Sunday, July 24, 2011

Hedge fund gone!

Privet hedge, that is.

PRIVET
Saturday in the (relative) cool of the morning, I was still feeling the glow from figuring out the sunroom leak problem.  Being in a positive attitude, I decided to tackle something I meant to take care of last year, but I let go because I'd spent weeks refinishing the deck instead.

Three years ago (Spring 2009) I Wintersowed privet seeds and ended up with a dozen or so plants.  Not having plans where to put them I dug them in this compost bin and let them be.  Well, now they are big and I don't want them (privet being not only an invasive species, but not all that attractive to boot).  I figured since the raspberries pulled up easily after the big rain, why not the privet?

And indeed they did.  They pulled up like tall weeds.  The soil shook right off the roots with no prob.  (Amazingly only 4 days from the big rain, the soil was not wet, in fact barely moist!) But it was nice and loose and I only had to use the shovel a couple of times, just to lever out the 3 plants whose roots had taken hold in the rock pile behind.  In all it didn't take me more than 30 minutes to clear the bin.

I will compost the privet.  But I did save/pot up the (also WS'd) beauty berry bush for future relocation.

Then I amended the bin with fresh compost and organic fertilizer and (finally!) planted my last 2 Ambrosia melons.  The whole project was done in less than an hour - just as the sun was turning the world into a steam bath.  *pant*


REPURPOSED BIN
Soaked to the bone (even my socks were wet), I squished back to the house to spend the rest of the day in the a/c.  I wouldn't come back out until evening when I made myself start mowing.

Why is the grass growing when it's so hot??  These brief storms aren't letting it go dormant.  Well, I'm not really complaining - much.  I view grass clippings like green gold.  My garden beds are all created by newspapers and grass clippings.  Nothing that you see in these pics could have been accomplished without it.  Still, a gal would like to get a week off now and then! *pant, again*

3 comments:

  1. Good job on the privet. I just have one, golden vicaryi and I love it.

    I wait for a good soak rain to do more weeding and this year after a good deep watering.

    No mowing here.

    We have now added the chickens to the watering list!

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  2. Glenda - I, too, love the bright color of golden vicary and plan on putting a couple in front of the front porch in future. The common privet was fun to WS from seed, just for the experience. Easy to see, though, why the shrub (like bush honeysuckle) is such an invasive species.

    Glad you've got the chickens on the list! We're all hoping for the jet stream to get out of Canada and get back here where it belongs!

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  3. It's been hotter than hellfire here and the only gardening I've done is water the pots at midnight and move the hose from one soaker hose to another! You're out attacking the shrubbery? That's awesome!!! Thank God for a/c!!!

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