Chemical free weeding

Boy oh boy! You thought my garden was bad, I think the front yard was worse. The house next to us is renters, and neither they, nor the owners, seem to care about the number of dandelions in the yard. The seeds drift over and make a mess of the yard. Hard to get too excited about weeding when you know you are going to have to do it over and over again.

Still....looking at the yard is beginning to drive me nuts. I see the weeds, the dead leaves from the daffodils, and it annoys me. I've been saying to myself for a month now "I need to weed" and I have just been putting it off. When walking into the yard causes me to shudder, I know it's time to just buckle down and do the job.

I was out there, clearing out dead leaves, pulling weeds, yanking grass growing where it shouldn't be. I dead-headed the daffy's in the late spring (they need to be dead-headed so they don't waste energy making the pod at the top where the flower was. You leave the leaves so they can gather energy for the bulb for next year, but eventually, even the leaves die off and need to be cut back. Meaning, you end up doing the same type of job twice!) but the leaves were creating an eyesore. The vinca is creeping into the beds where I don't want it, so that needs to be pulled out. The fern leaves are dying off from the previous year, and need to be cut back so the new growth can flourish. Not to mention grabbing fallen sticks from the trees above, and trash that people have tossed into my yard when they walk past.

Pulling, yanking, cutting. Pulling, yanking, cutting. Hubby was working on the fence gate, so I asked him to cut back the wisteria while he had the ladder out. Opps, wrong ladder! He goes and gets the right one, and hacks the bush back. Gather, gather, gather all the fallen vines.

Ah.....but now look at it! Pretty, and clean.

Granted, I didn't go the easy route. Spritzing some chemicals definitely would have been quicker. But spritzing chemicals leaves residue that can harm the butterflies that come into my yard. Possibly harm the bees that pollinate my garden and flowers. Not to mention the frogs! Frogs easily absorb chemicals, and I like having frogs in my yard, even if I rarely ever see them.

Nice, neat yard, with no guilt. Added benefit? This yard work counts as my exercise for the day! Ice cream, anyone?