Weekend Plans

Ok, thank god we're going to have a 3 day weekend.  I will finally get my yard to some kind of reasonable stasis, and then I can just try to keep it from dying over the summer.

I've got 3 days.  Of course, I have way more work to do inside.  Most people would look at my very small garden and say, wait, what is it you have to do?  Water and pull weeds?  And those same people, if I let them see my house, would stage an intervention.  Other than Drake, he gets it.

I need to do something fun at some point,  or I will be very cranky. Longwood would be fun, maybe.  Drake and I will hang out one night, Sunday would be better.  Monday will be devoted to doing stuff inside.

Let's break down the stuff I have to do outside into the specific areas:

Front Bed

This is the biggest amount of work, and admittedly, most of it is not entirely necessary.  I want to rearrange everything.  I don't think the Daylilies are going to flower at all if I don't divide them.  I got hardly any blooms last year, so I really don't think I have much time left.  And the placement of that Liriope has been driving me crazy for a long time.  I bought annuals to plant in there last weekend, and I don't want to put off planting them for much longer.  And I can't plant them until I've moved the other stuff, obviously.  I've got the Clematis in there, which is fantastic.

Let's talk about the Clematis.  It's already growing like crazy, I can't even tell you how happy I am to see that.  I'm not really expecting a ton of blooms this year, but if I get a few that would be awesome.  Most of what I've read online says it will bloom the first year.  I mean, there was one at the nursery that already had a big bloom on it, but that kind of makes me nervous so I bought a more compact one.  I think I see a bud on it.  Yep, I just checked, there is totally going to be a flower.  Unfortunately it is facing the back, but that's ok Clematis, you do what you need to do.

Anyway.  Before I go moving everything, it would be ideal if I could remove and save most of the mulch.  Then I would be able to dig stuff up without just mixing in a bunch of shitty wood crap.  And when I was done. I could put it back down again.  Ideally I wouldn't need to, if it's as densely planted as I'd like.  And when would I do that?  Well... I could do it right now, couldn't I?  What else am I doing?  Ok now that I'm looking at it, I don't know how I would be able to do that, since it's mostly spread around a bunch of Daylilies.  I would pretty much need to go in there and take it out in handfuls.  And that's not impossible or anything.

Before I try to dig stuff out, I was planning on soaking it down for a while so I could get stuff out with the least amount of damage.  If I am going to remove the mulch, I would want to do that before turning on the soaker hose.  So that means I either have to do it tonight, or Friday night.  I guess either would be ok, or I could split it up.

Then I was planning to run the hose Saturday morning, while I'm getting my hair cut.  Then when I get back, all freshly coiffed, I can get right into a big muddy pit.

Then I'm thinking I will start from the outside and work my way in.  That will mean pulling up the Daylilies that are around the perimeter first.  I'm hoping that if it's nice damp soil, I'll be able to pull them up in clumps, and not damage the roots too much.

I should be sure to differentiate between the full sized red Daylilies and the little Stella d'Oro ones.  I want to move the red ones to the Sidewalk Bed.  I'm not really sure where... Like, near the front where they will be seen and everything, but other than that I'm not sure I care.  Actually, they are clearly different in their leaf structure and form- the leaves are bigger and broader, and they form these distinct fans from each stalk.  And by my count, if I divide them into individuals, I'll have around 12 of them. Oh my god yay!

And once the Daylilies are all out, I will start working on the Liriope.  They won't be so bad to dig up, not like the ornamental grasses, but they are pretty big.  There are 4 that I definitely want to dig up, and a 5th one under the hedge that's not bothering anyone but it's not really contributing anything.  And there's another one way underneath the hedge that hasn't seen real sun in a few years, and if I feel like it, I could probably get it out without much trouble and get some use out of it.

Then I think I want to move that weird Black Eyed Susan that's off to the side, and put it kind of right in the middle, diagonally between the other two of them, and the two Echinacea.  Yes, that will be good.  Once that's done, there should be nothing I need to do to that back section, and I won't have to go stomping around back there.

What about that stupid Hosta?  Oh my god; it's so stupid.  I stand by my original intent in putting it in that bed- it's green with chartreuse streaks, and I thought it would compliment the Liriope nicely.  And it does, that design choice makes sense.  But it's taking up a pretty nice spot, and it's grown a little, but it's not that great. I'm not sure it's worth the effort to move it, but if I'm totally rearranging that bed, I might just have to.  I could pretty much put it anywhere, so I will just wait and see what ends up working.

Once I've gotten the Daylilies and the Liriope pulled out, I'll start back-filling with Daylilies.  Now, should I put any fertilizer in there?  I think yes, I think that's another reason they aren't flowering.  Maybe Green Sand would be the best, because it's kind of slow- release, and it's not so high in Nitrogen.  Ok, let's buy some Green Sand.

So I'll divide all the Daylilies into smaller clumps, probably not quite individual clumps because I don't want to stress them out too much.  And I'll work from the center out, spacing them about 6 inches apart, as instructed by the internet.  And then I think I will try putting the compost down on around them as a mulch.  That's got to be a good thing, right?

By then, it should be pretty much filled in the center, with like, a foot around the edge.  Then it's time to divide the Liriope.  This should be easier to figure out than the ones I did a few weeks ago, because they've got a lot more new growth.  And I should have 15-20 good sized clumps. I don't really want to like, make a solid border, at least not right now.  And I think it will look more natural if I space them out a little.  And then, in the spaces between them, that's where I will plant those few annuals.  Now, don't go planting these long lived perennials in some stupid pattern just to accommodate the $10 worth of stupid annuals. I don't think I need to worry about that too much.  These Liriope are like, a foot in diameter, and the base, and I know they started as normal sized nursery plants.  It did take 10 years, ok.  But before too long, even though I'll leave spaces in between them now, they will fill out nicely.  I think I will start from the sides, since that's the part I don't see as much, and it gets a little shade. And then if it's a little sparse in the front, that's cool, that's where we can showcase the "annual color" and have more impact from it.

Of course, if I start this and I feel like I just want a few more Liriope clumps to fill it out, I can just dig one up from the Sidewalk bed.  Honestly, I don't think they look right in there.

What else... if I find any Tulip bulbs during the excavation, I will pull them out and dry them and save them.

Oh, that fucking hedge bush thing.  I did a lot of pruning this evening, and it's crawling with these awful caterpillars that are making nests all over it.  So I want to get that spray Mike McGrath rec recommends for killing caterpillars and only caterpillars.  I think it's BT?  I think these are the things that turn into those bizzare awful tiny white moths that I saw last year. They were swarming it in June, and making it impossible to sit out there, during the few weeks I would actually like to hang out on my patio.

So let's buy some BT.  Or whatever it is.

Side Bed

Most of the work here is already done.  The roses are amazing, of course.  I still haven't taken the tags off, which is super tacky, so I should do that.  In the same effort, I should deadhead them so I get some more blooms soon.  I mean... should I fertilize them?  They seem like they're such rockstars they just don't need it, and in theory you shouldn't fertilize in the first year in general. They're probably so doped up already.  A little deadheading and pruning will probably be good for them.  And if I really feel like I need to do something, I can throw some compost on them.

Oh, I should finally cut back the Muscari.  They came up so late I didn't want to, and the leaves aren't really that upsetting to me.

A few days ago I just threw down some more Zinnia seeds.  I'm not sure if they will really grow.  The ones I started inside and transplanted are looking great.  One is already blooming, and the others all have nice buds.

The front of that area looks a little sad now that the creeping phlox is finished, so maybe I could just put a row of Vinca in there?

If I'm feeling really ambitious, I could try to divide those Hosatas.  They're nice in there, I think, but it's a little crowded.

I was thinking I could line the back with Liriope, but I'm thinking now that I'll want to keep it all in the front bed.  And seriously, I don't want to have too many different kinds of plants in there or it will look like a big mess.

The fern does not make any sense there.  I like the contrast in texture, but it's kind of right in the middle of things, and it's supposed to be a shade plant.  But because it's right up in there, I don't know how I could get it out without upsetting the rose.

There is a Gladiolus coming up in there that I missed when I pulled them all.  They are really not supposed to survive here, and we've had some fucked up winter.  It's quite far back, close to the house, so I guess it wasn't as bad there.  If that area is really that good, maybe I should use it for plants that are kind of on the edge of hardiness.  Yeah, the only things like that that I really want are Rosemary and Camellia, and they're plants that are really living above ground.  Just because there's a thermal gradient from the house that keeps the soil a little warmer doesn't mean the atmosphere around it will be that way.  But it's worth a shot.  In the fall, I could try planting the Rosemary there and see how it does.  It's probably just as likely to succeed as it would if I brought it inside.

I was thinking before that I would take some clumps of Liriope and make a nice little border with the 2nd raised bed.  I can't really plant much there, because I'll be walking around there, and it will get a lot of run off, but if I don't do something it will just be all weedy.  If I had unlimited money, I would put in some kind of Stepable, and some more of those stepping stones, so it would make a nicer little path.  I'll need to walk back there a lot when the Green Beans come in.

Patio

I really, really need to sweep this shit up.  I haven't done it yet because I know I'm just going to make more mess. And that's the same logic I apply to cleaning my house, which is why I live in filth.  But it will make a very big difference when I finally do that.

Of course, I have a lot of pre-compose in various containers.  That really big container I got from Costco is great, but I don't have a very good use for it.  I kind of thought about just filling it with sunflower seeds.  But where am I going to put it?  There is no room left in the Patio, I don't want it to just be this ridiculous mass of containers. At least not again.

I'm not even sure I can keep the Hibiscus in there.  I love that Hibiscus.  It's at least twice as big as it was when I bought it, and I'm so happy it survived the winter inside. It is a little tall and leggy, but I don't want to prune it.  I'm hoping it will leaf out more as it gets warmer and sunnier.  I'm pretty sure I should fertilize it at some point.  It's been in that same soil for almost a year now.  I guess I shouldn't expect to see buds yet.  It's a tropical plant.  I shouldn't even have had it outside for so long.  It's really a trooper.  And it wouldn't keep growing if it wasn't healthy, right?

Anyway, that giant pot will have to come inside and go up in the attic.  I don't have any good use for it, and I really don't have any space.  I will use that space next to the Patio Bed to store the trash bags full of pre-compost.

Beyond that, I just need to get all the crap out of there.  I've got some actual trash, so that should theoretically be easy to part with.  Then I've got a bag of mulch, which I may need after I rearrange the front bed.  I've got two nice ornamental grasses that I can't quite part with, so I will plant them in the Sidewalk bed.  In the plastic tubs, I've got a Liriope that I could just section up and plant in the Patio Bed, or use it in the front bed if I have the need.  And I've got a little extra potting mix that I will use to plant the Jalapeno.  And of course I've got the Tulips that I did pull, drying out so I can pack them.  I don't know, I wanted them to do that out in the sun, so if they were able to take in anymore sun, they could, and so they would dry faster.

Let's talk about this Gutter Garden.  It wasn't a bad idea.  It does look nice, all full of lettuce.  In the future, I'd get that started earlier.  I did transplant a few Nasturtium starts, and sowed the rest of the seed in there.  Some of the seeds have sprouted, so I think we're going to be ok.  But it's not all that sturdy, so when I water it, it just leans forward and dumps it out the front, like a shitty gutter.  So I think I need to do some triage.  I'll just drill some holes in the front, and zip-tie the front and loop it into the zip ties in the back, so it doesn't have so much play in that direction.  This is going to be impossible to keep watered in the summer, being so tiny.  You know, I know they were cheap, but for not a lot more money, I could have gotten a second thingy of Wooly Pockets, which would have filled the space really well and would be a lot more forgiving of watering issues.  Well, when thest become unmanageable, we can switch.  

Hey, so!  I also need to do something with that wall planter. Well, actually, I don't need  to do anything.  It's just there.  It's a very nice planter, it's quite big, I replaced the liner last year, it's one of those things that's up at eye level so it's very impactful.  It dries out like crazy, so before I do anything, I would want to line it with a trash bag or something, maybe something heavier.  (Cut a bunch of holes, obviously)  I bought one of those stupid spike things just for that purpose.  The rest could just be anything that spills over the side.  Petunias or Calibrocha would be the obvious choice.  And I would probably want to go with pink, maybe pink and yellow, to keep it in the right color palette.  Actually, what if I  just went all yellow?  That's a nice contrast to the pink inside the patio, and it would look good with all the purple that's in the front.  So if you're looking at the front bed, you'll still see this thing, and it will be a very nice contrast.  (I'll also have true blue Morning Glory all over the wall.)  Sure, if I find a nice flat of yellow petunia or calibrocha or both, I'll get that.  Eh, get whatever you can find.  If it's pink, or yellow, or purple, or blue, that's great.  I did Thunburgia last year, or maybe the year before, and it just got so long and spindley, it didn't look good at all.  But all I need is one thing, and like, 3-6 of them.

Sidewalk Bed

Oh my god, this whole thing.  Ok.  The Yarrow is doing phenomenal.  It's all big and full and bushy, it's so great.  I would like to put those last two ornamental grasses back in there.  One of the divisions we put in there is just a pile of dead stuff, so that will be easy to remove and quickly replace.

Like I said, I do not like the Liriope in there.  Of course, it's not so bad that I feel the need to do anything about it; that's a very low priority.  If it seems like something I can manage, I might start digging those up so I can use them in other places.

I will have lots of those red Daylilies to put in there, so that's exciting.  I think they will do well there.  Last year I put in some Lantana, which were very easy, they didn't really need any watering, they looked nice, everyone was happy.  I am really trying to not buy so much, but it might be worth getting a few and spreading them around.

The weed situation over there is insane.  I will definitely pull whatever I can this weekend, but I know it's a losing battle, and it will be a weed breeding ground for a while. The only way to prevent that is to fill it with plants, and I just can't do that yet.

Raised Bed

Well, not a lot to do here!  I should just put down some compost on top of everything, and pull weeds, and water.  I do have some Basil starts under the lights that I could transplant.  At this point, I'm not sure if they would do better or worse outside.


Other

I should sweep the sidewalk, to keep everyone happy.  Then I should just clean up the junk and make sure it looks nice on that little shelf.



So actually.  I'm going to designate Saturday afternoon to this, and Sunday morning.

Saturday- all the Front Bed stuff.  That's enough for day, seriously.

Sunday- deal with the Patio situation.