I got a jump start on spring clean-up today. It’s been on my brain for the last couple of weeks. I start my cancer medicine this week. I’m supposed to get fatigue with it…and Spring clean-up is not for the faint of heart. I did more than usual last fall, so I knew I had some done…but still plenty to do. I wanted to get a start and I did exactly that this morning.
A friend of mine offered to help, and I was even more excited to start tackling it. Here’s what we got done. The north side of the house is all in shape. I’ll be planting a row of impatiens along the front.
Over the weekend, I gave my daughter, Kalissa, a blank check and asked her to pick up potting soil and red wood chips. She did, and then Craig unloaded them for me. It’s stuff I really shouldn’t be lifting anymore.
There was a bunch of spilled dirt out front, left over from last Fall. I cleaned that up and checked over the plants there…all good.
The guy who cleans my driveway hooked the grass here at the junction of my driveway and sidewalk. That got cleaned up the best we could. Hopefully some rain will settle it down and get the grass growing again.
The Kramer rock is mostly cleaned. I have to get a few more leaves out of there, but all of the plants are trimmed back.
The landscaping around the fence is all good.
Along the north side of the house, where my hostas grow, is all cleaned up.
All of the refuse, so far, is in the garden in a pile…
I still need to put the bark out at the front of the house…fill a couple of planters with soil…take care of the north side of the house…trim the asparagus…and clean out the compost behind the back garage…But I have a good start and am so happy with that!!
My friend said they would come another day and help me finish up. I’m hoping to get a little more done on my own before then. We’ll see. Today was a wonderful, beautiful day, and then the weather turns icky again. There is still time. I keep reminding myself it’s only March. I have all of April before I need to worry about planting anything. In the meantime, the progress makes me feel like it’s all doable. I’m always a little sad that my body gets older, and what once was an easy task is a little more challenging. I’m not ready to give up my flowers yet, though…and having a friend to help with the task makes it all doable!!
I am not ready to give up the flowers yet, either. My husband helps a lot with lifting although he told me he is not bringing big bags of soil and compost home anymore. I have kitchen compost which helps a lot. It is too cold and wet to do any outdoors work yet. Hope my garlic comes up.
You and your friend accomplished much and it looks great around your yard/house. Of course when you have all the beautiful flowers planted it will look great because you always do such a beautiful job with the flowers and garden.
Having a friend to work with and helping get it done is always nice. I’ve been doing a little weeding and I bought some delphiniums yesterday, the color was so pretty. I’ve never grown them before. I started growing elephant ears last year so I bought some of those yesterday too. Hugs,
It’s always easier to work with a friend to visit with while working. How nice of them to give you a hand. With such nice weather we started to rake and clean up our yard also. Planting season is coming.
Yes it is good to have a friend to help. We started cleaning up last week, any day there isn’t rain we get outside. The property we bought last fall hasn’t really been maintained garden wise for ten years. They just cut the lawn. There was gravel all around the pool that has weeds growing all through it so we’ve been tackling that as well as cleaning up along our very long driveway to the house. We planted about 20 hydrangeas last fall and bought four more yesterday. We are planting them along the driveway and sitting them all over the hillside. It should look pretty this summer when they start blooming. We’ve also got all the raised boxes in our veggie garden ready for planting. We have five new raised beds and cleared the original four that were solid weeds. It sure looks good. wWe have four of us here to do the work, it’s not all on me.
You and your friend accomplished so much and jobs like that go faster (it seems) when you have help and someone to chat with. I’m not ready to give up my flowers either and I can only plant in pots on my apartment patio. I have to have my hands in the dirt. I’ve told my family that when I’m not able to have flowers or plants anymore that is the time to put me in a nursing home. lol
I wish I could grow violets like you do. That is one plant I struggle with. Any other plant I do fine with and my houseplants grow me out of my living space!
Keeping you in my prayers with your cancer journey.
We bought a house with the smallest yard of our lives. I have one tiny area for flowers. It is wonderful! I put a row of potted flowers along our long front porch. My husband just cleaned out around our one front tree where the grass had overgrown the rocks there. That is all we need to do!
Last year we were blessed with a huge crop of volunteer sunflowers that grew from crushed flowers that I mashed the fall before. Hopefully, the seeds I scattered will grow again. It was so sweet how those sunflowers were loved by so many neighbors and friends.
Hats off to you, dear Jo! Yard work does get harder each year. I am 78 now and this does not get easier. Yet, I am as happy as I ever have been. You are living so wisely to get done what you can right now. My best to you!