We continue plugging along in the garden, no dramatic transformations but steady progress. Last weekend we put down black plastic to cover the side of the yard that had the worst overgrowth before. We saw on a TV show ("Gardening by the Yard" on HGTV, I love the goofy host) that thick black plastic, if left in place for a couple of months, will completely kill everything under it. Then we can start over, and either sow grass seed or build a flower bed. We haven't decided which yet. The brush and brambles were already starting to come back, so I think we got the plastic down just in time.
Then Georg cleaned the gutters on the back of the house (the landscapers had done the front). Watching him up on top of that ladder made me nervous, but I felt like I needed to stay outside so I'd be right there if anything happened. So I cut down a stray shrub that we hate, and also deadheaded the butterfly bush. I don't know if you're supposed to do that or not, but it had dead flowers all over it so it looks much better now.
I think Monday was the day it rained, and all I got done was to see that one of the downspout extenders wasn't working properly and fix it. I had to dig some soil away from the downspout to make room for the extender, which was kind of a mess since I didn't wait until it stopped raining. The downspout extenders seem to be doing a good job of taking water away from the house. Unfortunately, even though the gutters have all been cleaned there's still water spilling out right in front of our front door. From the ground we can't tell if the gutter is still blocked, or if it's rusted through. Argh.
The rest of the week is kind of a blur so I can't give a day-by-day review. Though I do remember spending a couple of hours digging up brambles, planting some more herbs in the herb garden, and also planting the balloon flowers and obedient plants down by the road. I did that yesterday, and this morning my wrist hurt like hell. It woke me up around 5 am feeling all numb. I'm convinced that shoveling is aggravating my wrist: normally it wouldn't have hurt like that unless I had spent all day working on my computer non-stop. Maybe I should wear the wrist brace while shoveling.
This week was supposed to be the big mulch trip, but alas my friend with a truck cancelled because he had a work deadline run a day late. So we have tentatively rescheduled for next Tuesday, though we may likely have to postpone due to Frances-related rain.
Did not do a darned thing in the yard today. I meant to plant the black-eyed susans but we spent most of the day at Carmax (in case Georg doesn't write about it, he bought a car!! A 95 Toyota Camry, with V6 and leather seats! It's really nice!) and I was strangely tired in the afternoon so I read a book instead of working.
We did go to the farmer's market in the morning, didn't buy any plants but had fun looking. We saw a few things we liked & may go back for, notably "goblet flower," whose leaves look like an iris and whose flowers look like an orchid. I looked it up online; apparently it's an unusual plant from South America and we're on the northern edge of where it will survive. I'd like to get just one or two and see how they do. And we saw something beautiful called "rain lily" but I looked it up in my gardening book and they have to be dug up every winter. Forget that!
We've been going back and forth on what to plant in front of the house, along the foundation, and I think we've settled on hydrangeas. I've always thought of them as kind of plain, but I was looking around online and was surprised at how many interesting varieties there are. Unfortunately, I also discovered that they are toxic. Which is a problem for anything planted inside the fence, because Lina has a bad habit of chewing on leaves and grasses. She doesn't seem to eat them, just likes to pull them out. It's like a nervous habit I guess. But still, I don't want to plant anything poisonous inside the fence where she can get at it.
More research revealed this page on cat-safe gardens, which says that hydrangea is only mildly toxic, and the animal would have to eat an entire flower head to get sick. It's highly unlikely that Lina would ingest that much. That same page also revealed that azalea, iris and ivy are also toxic. All of which we have plenty of in our yard, and none of which Lina has ever chewed on to my knowledge. So I feel safe planting hydrangeas.
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