Bad Writer, Very Bad Gardener

Friday, May 15, 2009

So I’ve been stressed, no secret. But it got to the point where my continuing exhaustion had me worrying that it was more than stress (chronic fatigue? The onset of type 2 Diabetes? Something more sinister?) All I knew was, I needed a rest, so I took yesterday and today off, and Monday is a statutory holiday. My only plan was to get 8 hours sleep every night and write.

The sleep thing is working out great! Woke up Thursday morning after 9 hours sleep totally refreshed and raring to go! (So I guess it was stress afterall).

The writing thing…. Not so much. So far. But I plan to get hopping on that on the weekend. In the meantime, I’m turning my attention to something else I’ve been neglecting:




Yes, gentle reader, that is my backyard. And not just a small problem patch. It pretty much all looks like that. To make matters worse, my next door neighbour (the one I'm immediately adjacent to, not the one where the driveways divide our properties) has two different lawnservices, one to mow/trim, and one to fertilization/weed control. So my yard looks even more like shit in comparison.

I was toying with hiring a service of fertilization/weed control, but I'm already shelling out $$$ to get the damn tree trimmed. So I'll be doing it myself this year, and we'll see how it goes.

Yesterday I did some cleaning up of the yard--aforementioned tree is dropping branches (big branches!)like crazy--plus it was very windy in the morning with a lot of debris flying around, and garbage cans over turned, etc. Then it was off tothe bank and library, and grabbed some brekkie at Tim Hortons (holy crap their breakfast sandwiches are to die for, but the calorie/fat count(500cal/37grams)means I indulge about once a year or risk coronary failure.)

Then I hit 2 different gardening centers and came away with a edger/trimmer, a weeder, a garden rake, some grass fertilizer, top-soil, grass seeds and handheld dispenser, and this bush (Flaming Mound Spirea)



that I hope adds a little more colour to the back of the yard. I'll probably buy a few more. Not sure whether I'm planting in the back or front (btw, the front yard, looks just fine, except the flowerbed needs tidying up). They say this is not the weekend to plant flowers because of it’s going to drop to -1 degrees overnight on the weekend, so I’ll figure out the flower thing this week, and get hopping on the flowerbeds next weekend.

Today's plan of action:

1. Weeding
2. Mowing (because I’ll have to wait a bit to mow the *hopefully* new growth)
3. Aerate
4. Add topsoil to the bare patches and to level out the yard
5. Seed and add fertilizer.
6. Give a light watering (supposed to rain tomorrow).
7. Go do groceries
8. Maybe write.
9. Maybe, I might whip over to the garden center again and pick up a roll or two of sod, there’s one particularly bad bare patch in the garden (that is, it’s bare of grass, but has plenty O dandelions) that I’m not sure seeding is going to save. A couple of years ago, we raked up all the leaves in the yard, but didn’t bag them up for disposal. The heap of leaves sat there all winter, and in the spring when we did rake them up, we found a bare muddy patch of earth. I'm concerned that the neighbour's cats will find the de-weeded patch more enticing than their usual litter box (had a huge problem with that last year). :-/

Since I downloaded the picture of the yard, I also downloaded some pics from our trip to England over Christmas, but I’ll post those tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

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4 comments:

azteclady said...

*sending good vibes*

I did the top soil, weeding, seeding, leveling thing on my side yard in mid April myself. It's a lot of work but I love watching things grow back.

Here's to de-stressing by doing something fun!

vanessa jaye said...

Aztec, I think I'm going to have to revise my list of things to do today. The only thing I *might* get completely done is the weeding of the backyard. Or to be even more specific, weeding out the dandelions. There's several other plants I'm kinda sure are weeds, but not 100%. :-P (Just taking a short water break.)

"It's a lot of work but I love watching things grow back.
"
I spend a lot of time on my laptop at the dining room table. The patio doors are right there and I really want to enjoy the view of the backyard more. Could kick myself for not buying the peony bulbs yesterday, I could have kept them in the fridge. :-/

raine said...

Luck. ;)

vanessa jaye said...

Thanks, Raine. It's going to take more than luck, I'm afraid. :-P I might have had more luck pulling grass instead of weeds.

Spent 5 hrs out in the yard and only got half of the stuff. I found 3 tiny rosebushes in the back I didn't know were there. lol.

They were under some young trees/bushes in the middle of some plants that I decided were weeds and pulled up. Also noticed some suculents around the tree base, but still have to finish weeding in that spot.

Also, found some pretty ground cover with purple flowers and smooth, wavy dark green leaves (under the weeds/crab grass by the steps of the deck).

I managed to seed and fertilized the bad patch where there was only dirt left once I pulled out most of the weeds. But I think it might need sod in that spot afterall. :-/

The good news is.... I haven't had the energy to be so active in months. Though I'm paying for it this morning with aching muscles. *gg* Maybe it's time to get back to the gym.

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