The front yard wasn't nearly as bad as the back yard. But that's because we've put mulch down every year so the pulling, yanking and tugging was easy.
These back beds haven't had any new mulch tossed onto them in probably 5 years. Any extra cash we had was going into the garden. So is it any surprise that the weeds have got a stranglehold? I was shocked to see that it was pretty much bare dirt. And yanking a weed from bare dirt is near impossible.
In the past the mulch has helped to suppress any weeds and now it almost feels like I have to start all over again from scratch. I told SM that I won't be creating any new "natural" areas around the shed and along the fence line like I'd hoped to this year. Maybe this Fall. Right now it's an emergency situation and the fabric and mulch are instead going in the established beds. If I don't get control of these weeds now it'll be a free-for-all later.
So I spent several hours bent over, blood rushing to my head in 80 degree heat. I filled up 3 (count em) THREE trash cans. And that's only tackling an area that's about 12x12.
Why is it that in early spring 80 degrees feels like 100? My blood is still thick from Winter I guess. All I could think of when I was yanking the weeds, hanging upside down getting delirious, was that song...I fought the law and the law won." (The "law" being Mother Nature. Ya gotta hand it to the old girl, she's certainly kicking my ass.)
SM asked what I planned to do with all the weeds I'd pulled. Other than tossing them in the trash...any suggestions? We're thinking of letting them dry out and then burn them. I think the neighbors would notice if I just tossed them over the fence. This is when living out in the country with a bit of land would come in handy. I could just take it out to the woods and dump it. Yep. I'd be one of those folks with a "I don't know what to do with it so I'll just toss it here" patch.
Then again, if I lived out in the country I certainly wouldn't be fussing with a landscaped "suburban" yard so this would all be a moot point anyway.
Where's that goat when you need one?
Providing the weeds have no seeds - toss them in your compost bin :)
ReplyDeleteThat must have been a lot of work!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you could've just laid cardboard over the area and let it all die out. Not sure what the neighbors would say, but it's an easy way to create a weed-free area or a new planting bed.
Happy spring, tami!
I feel for you. I hate weeding!
ReplyDeleteOur winter was so mild most weeds didn't die, it's going to be a bad year for them here where I live.
I would toss them in the compost.
ReplyDeleteToss the weeds into compost and feed your garden next year :) You could just cover the bed with several newspapers and straw and turn into lazagna bed in couple of weeks :)
ReplyDeleteI have to agree; I was cleaning stalls the other day and I felt like I was dying from the heat! LOL - then I remembered it is only March!
ReplyDeleteNow would be the time to have
ReplyDeletechickens :-) or cover the area with newspaper, wet it down and cover with mulch.
Welcome Lisa B! Nice blog you have BTW. I'll be stopping by alot I can tell already! Oooo... Homemade Onion soup mix?!
ReplyDeleteYeah, why not the compost bin?? Even weeds with seeds will be killed dead if you get your compost is working correctly. The three cans of weeds will sink down to only a couple of inches in jiffy-quick time. All my weeds go directly into our compost bins.
ReplyDelete