In the Garden: August 2011 Archives

I was out weeding today. I probably should have started earlier than I did, but the day was pretty reasonable until about 12:30. The gardens along the brick sidewalk to the house are one of the hotter areas to work.

I could post a picture of an area totally cleared that is about 4' by 4', but that seems sorta silly. Just envision it. From there I crossed the walk to the garage side of the gardens.

Having seen it from this perspective, I've decided to take out everything to the wall to the left of the downspout. The iris right next to the downspout have to be moved this week. I can't decide whether I want to put them in the ground or try to winter them over in large pots. I think they might do better in the ground, but I'll need to baby them for the rest of the growing season to get them settled for winter.

I moved up the walk toward the front door and cleared the area between the purple fountain grasses and the mum.

Below is a long shot of the garden. I wanted you to see the tomato plant that has taken over the west end of that garden. The chipmunks must not have liked my choice of plants. I've actually left it because it's shading a coral bells that is planted in a too-sunny area. And, my Dad and Mother always seemed to have a stray tomato plant in their gardens. I suspect it was a private joke between them.

This is the pile of weeds that came out of these three small spaces:

After I weeded, I thoroughly watered. We had heavy rain on Saturday, but the gardens were bone dry. More to come later.

Oh, my......the gardens have gotten away from me once again.

It's silly to think that they are going to behave while I spend a month indoors hiding from the heat. It was cool at the start of the day, so I went out to work in the long bed along the drive. I thought I just needed to pull about six tall weeds and cut out four shrubby starts. On the drive side the gardens weren't too bad, but on the lawn side of the bed it's nightmare. I did a quick and dirty cleanup of the center of the bed on the drive side, and cut down the shrubs. I'll have put put hours in on the gardens every morning for the next month!

Johnson's or who ever it is who makes "Off" is going to make a fortune off me because the mosquitoes are dreadful! The hard part about working in the cool of the morning is that the mosquitoes are still out in force. I wear long pants, a long-sleeved shirt with a turtle neck and a hat, and all my clothes get sprayed. I add a little to my neck and ears, and do a lot of ducking from the 'sketers that get past the Off.

I'll have to make a note to myself to do before and after pictures.