"Getting rid of everything that doesn’t matter allows you to remember who you are. Simplicity doesn’t change who you are, it brings you back to who you are."

Sunday, June 9, 2013

A Snow Shovel In The South

It seems lately that when I'm making decisions about our home and yard, I think "What can I do to make this simple, manageable or easy."

One of the things we've enjoyed about home ownership is working in the yard.  But we've talked to plenty of folks who (as they've gotten older) have decided to "downsize" to a condo simply because they're tired of all the work and money that it takes to keep it up a yard.

SM and I have considered this.  When will we say "It's too much"? 

Who knows. 

Maybe never.

Since I enjoy puttering around the yard, I can't see where I'll ever be inclined to say "Goodbye" completely.   

But that doesn't mean I want to waste my time with mowing the yard several times a week.  One of our goals has been to reduce the grass "footprint" in our yard.  So far we've been concentrating on the back yard.

The mulch place still had their buy 2 get 1 free deal last weekend, so we've been slowly whittling away on a much neglected section of the yard.




The back forty.  Otherwise known as the back fence line. 




The only one who uses that area is the dogs.  Little to no grass, plenty of weeds.  SM hates mowing back there.  

A few years ago we expanded the natural area we'd already mulched and planted the apple trees back there.  That left about a 6 foot strip of grass that still need to be mowed.

So that's what we've been doing.  Laying landscape fabric and then loads of pine bark mulch. 




Did you know that the easiest way to move pine bark mulch is with a snow shovel? 



Yep.  When we moved here all our winter gear came with us and while I still haven't needed to use my 30 below insulated boots, we HAVE used our snow shovel consistently every year.  Winter, Summer...Doesn't matter.




Last weekend I finished mulching around the shed area while SM burned the now dried remains of the hollies and boxwoods.  The rootballs are all hanging out behind the shed for the Summer to dry out competely before we bonfire them sometime this Fall.



So now we have less grass to mow and less shrubbery to trim.  A move in the right direction for sure.




Whatever will we do with all our spare time???

No comments:

Post a Comment