Well, this Saturday I decided would be the day. Long-threatening come at last. I was going to conquer my “backyard.” Ironic quotes intentional both because of its sized (about 100 square feet all told) and because it was such a patch of nothing special. When I had first moved in, there were the remains of what had been the previous tenants koi pond. I had asked that they remove it. I don’t have the patience for koi, and it would have just become a mosquito breeding ground under my care. They had left a rickety Jerry-built awning that I tore down last year because I was afraid that it would fall on someone (the doves that had been using it as a covey have been giving me the dirt eye ever since). What remained back there was a pile of pavers, a large pot that someone had done a spectacularly unsuccessful crackle-paint job on, an unused satellite TV dish and 3 bags of compost. And dead weeds. Lots and lots of dead weeds.
And that was one of the big motivators to get back there and start hauling away. Last year I had no less than 3 pig weed plants in my backyard (one as tall as me), and I’m HIGHLY allergic to pig weed (like ragweed, only bigger and uglier). I just think it’s probably a bad idea to let something that makes me itch, tear and sneeze grow right under my bedroom window. I’m sharp like that.
With that in mind, my first job was to clear out all the dead weeds, and the sneaky new-comers that were popping up. Then I used the old bags of compost to flatten out things a bit. And since things back there have an unfortunate tendency to slope directly toward my kitchen door, I dug a small trench and lined it with bigger stones, to try to encourage water to drain towards the side. Then, I sprayed the whole thing with Round Up, and laid down a guaranteed 15-year weed barrier, just so weeds got the idea that they were no longer welcome, thank you very much. My initial impulse was to salt the ground so that NOTING WOULD GROW THERE EVER AGAIN – MUU-WAH-HA-HA! But a plant loving friend convinced me that would be a fairly evil thing to do. Fine.
Then I was going to spread pea gravel as a base and put down river rocks on top. But once I had the pea gravel started, it reminded me of the beach at Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point to we gringos) in Mexico so much I kind of fell in love. I was already kind of in a Mexico frame of mind because on one of my trips to Loewe’s I had seen this candy-colored pottery planter and had an immediate case of the I-wants. So I’m creating my own little south-of-the-border hideaway. A friend has offered me a Mexican sun wall ornament. And, funnily enough, Mexican crap is easy to find here in Dallas. Add a few brightly colored chairs and a bucket of Coronas, tequila, some salt and a lime, and it will be fiesta time.
16 bags of pea gravel, 8 bags of red lava and one soar back later and I was pretty happy with my Saturday’s work. I think I may need one or two more bags of rock, but otherwise I’m on to the fun decorating bit. Nice. So here’s a pic of Puerto Julia – or at least the start of it (the vase is over in the corner waiting for a little friend to keep it company):
And that was one of the big motivators to get back there and start hauling away. Last year I had no less than 3 pig weed plants in my backyard (one as tall as me), and I’m HIGHLY allergic to pig weed (like ragweed, only bigger and uglier). I just think it’s probably a bad idea to let something that makes me itch, tear and sneeze grow right under my bedroom window. I’m sharp like that.
With that in mind, my first job was to clear out all the dead weeds, and the sneaky new-comers that were popping up. Then I used the old bags of compost to flatten out things a bit. And since things back there have an unfortunate tendency to slope directly toward my kitchen door, I dug a small trench and lined it with bigger stones, to try to encourage water to drain towards the side. Then, I sprayed the whole thing with Round Up, and laid down a guaranteed 15-year weed barrier, just so weeds got the idea that they were no longer welcome, thank you very much. My initial impulse was to salt the ground so that NOTING WOULD GROW THERE EVER AGAIN – MUU-WAH-HA-HA! But a plant loving friend convinced me that would be a fairly evil thing to do. Fine.
Then I was going to spread pea gravel as a base and put down river rocks on top. But once I had the pea gravel started, it reminded me of the beach at Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point to we gringos) in Mexico so much I kind of fell in love. I was already kind of in a Mexico frame of mind because on one of my trips to Loewe’s I had seen this candy-colored pottery planter and had an immediate case of the I-wants. So I’m creating my own little south-of-the-border hideaway. A friend has offered me a Mexican sun wall ornament. And, funnily enough, Mexican crap is easy to find here in Dallas. Add a few brightly colored chairs and a bucket of Coronas, tequila, some salt and a lime, and it will be fiesta time.
16 bags of pea gravel, 8 bags of red lava and one soar back later and I was pretty happy with my Saturday’s work. I think I may need one or two more bags of rock, but otherwise I’m on to the fun decorating bit. Nice. So here’s a pic of Puerto Julia – or at least the start of it (the vase is over in the corner waiting for a little friend to keep it company):
4 comments:
Maybe you could use different colored-rocks to make a beautiful rock garden - like blue to represent water and make a flow-y path sort of thing?
Also, beware the round-up because it has been known to cause Lymphoma (although I never used the stuff, so don't know how I got it). I'm still on the look out for "environmental" weed killer because I have some nasty ones that just won't go away and I have sprayed round-up on them (I wore a mask and plastic gloves). I've tried vinegar too. Nothing works!
I'm using the last of the Roundup (I had a bottle of it before I heard all the nasty things about it, and it's either use it or dump it, and I'd feel bad dumping it), then I'm going to switch to an organic recipe that I got from the local garden talk guy called the Dirt Doctor http://www.dirtdoctor.com/). He uses a vinegar with some other stuff:
Vinegar Herbicide Formula:
1 gallon of 10% vinegar
Add 1 ounce orange oil or d-limonene
1 teaspoon liquid soap or other surfactant (Bio Wash)
Add molasses at 1 tablespoon per gallon to the vinegar formula
Do not add water.
I love the painted rocks idea. It could add some really fun color. More pics as the picture "develops."
i think you can skip the molasses from his reipe - i just do vinegar, dish soap and water - spray in a sunny, not windy day - leave
I wondered about the molasses. If he turns up at the GWA meeting next fall, maybe you can ask him. I think I'll skip it in the first round. Not that I don't always have molasses on hand. I'm a southern girl, after all. But, I think it might stain my deck.
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