It's Time For Yard Work. Yea!

Discussion in 'Home Improvement' started by Yvonne Smith, Feb 29, 2016.

  1. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    This was the first really nice Spring-y day that we have had this year. We have had some that let us know that spring was coming; but then the next week, it was freezing and snowing.
    Now, we seem to be past the worst of the bad weather, and even though I am sure we will sill have some cold periods, we are basically heading into warmer weather.

    Today, @Bobby Cole and I worked out in the yard for most of the the day, at least the warmest parts. We have a lot of trees, and the neighbor has some huge old pine trees, right next to the fence by our front yard, so we are always getting pine needles.
    We leave the pine needle and leaves on the ground over winter to protect the ground, and also to help prevent erosion from the rains during the winter.
    Today, I raked the pine needles out from under the trees so the little spring flowers and plants can start coming up, and Bobby took the lawn mower and ran it over the mounded up needles and that mulched some of them , and put the rest into the grass-catcher on the mower so he could bag them up and get rid of the needles.
    The leaves, we mulch up and use for compost.

    The next project will be to get out my little electric tillers and work the soil under the trees, where I have the shade gardens, and then I can put in some spring bedding plants .
    I love spring, and I love yard work. I have to be mostly inside during the heat of summer; so I usually start on the yard and garden projects as early as possible each spring.

    Edit to add: an extra benefit of this is when I entered all of the information into my fitness tracker, it said that I had burned almost 3000 calories, and walked several miles ........now that makes yard work REALLY GREAT ! !
     
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    Last edited: Feb 29, 2016
  2. Corie Henson

    Corie Henson Veteran Member
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    Last Sunday, our extended garden needed some cleaning not only with the weeds but also with the trash - some people are so uneducated as to be throwing candy wrappers, bottles and cans in the vacant lot (that is our extended garden). Besides, the plants needed some cultivating too. But it was a Sunday so I had to go to church and also to visit the parlor for dyeing my hair, what else? Hmm, the neighbors are coming for the prayer meeting so I had to prepare the house. To make the story short, my husband and our housemaid did the cleaning of the garden.
     
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  3. Krissttina Isobe

    Krissttina Isobe Veteran Member
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    Sounds wonderful that better weather has finally come! Even here on Oahu, we've got better weather. Though we are still in the hurricane watch mode, the weather has been very nice for the past couple of weeks. I love the cooler temperatures that is flowing across the Hawaiian islands now. Good to hear that the weather is getting better on the mainland!
     
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  4. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    We went to the small engine repair shop yesterday, and @Bobby Cole got some of that little plastic tubing that he needed to fix the gas-powered tiller, so now he can start the tilling in the spots that require something larger than my little electric tillers.
    The weather is warming back up again, and I think we may have had the last freeze for this spring, althoug one never knows.
    Tomorrow, we plan to work outside and I am going to re-pot the tomatoes and set them outside. If it gets too cold, we can move them into the greenhouse that bobby is building out back.
    I used the little Green Machine (Homelite) electric cultivator and worked the ground under one of the trees out front and have flowers planted under there, and hope to get at least one of the other ones finished this weekend. It only gets morning sun for the most part; but some things, like irises and lilies, don't seem to mind.
     
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  5. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    I cleaned weeds out of the pots on the balcony and the one I have on the downstairs back porch, as well as tackling some of the weeds in the ditch out front. The ditch is a pain, because it's too steep for a mower, so I end up using the trimmer, which, even though it's fairly lightweight, takes a big toll on my arms, neck and back. That's one reason I'm looking to eradicate the weeds. I mixed up another batch of dish soap, hot water, and vinegar for out back, and put it on a large patch by the back porch. I do that, then when the weeds dry out, I pull them (they're large clumps, so it's not difficult), and then when I'm feeling o.k. again, I widen the circle. I basically have a meadow at the back of the back yard, and I'm o.k. with that, since I don't need to walk back there, and it's pretty.
     
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  6. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Someone's in HOT water!;)

    [​IMG]
     
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  7. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    We have trees all over the property, and a good share of them are needle trees (cedar), and the neighbor to the south of us has pine trees along the fence line. We are always having to deal with the pine/cedar needles coming off of the trees. I HATE those things ! At least with the leaf trees, they only shed leaves in the fall, and then they help protect the grass and dirt over the winter, and become compost in the spring.
    Behind us is an empty lot which is also mostly treed, and at one time had an old house on it. The house was torn down, and since this is a poor area of town, no one is buying the lot to build a house on it; so it has just sat there, empty and overgrown, for at least the last 10 years.
    The good part of this is that we are actually pretty private here, considering that we are in town. The lot behind us makes it so the road back there does not even hardly show up.
    This was last summer; and you can see how overgrown the lot is out behind the little Intex pool.
    image.jpeg
     
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  8. Carol Cook

    Carol Cook Veteran Member
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    Still way to early here in the Midwest.. In fact we had a pretty intense snow shower last Thursday.. So other than watching my Tulips spring up.. not much happening in the way of gardening. But I am planning and have some interesting projects planned. We are planting corn this year on the south side of our house. It's an unseen area that is wasted by not planting something there as it gets lots of sun all day. The weeds LOVE it.. so we decided, what the heck... put a few rows of sweet corn there.. it will keep down the weeds AND give us some delicious corn to enjoy..

    I'm starting a MUM garden too.... I love how they look in the fall with those vibrant colors. I'm going to plant them around the base of an evergreen that is a focal point in our front yard.. Right now I'm trying to figure a color scheme.. Last fall I saw a planting of all Pink mums planted with Red.. Sounds odd.. but it was really striking.. However I do love the white and the yellow too.. Not crazy about the orange..
     
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  9. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    My dad used to plant some corn in his gardens, and it was always delicious. I hope you'll share pictures with us, I would love to see your corn and also the mum garden & whatever else you choose to plant. This is a very welcoming and supportive forum, and I know several enjoy gardening, so they also will enjoy seeing your pics. Welcome to the forum, @Carol Cook.
     
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  10. Carol Cook

    Carol Cook Veteran Member
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    Thank you so much... This seems like a very welcoming place.. I certainly will post pics..
     
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  11. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Both of us spent the day outside working in the yard yesterday. Before long, we were actually working in our cutoff and t-shirtss, the weather was so perfect !
    We got both sections of the bamboo priivacy screen put up, and i discovered that the little blackberry bushess that @Ina I. Wonder gave me last spring , had started several new little clumps and are spreading. One of the vies is really long; so today I am going to lay it along the ground and cover parts of it with dirt, and it can root some more little starts.
    I transplanted the tomatoes into larger containers, and put them all outside. If we get bad thunderstorms later today, we will just put them in the greenhouse.
    Mr. Bobby fixed the gas tube on the weedeater, and i got rid of some of the weeds growing along the fence where we put the tomatoes.
    All in all, I was totally tuckered out by the time we came inside last night.

    image.jpeg
     
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  12. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Another sunny day here in Alabama. Bobby and I went to Walmart first thing (before the crowds arrived for the day) and we got several bagss of better dirt that I will use to plant with, and a bag of potting soil to add some extra nutrients to the dirt.
    While we were there, we discovered that Walmart has a closeout on the Easter lilies and other spring plants; so I got several of those. The tulips have 3-4 in each pot, so that will be great for planting in the front yard once they finish blooming, and next year, they can just come up and be happy out there.

    We are going to spend most of the day working in the yard again, and Bobby is looking at a nice birdbath fountain on Amazon that he wants for out in the front of the house.
    My daylilies are starting to come up now, too, and I can use the little Green Machine Tiller to cultivate around the lilies and get the dirt under there ready for some more spring flowers.
     
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  13. Gary Ridenour

    Gary Ridenour Veteran Member
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    wife and I live in one of those community's where they do it all. I don't miss yard work at all !!!
     
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  14. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    It's great that we are all different, isn't it?;)
     
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  15. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    So many things that I did when I was younger and in better shape physically, I can no longer do. Gardening is something that I can do a little at a time, and only do what I am able to do.
    It is not like having horses or living on the farm, where you HAVE to take care of the livestock each day, regardless of how you feel.
    With the yard work, it is something that both Bobby and I share, and we enjoy working together, and planning out what we are going to do.
    My Bobby is a prince, and he helps me with the things that I can't do myself anymore, like starting the weedeater when it gets belligerent. We talk about what we would like to do with the yard and garden, and then we work together to do those things; but without pushing each other to make it perfect, or happen faster than we can enjoy doing it.
    While it is not exactly a hobby, like my knitting and crocheting are; it is still something that I enjoy doing, and it gives me a great feeling of satisfaction when I see the flowers blooming, and the tomatoes out there growing for us to enjoy .
     
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