I had an hour and a half extra today to get something done after lunch break. Prissy wanted to sleep out front on the porch swing, so I decided to take a good look at fall cleanup for the front garden and area by the sidewalk I’d been ignoring.
Realizations
The area by the street should be my first priority to clean up and get looking nice. My neighbors are wonderful people who don’t complain but I like them, so I should plant nice things.
Today’s accomplishments
I pulled out the dead mums, cleaned up some dry grassy stuff from flowers in front, removed dried up hosta leaves, identified all the plants, pulled up the green foxtail, horseweed, crabgrass, Asiatic dayflower and everything that was overhanging the street or driveway, and cut back the peonies, which have powdery mildew. I also took out a small walnut tree that was growing too close to the house. Not bad for an hour’s work!
Plans
- Get a wooden bridge to cover/replace the broken concrete sidewalk leading in from the gate. The surface roots of the maple tree aren’t a problem that’s going to go away, so might as well have a pretty solution!
- Get mulch for the beds in front of the fence, though use it sparingly since bearded iris want to have exposed tubers (I believe)
- Supplement the stonecrop under the redbuds with a complementary species–there are some bare spots to fill in.
- Divide the gigantic hosta by the front porch.
- Dig up the New England asters from the beds in front of the fence and move them to a sunny spot in the back where they’ll be happier. Keep an eye out for something shade-loving to go in their place.
- Prune the Japanese spirea so it’s just a little tame.
