered-a-Multi-Blue-but-that's-not-what-I-got Huldine Clematis! I have not seen as many of the nearly 1000 bulbs I planted in the Fall as I expected, but there is still lots of time. I think I found one bunch of Allium coming up, but the other bunch a few feet away has not. And a few new Asiatic Lilies may be coming up in the South bed, but I can't remember where I planted all of them.

    2 comments:

  1. test

  2. Am so enjoying reading about what you are doing in the garden....I told sister Margaret that I think the genes from your great-grandfather Southerland must have finally kicked in!! He made his living as a farmer. He owned hundreds of acres. Your grandmother's siblings wanted to sell the land once their father had passed on. She begged them not to...they just wanted the money...SHE WANTED THE LAND KEPT IN THE FAMILY. I think they only got a few thousands each. Part of the land that was grand-daddy's farm is now part of a shopping mall in
    Fredericksburg...and the rest of it was turned into a place for high-upscale homes. CRAP@!!!!!

  3. Post a Comment