TREES: We bought our house because of the trees and the shade...then cuss them every fall for all the leaves they deposit...especially our huge Mexican Sycamore, which has been around for a while...it’s huge!The sycamore has plate size leaves that are as hard as plastic. I’ve raked them (difficult if not nearly impossible) and I’ve mowed (mulched) them (sounds like the mower is falling apart from the inside) which is the easier way, although it takes two passes!
GRASS: Another contradiction...we carefully apply pre-emergence, aerate, fertilize, patch bad sod and water until we have a lush green carpet of grass...then complain that we have to mow twice a week to keep it looking good.
The mowing goes on until late fall...then continues when the big waxy leaves start falling off the sycamore...so the cycle continues until the end of January...THEN there is a lull until the warmth of spring wakes up the yard for yet another cycle of yard work.
WEEDS: Now I’ve explained my part of this equation...NOT part of my efforts are the “beds”...defined as home for the myriad of shrubs and flowering plants (annuals and perennials). The beds are the domain of my live-in horticulturist. She too has a love / hate relationship with our yard...not the planting, nurturing and watering of this array of flowering color, BUT the weeds!
I long ago said “I don’t do weeds”. This is not a “cop out” but a matter of survival. You see, over the years, I’ve pulled many a prized planting because it “looked” like a weed. They all eventually flower (even weeds I’m told), however, much of the time they look like weeds (to me!).
So...as the days become longer, the weather warmer and the arrival of robins and cardinals digging for worms (“the early bird gets the worm”...sorry, couldn’t resist the pun) we wait for the cycle to begin again.
“Gentlemen...start your engines”.
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