- Thread starter
- #151
WildRoseBeef
Range nerd & bovine enthusiast
Aside from the pictures we were pretty busy this weekend.
Last night we dug out nearly all the irises that were in the front flower bed, since Mom had been wanting to do that for years, so finally we got a chance to do that. The irises came out in about five or six big clumps, not at all hand-dug since the root systems were so deep. So throw out the big clumps to the compost pile, as they're nothing more than tangled roots that the irises don't tend to grow well in anyway. Besides, they look ugly come summer anyway. Not to mention we get big problems with all that quack grass that like to wind their rhyzomes in with the iris tubers.
So out with the tubers, keep the fresh dirt, and smooth out that big ugly mound that's been building up over the years. And boy does it look soooo much better now!
Unfortunately the cats like to $h@t in there, and a tom cat came in and sprayed in there
rant 
), so out with the cat piles (and the really disgusting musk that that ruddy tom left), and in with some chicken wire to keep the cats out until we get some landscape fabric in. Once we get landscape fabric in, then we can put in a few shrubs in, maybe some ninebark, dogwood, any sort of shrub that grows low and kind of bushy. Then we just fill in with cedar shavings, a few rocks, and it will look all nice and pretty again!
But we didn't take out all the irises, plus there's a few spots were we have some lilies growing, tiger lilies and an unknown beautiful yellow lily, so we HAVE to keep those there.
Yesterday we had a lovely snowy owl stop for a visit this afternoon. That owl sat in the same spot for, oh I dunno, 4, 5 hours? Until I came out trying to get pictures of him, and pushed my luck a bit far when I got a little too close to him just to take a picture of him. Darn me! But I did get some shots, not the greatest since the owl was not in a contrasting background like I would've liked, but alright-pictures nonetheless.
Today I got busy putting the greenhouse together, one of those you can put together in the spring and take apart in the fall. I think it only took me about an hour or so to get it done, and actually got it together in the right order with all the right pieces, unlike Mom who took over two hours to figure out how to put it together and, as a result, had some pieces left over and pieces in the wrong places. I took the liberty of figuring out which goes where and in the right spot.
Main reason we decided to put the greenhouse up was that the deer were up visiting last night, six or seven healthy, heavily pregnant does and one yearling fawn, and they decided the strawberries needed "help" growing so they nipped off some growth. We decided it best to put the greenhouse back together and put the strawberries in so the deer DON'T eat them.
Besides, I'm really looking forward to some fresh, home-grown strawberries this year! We may just get a few more plants too, since we had great luck with the two pots we bought last year.
The snow is just about gone, but the garden is still way too muddy and mucky do even consider doing anything yet. We usually don't start planting until the middle of May. Half the garden we're planning on putting into lawn since we don't even use that half in the first place.
Spring cleaning is so much fun!
Last night we dug out nearly all the irises that were in the front flower bed, since Mom had been wanting to do that for years, so finally we got a chance to do that. The irises came out in about five or six big clumps, not at all hand-dug since the root systems were so deep. So throw out the big clumps to the compost pile, as they're nothing more than tangled roots that the irises don't tend to grow well in anyway. Besides, they look ugly come summer anyway. Not to mention we get big problems with all that quack grass that like to wind their rhyzomes in with the iris tubers.
So out with the tubers, keep the fresh dirt, and smooth out that big ugly mound that's been building up over the years. And boy does it look soooo much better now!
Unfortunately the cats like to $h@t in there, and a tom cat came in and sprayed in there
rant ), so out with the cat piles (and the really disgusting musk that that ruddy tom left), and in with some chicken wire to keep the cats out until we get some landscape fabric in. Once we get landscape fabric in, then we can put in a few shrubs in, maybe some ninebark, dogwood, any sort of shrub that grows low and kind of bushy. Then we just fill in with cedar shavings, a few rocks, and it will look all nice and pretty again! But we didn't take out all the irises, plus there's a few spots were we have some lilies growing, tiger lilies and an unknown beautiful yellow lily, so we HAVE to keep those there.
Yesterday we had a lovely snowy owl stop for a visit this afternoon. That owl sat in the same spot for, oh I dunno, 4, 5 hours? Until I came out trying to get pictures of him, and pushed my luck a bit far when I got a little too close to him just to take a picture of him.
Darn me! But I did get some shots, not the greatest since the owl was not in a contrasting background like I would've liked, but alright-pictures nonetheless.Today I got busy putting the greenhouse together, one of those you can put together in the spring and take apart in the fall. I think it only took me about an hour or so to get it done, and actually got it together in the right order with all the right pieces, unlike Mom who took over two hours to figure out how to put it together and, as a result, had some pieces left over and pieces in the wrong places. I took the liberty of figuring out which goes where and in the right spot.
Main reason we decided to put the greenhouse up was that the deer were up visiting last night, six or seven healthy, heavily pregnant does and one yearling fawn, and they decided the strawberries needed "help" growing so they nipped off some growth.
We decided it best to put the greenhouse back together and put the strawberries in so the deer DON'T eat them. Besides, I'm really looking forward to some fresh, home-grown strawberries this year! We may just get a few more plants too, since we had great luck with the two pots we bought last year.
The snow is just about gone, but the garden is still way too muddy and mucky do even consider doing anything yet. We usually don't start planting until the middle of May. Half the garden we're planning on putting into lawn since we don't even use that half in the first place.
Spring cleaning is so much fun!
Tempting, but too expensive! So I thought it better I'd leave that until I get a job to actually be able to buy one! 
