Today was the day to Jump-Start the Yard. Bulbs have been popping up for weeks now — crocuses, miniature Dutch irises, and daffodils straining to bloom — and it was just plain ol’ time to get out there and chop down the dried grasses and rake out the old leaves and prune the roses and just generally speaking get things Ready.
This is going to be (in theory, at least) a busy year in the garden.
Most prominently, most of the remaining aspen trees have either died or are on their last gasps, so they need to be replaced. We’re looking at some different varieties of maple — nothing too much bigger than the aspens have gotten, but hopefully hardier.
The other major thing to do is work on our fence. The west side of the house needs a real fence and gate put up in front of the new area I cleared out last fall. And on the east side we want to move the fence forward quite a ways toward the front of the house, to turn that into usable play space for Kitten (and more garden beds). And by getting a gate put back up, it’ll be more secure for Kitten and for Jake/Dizzy, and quite a bit more attractive than it currently is.
If we can get that much done (and get it approved by the Yard Police, and rope Doyce into the fence-building thang), I’ll be extremely happy, come the fall.
Everything else — expanding garden beds, putting in some paving stones, do more planning and plotting for terracing in the back and steps in the front — would be icing on that cake.
Oh yeah… this is what I did today… cleanup…
If I get half of my plans completed for the garden this year, it will be a major acheivement.
I need a digital camera…
…pout…
I was going to do yard work too, until the head cold from hell took over. Have a free weekend, get a cold; isn’t that just the way!
Hope you feel better soon, Mary!
By the way, Jenn, those pics were from an on-line bulb catalog, not from my digital camera. 🙂