Landscaping 2011

Same area as next picture but after the weeds have been removed...

This is what we started with....who woulda thought that a jungle could exist in the Midwest???

The Final Product

With summer brings To Do Lists longer than I am tall!  This year is worse than normal as we prepare for our youngest son's graduation party.  The planning for this event begins in February with choosing a date (June 11) and the start of planning out changes to be made to the house and property both inside and out.  In March, I painted the kitchen cupboards and walls.  In April, I refinished an antique stand that acts as a sink in my bathroom and in May I began working outside in my landscaping beds. 

Unfortunately Mother Nature also chose this time to dump a record amount of rain on Northwest Ohio.  It rained, and rained, and rained, and...well you get the idea!  I went from window to window looking for a dry land, but alas, none was in sight.  Each day of rain meant a revamping of the 'To Do List' and prioritizing what was left on it.  Finally, when it stopped raining in late, late May, it took about a week for everything to dry out enough to be able to slop through the mud to get to the landscaping.  The lawn couldn't be mowed because the mower kept getting stuck and all my plants that I had nurseried over the winter had to be patient.  But that was only the beginning....pulling weeds when they are growing in mud is more difficult that one might think.  I mean when pulling a weed from wet soil, you get the whole root (which is awesome) but when pulling a weed from mud, you get about 10 pounds of mud along with the weed and the root!  So, I spent a lot of time pulling mud off of the roots of the weeds I was pulling.....it is as exhausting in real life as it sounds in writing!  This really slowed me down and wore me out.  Next, the sun turned up it's wattage and I quickly went from living in a swamp to living in a jungle!  I mean the weeds were now knee high and growing fast!  So I did what any mother would do....I recruited my soon to be graduating son to help.  What this really meant was I did about 2 feet of work and he did about 8 feet of work.  Ah, to be young and strong!  Together, we were able to tame the landscape, put down weed barrier and spread mulch!  But instead of taking about a week, it took a full 2 weeks to pull together!

On top of that, everything we touched broke....let's see there was the power-washer, two weedeaters, tractor, lawn mower, tank sprayer, rototiller and a flat tire on the wheelbarrow!!!  How is a girl supposed to get anything done when everything is broken???

The day before the party, the shrubs and trees that had been waiting patiently to be planted finally made it into the ground and the plants that were already established began to bloom – the yard looked beautiful!

Part of living in the country is Hard Work and Working Hard. The best part though is sitting on the front porch with an iced tea and an overwhelming sense of accomplishment at a job well done!  Oh, and my newly defined biceps are a nice perk too!