This weekend I attacked the jungle that was growing outside my backdoor. I wish I had taken a photo of it all overgrown. It was mostly grasses, but also 4-foot tall weeds that had prickers. I discovered that there is actually a little patio out there. And at some point there was a sprinkler system (I found the sprinkler heads). And I even found a spade behind the torch ginger.
I kept the calla lilies, and another reddish flower, and some silvery ground-cover. Everything else got pulled out. My neighbor gave me a compost bin (she already has one), so I cleaned that out and put it against the fence. I can now walk out my door and toss kitchen scraps into the bin. Yay! Compost! I don't want the compost for fertilizing so much as I just want to reduce the amount of garbage I'm producing. Compost as recycling if you may.
On Sunday I went over to Target to get some odds and ends and discovered they had a garden center there. I'm sure there are better nurseries in the area, but I was there and the prices were cheap. In honor of my mom I got some shasta daisies and zinnas. Also some beogonias and little purple ground-cover that I can never remember the name of. Oh, and I also got catnip, basil, and cilantro. Smudge approves of the fresh catnip. He says it's double-plus-good.
Today I planted the new plants in the bed and the wine barrel planters. They had been sitting out for 2 days and were starting to look a little wilted. I got everything planted and watered the beds well. The shasta daisies aren't planted quite as well as they could be. The spade isn't very good and the ground is very hard, so they stick out a few more inches above the dirt line than they should. I know I should have turned the bed more, added some compost, and worked the dirt more. But, well, it was hot. And I was tired. And it's not my house afterall - I rent. I hope the plants take, because it will look a lot better, but if not, oh well. I'm not going to sink a lot of money and time into a garden that I'll only enjoy for a season or two.
I also trimmed back the bamboo that is growing at the front of the patio. There is a house number sign there that you could barely see from the road, the bamboo was so high. It looks a little silly now, but at least you can see the house number from the road. I don't think it looks quite as neglected now. Cutting off the spent blossoms and stalks from the plant by the front door completed the gardening for today.
It feels good to get out in the dirt, and the place does look so much better. My legs and arms are sufficently scratched and bruised. If I had remembered to take photos before it got dark I would have posted them. You'll just have to wait though - or come visit.
