I wish I was. I see beautiful yards where people know which plants to put where and how to prune them, water them and care for them in a way that makes them thrive. I just don't know that kind of stuff. I have lots of books on gardening, but I just don't get it. The best thing I can do with my yard is pull weeds and clean it up. So far, we've cut down two trees, pulled up about eight bushes and have burned and hauled loads of rubbish.
I spent a couple of hours yesterday and the better part of today hacking away at this row of bushes and vines that hang over our neighbor's fence. It actually doesn't looks that bad in this picture, but it was way out of control and looked very messy. The vines and weeds have grown over a French drain that separates the properties and finally, after three long years, I was done looking at it. So, with the entirely wrong tools, I worked my way through the thicket. Can I just tell you? Trimming through these bushes with pruning shears was like trying to cut through a dozen string mop heads with safety scissors, but I was determined. Today I smartened up and used a pull saw, which really helped things along.
Wow...there was a fence behind all of that brush. I didn't hate every minute of it, but there were parts of it that were excruciating. Just imagine cutting through thorn bushes with vines tangled around them. That does not make my top ten list of fun things to do.
We ended up hauling away two truckloads of trimmings and rubbish to our friend's orchard. It's done and gone.
Whew! That was a long stretch of fence to uncover. I am now sore and a little cranky towards my three year old, who's been a little out of sorts, anyway. I would rejoice in all of the calories I burned today, but I ate two glazed sour cream doughnuts, half an apple fritter, a sandwich and cheetos. We're getting pizza for dinner, so it's not getting any better.
I need some help from all of the gardeners out there. What should I do with this place that I cleared? I'm hoping I can continue to trim back the bushes and vines and they'll eventually make a nice hedge along the fence. I'm just not sure what to do with the sloped area and the French drain. I sprayed all of the weeds to get a clean start, but I know it will be a constant fight in that gravel. It needs to be low maintenance, clean looking, and cheap. Bushes? Flowers? Put rocks over the entire area? Any thoughts?
