Getting Ahead of the Weeds This Year!

This morning was so very beautiful, after I wrote my posts I went out to our yard, to look at our flower beds. The last few years I have not done much gardening like I used to. The years that I was home raising the last two children and not employed out of the home, I used to do a lot of gardening, and got very ambitious and made a few too many flower beds, that since then I've had trouble keeping up with. I’ve been back in the work force full-time now (10 years), and my flower beds have really suffered, some years, more than others. Two reasons: 1) not motivated early enough to get into the beds before the weeds have come up, then it is such a much harder job. 2) not enough energy, I would add not enough time too, but you know how it is, if you really want to do something, you WILL find the time to fit it in. So, I may blame “no time”, but the truth is more “no motivation and no energy”. The key is that you need to get out there early, before your bed is overtaken by the weeds, you know how fast time goes, so unless you are really paying attention the time flies and before you know it, the beds look so bad, that your're overwhelmed! That’s what happens to me in the spring. But, maybe this year will be different.

This year I have been paying attention. That’s why this morning I went out and did some digging in two of the beds, until my back couldn’t take it anymore. By then, I was in the mood to go shopping for some more perennials. Each year I try to add some more. I stopped at three different Engwall places just to window shop and see what prices are this year. Since they are closer to my home, I will shop at them later, since they are local. Then I went over the hill to Home Depot and Shopko to look. I did buy some perennials there, Black Eyed Susans, because I don't see them at Engwalls. My sister (in PA) has them by their deck, and two years in a row I have added them, but they don't spread like they do for her, it must be our hard winters. I figure if I can just get them going in that bed, that would be one bed I wouldn't have as much trouble maintaining. I bought two shepherd hooks that I can hang planters on, they were on sale and I’ve always wanted to have one of those. When I was at Home Depot, the wind changed to cold, the sun went behind the clouds and it started to rain. All of a sudden, it was very ugly and cold. By the time I got to Shopko’s outside garden center the sun came out and it was a tad bit warmer. On my way home, it started to pour. It was raining, and now the sun is out again. A very funny day, weather-wise here today, now I’ve rested up from my shopping “spree”. I think I will go back to the flower beds, before they get away from me, with all the rain we are now getting. Maybe I can have a nice yard this year. (This photo is the bed with the day lilies)