Fall Yardwork

This weekend was time to start getting the yard cleaned up, which means raking leaves. But more than anything, I needed to cut down the remaining hostas on the sides of the house by the neighbor’s driveway. This was all mixed in between listening/watching the Packers game against the Dolphins.

The hostas didn’t take too long, but the leaves did. Normally I try to just bag everything with the lawn mower but there were just way too many leaves. I will say that one of the best decisions we made was putting up the fence. Since we had to move it in off the lot line because of electric lines, I have about four or five feet of property on the opposite side of the fence that I need to take care of. While raking leaves on that side of the fence, I also raked up a couple of plastic bags, a candy wrapper, a tennis ball, and a couple of balls of aluminum foil. That is stuff that would have been in my backyard without the fence. I really need to snap another picture of the garage next door... But I digress.

After the hostas were cut down, I needed to put the plastic window well covers on to try an minimize the amount of leaves that we get in there. They also help once the snow comes, especially when the snowblowing starts. By the time I had finished with the leaves and the hostas, etc. the Packers game was over and I really didn’t miss much.

I also reset all the mousetraps around the foundation of the house. I hadn’t caught any in a while, so I don’t know if that means it is getting too cold for the mice or if I have simply wiped them out. Though with the garbage dump next door, I am sure that I will have plenty more opportunities at killing mice. Lately it has only been moles that are being snapped in them, though I think if I had to guesstimate a total since summer, I would be in the neighborhood of 40-50 mice and moles caught.

Raking

I have finally finished raking the grass. I am at least a week behind with where I want to be. I should have my first round of fertilizer down already. Hopefully I’ll get in on the grass this weekend, depending on the forecast for when it is next going to rain. I finished up the back grass last weekend, and ended in the rain. I was about 15-20 minutes from finished when the rain started. So the last couple of days have been pretty decent, so I tried to get the front yard done, though getting home at 5:30 p.m. didn’t give me much time. I was able to, luckily, split it between Thursday and Friday. Every year I say it, but I really wish I could wipe out the lawn and start fresh. The ground is uneven, and there are about (3) different types of grass in the front. I’m doing my best to reseed and get some sort of coherence but as much as I would like it, I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Time for Yard Work

It is the middle of April and I am lagging with my yard work already. I should be out raking the grass, getting ready to seed and fertilize. But the crummy weather and cold is keeping me from doing it. It was sunny this past weekend (Easter) but it was also only about 45 degrees outside. The result is that I wasted some good, sunny, and most important, dry, weather because it was cold. Normally by the third week of April I am putting the first round of fertilizer down and working on the low spots or bare spots with grass seed, getting the mower ready, etc. Hopefully we’ll get a break soon. This week the temps aren’t supposed to get over the mid to upper 40s, so I may be forced to start raking. Also, the ground is still pretty damp. In fact we had some sleet this afternoon. When the sun has been out, it has been cold, and when it has been warm enough to actually be outside, it has been raining. It’s really getting frustrating!