Small Tidbits At The Bamboo Lagoon

Progress on a few projects have been slow but I have been knocking out a few little things where I can.

Before

The St John's Wort was trying to take over the steps on the left side of the house again so I worked on that as I could, also cleaning out the side beds of any grass or weeds that I saw creeping through. Due to weather, this took me a few days to finish when normally it would be a short afternoon project.

This pic was taken when I had already gotten a few steps done. Since cleaning this up, I have sprayed the crevices with vinegar, which will have to be redone periodically but it does keep the weeds under control without being bad for the environment. I have two pump sprayers and one is for vinegar and one is for brush killer.

After

I have to use brush killer (which isn't good for the environment) on the blackberry, and small oak trees that keep creeping back up. It is unfortunate but other than burning the blackberry (which isn't an option) getting rid of it permanently is pretty hard to do. I have a huge section of it in the upper backyard that needs attention before it becomes a completely out of control. I have been waiting for the flowers on another weed to die so I wouldn't have to deal with the wasps that were all over the place. Now that the flowers are dead, it is time to get those weeds pulled out and the blackberry dealt with. The backyard is a little bit overwhelming for me so I am trying to just focus on small projects rather than the whole big issue that is a lot to deal with at one time.

I got some more mulch from my mom recently and I have mulched the bed that the new bamboos are in, which has really helped with the moisture retention of that area. It was a sloped bed and everytime I tried to water it, the water would run off before it would soak in. Now the bamboos are much happier and it makes the watering much easier and much more effective.

I also finally got the little bed in front that I created months ago, mulched and the plants there are so happy too. I have cut back the daffodills and other early blooming annuals that are done for the year so it is a bit cleaner as well.

I need to take pics of some of the blooming items. Just found some cool looking Chinese Poppies in the backyard but that is for another post.

I feel like I lost my momentum when I finished the main middle bed in the front yard, but I am trying to get back at it and not let the procrastination get the best of me. There is a lot of work to do to get the place back up to snuff but I think that once it is back where I need it, maintenance won't be too bad....it is just the catch up that is killing me.