reclaim the garden - it's trying to turn back into a meadow

Sure, there are a few very bad areas still (cut flower box – anyone see any flowers there?) but overall it’s mostly weeded and no longer looks like a complete disaster.

I even got to replace a few plants that didn’t make it yesterday. Yay! (For replacing – not dead plants)

So I’m calling this part of garden world done.

Seriously. It’s record rain here and the garden is going insane. Some of the areas I’ve already hit look OK, while some look like they’ve completely reseeded.

But at least we had a few clear hours this weekend and I did some serious damage on some of the really bad areas – very roughly done, but at least the giant knee high weeds are done. If the pagoda flowers don’t come back after the rough weeding, things will be looking up.

But really. It needs to stop raining.

• the driveway purple garden
• the pond
• the vegetable boxes
• the main trapezoid

• the entry path
• the grape arbor area

• the triangle garden
• the kitchen window bed

• the catnip area
• the foxglove area

• the cut flower bed
• the redwood area
• the herb garden

I’m in the SF Bay Area. I grab a few minutes here and there between showers to try to get the weeds in front, but they’re multiplying pretty fast. There’s going to be some big cleanup projects when the weather breaks.

My climbing roses have shot out over the neighbor’s roof! I’m going to need a machete!

The poppers have started to disperse their seeds through their highly efficient explosion method. So now when I go to pull them up, not only do I spread seeds everywhere, I get seeds in my eyes. That hurts!

But, aside from the tragedy of reseeding, progress continues to be made. In fact, I may even allow myself to start to think about planting soon – if it ever stops raining.

The current situation

• the driveway purple garden
• the pond
• the vegetable boxes
• the main trapezoid

• the entry path
• the grape arbor area

• the triangle garden
• the kitchen window bed
• the catnip area

• the cut flower bed
• the redwood area
• the foxglove area
• the herb garden

Very little progress in any areas recently – it’s been wither too wet or too cold to do much outside.

I did manage to weed that third vegetable box – so that’s something.
But oh god the herb garden. It’s actually no longer clearly garden. Are there herbs there? Who could say? Weeds are about mid-calf if not higher.

And let’s not even discuss the whole area out the kitchen window. It’s a festival of weeds and self-seeders from last year and the catnip is beginning to run amok.

Sometimes one wishes one lived somewhere where snow covered all this up so one didn’t have to see the disaster. But then I’d have to watch blizzards tear my shrubs to pieces or something because I would have failed to wrap them in burlap for the winter….. or whatever it is you do.

This rain may shoot all my progress to hell, but at least it will make it easy to pull out roots again.
The poppers have not gone off yet, but lizards have been sighted moving very slowly. Can snakes be far behind?

• the driveway purple garden
• the pond

• the vegetable boxes
• the entry path
• the main trapezoid
• the grape arbor area
• the triangle garden

• the kitchen window bed
• the catnip area

• the cut flower bed
• the redwood area
• the foxglove area
• the herb garden

Some progress – but in the unweeded areas it’s getting really overgrown. And it’s not like this is the only thing that needs to be done out there!

It’s been so very Spring this week. Ro and I have been outside a lot and I’ve been carrying around an old laundry basket and weeding wherever he stops: talk about haphazard!

Little bits are getting done but the weeds are going wild with the warmth after all the rain- the poppers are getting ready to explode any minute – which is scary.

Also I need to get more stuff cleared before the snakes start waking up!

This here is the amount of weeding progress in each area:

1. the driveway purple garden: 1/5 done
 2. the herb garden: untouched and very grim
 3. the vegetable boxes: 2 out of 3 done
 4. the entry path: 1/2 done
 5. the main trapezoid: 1/4 done
 6. the pond: Done
 7. the cut flower bed: untouched 
 8. the triangle garden: 1/2 done
 9. the redwood area: untouched and scary
10. the kitchen window bed 1/3 done
11. the catnip area: 1/5 done
12. the foxglove area: untouched and insane

Well, it’s a start.

The baby and his daddy went to the park today and I went out and made a dent. But it is so bad out there. Those damn Popper weeds are everywhere and they are hard to pull out.

1. the driveway purple garden
2. the herb garden
3. the vegetable boxes
4. the entry path
5. the main trapezoid
6. the pond
7. the cut flower bed
8. the triangle garden
9. the redwood area
10. the kitchen window bed
11. the catnip area
12. the foxglove area
13. the grape arbor area

Oh my God – looking at that list stresses me out! Too much garden! Deep breaths!