It was rough, but worth it!

Dog tired!  This is the end result of a several hours of play and exploration!  These two pretty much went nonstop with the running, digging and all out goofing.  Tucker got so tired that he went up and flopped down on the deck to sleep, he was done!  Wonder if he’ll ever be able to keep up with Cooper???

Yesterday I mentioned how great the azaleas looked but you couldn’t really see them in that picture.  Well here there are in the freshly weeded and cleared area.  I’m hoping that this fall, we can shred the leaves and spread them in all these areas to keep the weeds down, it really makes a difference.

We moved toward the old bee area and all this area was overrun with Japanese stilt grass, barberry, bittersweet and these really stinky weedy trees.

My fern patch is filling in, I love this area so much.  I’ll have to get in there and weed it but the more they grow the happier I am.  It’s just the most lovely, spot it just looks like a ‘forest’ floor should to me.

Everywhere you see ground was covered with Japanese stilt grass, Randy must have carted four or five loads of it away!  That stuff is just horrible, each piece makes hundreds of seeds and they stay in the soil for up to 7 years.  How will I ever get rid of it!

Under all the stilt grass there were some plants.  A couple of different coneflowers and some Joe Pye weed. 

This area still needs some tending but it looks to have several different plants in there; milkweeds, catmints and some things that I won’t know names for till they bloom.

Randy worked on cleaning up the area behind and while I don’t like the fact that he did mow over native Jack in the Pulpits, Mayflowers and some viburnums in his quest to clear, the end result is better.  He pulled out some many thorny things that his arms look like he was attacked by cats!

 If I could get just one full day every weekend out of Randy like the last two, we could have this yard whipped into shape fast!  It makes such a difference having him help, even if he does murder plants that I’d like to save sometimes.  I’ve always wondered how people that have those picture perfect gardens do it.  I know now, they have muscle to help!

The other sides…

Today we finally got to the other sides!!!!  While we have nothing to plant it’s really nice to have finally cleaned out all around the shed.  It took half the day, but it really was worth it.

It looks much better and now I can worry less about the dogs as they love running around through the woods and there was quite a bit of poison ivy in there.

I pulled a lot of weeds and burning bush sprouts up from this area.  I had to uncover the azaleas that are doing so well back there.  They are filling out and are glossy, dark green and just looking better than I’ve ever seen them.  I can hardly wait till next spring when they bloom, again!

Cooper and Tucker played, a lot!  Cooper loves being chased, Tucker, well he doesn’t love to chase all that much, yet, but I see it coming.  I love that I can take them into the back yard and let them go.  Tucker even seems to be outgrowing the need to eat everything, which is a blessing.  It has been the biggest issue with him being off leash, he doesn’t just chew stuff, he swallows it; sticks, mulch, grass, leaves you name it. 

Tomorrow, I think we are going to work out front, now there’s a full days worth of work!

 

 

Welcome to July…

It’s July.  Where is the summer going and why is it going so fast?  I need a way to slow things down, isn’t it supposed to be the lazy days of summer???

The rain took out my milkweed jungle, rather the torrents of rain and wind that came with some severe storms did.  I tried to prop it back up, but it just didn’t work.  Now it looks messy and the sweet smell has drifted away.

The bee balm continues to bloom and attract lots of hummingbirds, the pink bee balm has had bees and butterflies on it.  Out of the mess the Joe Pye Weed and Goldenrod have appeared and will hopefully get a chance to bloom without being eaten by the deer.  They are eating things fast this year, I spray it rains, they eat. 

Case in point.  I noticed that my yellow daylily and my Cherokee daylily were close to blooming so I sprayed them.

 

Today when I went to see if they were blooming or not…

That’s what I found, it’s so frustrating.  I’ve got to get the rest of my plants moved this fall.

So far they haven’t reached my daylily called Joan, if they do at least I got to see it bloom!

Oddly enough they are eating my bonset this year, I wouldn’t think they’d like that it has very fuzzy leaves but..

It is usually a good five feet tall by now.  Sad, I guess it will have to be moved as well.  I’m thinking that a lot of the stuff at the front of the driveway and at the porch is going to end up at the deck bed and the deck bed stuff is going to end up in the shade beds.  That deck area is about the only place that gets enough sun to support all these plants.  Well, the former bee garden gets sun too, but that may end up as something totally different in the coming years.

I went out to do some weeding the other day, taking Tucker and Cooper with me and was trying to decide where to start.  I settled on the deck bed, thinking that I really need to keep after the jewel weed.  So I kneeled down and

decided on another location after almost grabbing this lovely visitor!  At least five feet long, it wasn’t too bothered by my presence, just kept laying there, but I suspect had I grabbed it or stepped on it that would have been a different story!

There are so many insects which you know is fine by me as long as they aren’t munching on me! What I have seen a lot of this year are these lovely garden spiders.

I haven’t looked up what kind they are exactly but they are all over.  Being the kind of person that doesn’t want to wreck their homes I weed around them and do my best not to mess up their webs.  They are really very lovely!

The damselflies are back, I’ve not gotten a good picture but I’ve got dragonflies galore too!

Nature just never ceases to amaze and delight me, except the deer, they just really frustrate me!