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Below - watch out for the stickers among these things. This is a pile of last year's six foot tall thistles that the owners of the house next door let get out of hand.
Getting rid of the ones that had spread to my yard didn't do me much good so I went ahead and pulled all of the old ones from last year, getting filled with cockle-burrs in the process, not the least bit fun. It took me almost an hour to get them all off of my clothes, hat, and skin - not to mention my hair (OUCH!).
Then I mixed up a concoction I read about on line (vinegar, salt, and Dawn dish soap) and gave my own yard in that area a good dosing with it. If it works I'll have a dead place right there but it's better than six foot thistles.
Next on my agenda was finally getting around to edging my sidewalks. Below is 'before'. Over the years my yard has grown higher than the sidewalk. Grass clippings and dirt from the snow removal piles have started to fill in the edges of the yard/sidewalk, over-growing it with new turf.
In the below photo you can see the beginnings of progress on this project.
And this (below), my friend, is what I've been wanting to see. That's probably about three inches of sod above the level of the sidewalk, mm-hmmm.
I have a plan for that space, I tell you true. But before I can proceed with it, I have some collecting to do, yes indeed I do! And some basic supplies to buy. And some time to do it. And several days of really nice weather.
It will get done this summer, though, watch me. I have to remember to stop in at the old Strata place next time I'm in the Forks. I don't think it's a Strata division any more, but the products ought to be about the same - and I have a certain thing in mind that those guys, if anyone, will have or get for me. It will be the sixth of next month before I get up that way, but the timing ought to be just about right if they have what I need on hand. Which I'm betting they will.
So it's been a kind of busy day. For much of the afternoon, while I was cutting the turf from the sidewalk with a flat spade and carrying it to places that need a bit of building up, I had as company a couple of the most charming little boys I've ever met.
Chattering away to beat the band, they were excellent company and made my job actually sort of fun. They helped me load my little red wagon and the littler one (age 4) walked alongside to keep the top turfs from falling off. He had to pick up a couple, and we laughed.
A bunch of the pieces went to fill an old stump hole; the rest went into the front flower beds (flower-less, alas).
The trees, however, are not flowerless.
Lilac
Honeysuckle
Chokecherry
All of the above plus Flowering Crab
I don't have Flowering Crab any more although they used to be in the mixed hedge between my house and the little house next door. Some years ago some outsiders moved into the little white house and, while I was working dark to dark (work hours, not including commute time) on road-building projects, they one day cut the whole entire hedge down, including the lilacs and the Flowering Crab trees. I could have shot them but didn't have the time or the energy. Those were the ones who informed me that they believed everyone ought to get rid of their grass lawns, pour their yards with concrete, and paint it green. And I do believe they were serious.
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