Week 14 of 52 - Spring has Sprung!

Every Spring, I declare it my favorite season.  Then a few months pass, the beautiful fall colors and crisp days descend, and I waver in my declaration.  But as for today, I am delighting in the birth of new flowers and green leaves, the bees buzzing and the morning dew shining.

When we bought our home, there was nothing – this multitude of wild onions, some scrubby boxwoods, a poorly-placed star magnolia, and a handful of grass seed tossed over the builder’s shoulder as he spun out of the drive.

Our adventures in yard work were initially fueled by those beautiful second trimester hormones.  During my pregnancy with George, I tied ropes around those scrubby boxwoods and pulled them out with my Toyota Rav4… my mechanic brother just shook his head and said it’s a wonder I didn’t blow it up.

We’ve learned a lot since then.  Most importantly, we budget far in advance.  Spring comes every year – it’s no surprise the maintenance expenses will follow.  Here are the top lessons learned…

• *Invest in a  landscaping class.  We took a continuing-ed class and learned we’d spent $400 on trees, plants, and plant bed accessories that were bad choices (and time proved this to be true).  Just because Lowes sells it, doesn’t mean we should buy it.
• *Over-invest in top soil and compost.  We spent 3 years trying to till and coax this red clay with a few bags of dirt.  It wasn’t until we called in the dump truck from a local nursery that we saw a difference.
• *A Toro Dingo can make light work of digging holes for trees.  At first, we gasped at the $150 price tag for a ½ day rental at our local Ace Hardware.  Then we calculated how much time it would take for W to dig 25 holes that size and realized his time (and the health of our marriage) was more valuable than that - quite the bargain!
• * Local gardening stores are the bomb-diggity.   We’ve found plants and shrubs at 1/3 the price of our local big box store.  Just last night, I saw a particular perennial at Home Depot for $4.96.  I paid $10… for SEVEN of them.
• *Look around for freebies.  We have planted 3 Eastern Red bud trees and 4 Eastern Red Cedars just by looking in the ditch and property adjacent to ours.  I also rooted a fig tree from our neighbor’s magnificently huge tree.  Yes, I got permission from our neighbor first!  

 (Terribly harsh lighting, but sometimes it's just about capturing the moment).

We still have so much to learn.  We haven’t tackled growing grass yet.  We just mow our clover and hope all the green blends together.   My dad raises beef cattle and to successfully do that, you need be just as successful in growing grass.  He wisely scanned our yard and pronounced that we still needed a ton of lime.  He was being literal… back to the budget. 

 

Happy Spring!