Bring me 13 shrubberies!

On the 18th, I trimmed another branch from the tree in my front yard. Some lessons for next year: First, I need to know what to do with the branch once I cut it off the tree. Last year, I cut it up and put it in the garbage can. This one is a little thicker – I’m not interested in cutting it apart. Second, buy a new saw before tackling the next one. And do something to it so it doesn’t rust. Pushing the rusty saw through the green branch was a chore.

Also this month, I got my lawn guy to plant some more shrubs on the hill behind my house. I’ve done this twice before, with just a few shrubs. I never watered them, and due to neglect (and, I’m convinced, weed eating), they died. This year I told George to fill the space in completely, and I’ve watered the new shrubs every day. I’ll live with the weeds, if it gives the shrubs a chance to get established. Eventually, I would like to have enough coverage so that I don’t have to put in pine straw or weed the area at all.

Next month, George is going to replace the pine bark around my flower beds with river stones. That should set me back a few bucks.

Finally, the moss in my yard is getting pretty bad. I did some reading on the web, and now believe that the cause is either compacted soil or “sour” soil, that could be fixed with calcium. To find the exact cause would require testing the soil, which I will probably never get around to. Instead, I may ask George to put calcium+moss killer+fertilizer on the grass, and aerate the soil.