My Own Yard Crew of One

Since my last post, I've been very busy taking care of the yard myself. There has been a lot to do. There still is. But I've made some beautiful improvements and made things better overall. I'm fed up with people who promise to do work for me and who let me down. I know I can count on myself. And right now, that's exactly what I'm doing.

The lawn mowing guy I hired didn't work out. After he rescheduled three times in the first week, I just let him go. My son and grandsons came and mowed for me that day and I did some of the mowing myself. I have had this really nice Kobalt cordless electric mower for a  couple years and haven't used it. But I have discovered how lightweight it is to push. It does a beautiful job. And it starts right up with the push of a button. The lithium ion batteries recharge in about 30 minutes. I have since mowed the lawn, front and back myself three times with no problem. I mow early in the morning while it's cool. I mulch rather than bag clippings. And I do all of the steep or tricky parts first while I'm fresh. What remains is just a pleasant stroll back and forth until it's done. I've got this.

One hitch, though. In looking up something about my mower, I found it has a recall because a few of the models have caught fire. So I may have to try to find someone to fill the gap while the mower is in for its update.

On the same day they mowed for me, my son and grandkids also helped me with turning on and testing the sprinkling system, and with hauling topsoil, fertilizer and grass seed to reseed the back hill where Alberto's guy had used the string trimmer and taken out a third of the grass right down to the dirt. The new grass has now come in beautiful and strong. It wasn't the first damage I found from the Alberto cleanup last fall. And I'm sorry to say Alberto has refused to take my calls or reply to my emails or texts asking him to send someone to repair what they broke. The good news is, I have been able to make repairs myself and have moved on.

At the start of May I had a long list of things that needed doing. I had to carefully prioritize the tasks because, for example, planting of perennials needed to be finished in May. And sprinkling system problems needed to be resolved as new planting areas were completed. I have five distinct flower beds in addition to the large xeriscaped areas on east and west and the high south side of the lot. Two of the gardens were utterly decimated by careless cleanup crew that removed a lot of perennials. The other three beds needed some new things added.  I worked my way through one bed at a time; weeding, planting, fertilizing, modifying sprinklers. When I finished the plantings in the fifth bed, I really felt like celebrating.

At the same time, I've worked my way through the east side xeriscaped area, doing the same weeding, planting, etc. I've made many tweaks to the sprinkling system, and I'll be doing still more. I can see areas getting too much water, and other getting none at all.  Since it is all now in a drip system, it is relatively easy for me to make the changes myself. I'm learning a lot about the different fittings and what works best where. And I learned a trick that applying a little heat to the tubing makes it a lot easier to push the fittings into the tubing. I use a disposable cigarette lighter and apply the heat every so lightly.

In between times, when it rained or I was too tired to stand, I sat on the patio and put annuals into hanging pots and patio pots for myself and my son's yard. I painted a few pots that were looking a little sad, and painted some other patio kitsch that needed freshening up. Oh yeah, and I've killed a few gophers. And all this while continuing to spend four hours a day with the grandkids before and after school.

I guess I've planted close to 70 new perennials now and at least the same number of annuals. I've transplanted another 30 plants to situate them better. I'm almost finished. I bought some ornamental grasses to provide more screening from the road at the top of my property, and I'll plant those next week. And I'm trying again with a new hyssop. I'm sad to say that Alberto's guys pulled up every hyssop, blanket flower, and bee balm I had, along with various salvia, pin cushion, yarrow, and other odds and ends. They also damaged the sprinkling system in several places, including severing one main supply line with a shovel. I've had to fix all those things myself. I have moved past feeling angry about that. One thing I know for sure, the cleanup crew in the fall (me) will not be pulling up flowers thinking they're weeds. And I'll be sure to repair anything I damage in the sprinkling system.

I still have a to do list of some 20 things, of which about half are weeding of additional areas. But that's an ongoing process throughout the summer. I don't feel panicked or worried. I feel up to the task. And, when I look out my kitchen window and see my beautiful new shady hosta garden in many shades of green with some lovely bellflowers and coral bells thrown in and the other shade garden just to the right with more colorful plants, I feel so happy and so pleased. The chickadees are my constant companions as a new brood will soon be fledging from the little blue bird house once again. The swallowtail butterflies have found the Jupiter's Beard. I feel joy and satisfaction from all I've done. I'm able to sit on the patio for a few minutes a day and just enjoy.

That's not to say it's been easy. My body is getting older and my strength and endurance are not what they used to be. But no matter how tired I am, or how much my body hurts, I make myself go out and get to work for a few hours at least every day.

I shouldn't need to do so much planting next year. Once the plants are established, they will continue to fill in. Today and almost every day I'm in the yard, someone stops and tells me how beautiful and colorful my yard is. It feels good to hear this. I keep tweaking things to make it better. But I'm hoping I'm finished with the need for major planting anywhere now.

And photos? I've taken a few, but not enough and in too bright sunlight. I'll pick a less sunny day and try to get a set of pictures to post.