Spring clean-up

It was lovely here this last weekend. The temperatures were in the high 40’s and 50’s and Saturday was beautiful and sunny. We took advantage of the day and started our spring clean up.

I want to take this moment to tell you about one of my worst gardening faux pas. Several years ago we realized we had termites. One night as we sat quietly watching a movie, Jackaroo suddenly leaped onto the couch peering over the side alerting us that something was amiss. We realized the floor was moving with millions of termites. EEEWWWWWWWW! Extremely disconcerting to say the least. Apparently in the spring termites hatch and a swarm leaves the nest in search of a new place to start a colony. They just couldn’t find a way out of our house.

We hired an exterminator and they got rid of the vermin. But, they told us we should not use mulch in the gardens next to the house because it might attract more termites. Who would want that to happen. Well certainly not us!

So we got some gravel and replaced the mulch. For a time I was ok with it but the honeymoon was short lived. So here is my upper garden with the ugly stones.

I hate the way it looks and it keeps my flowers from growing well. So Saturday I decided that was it. Termites be damned! They’ve been gone for years and this garden is next to the deck not against the house. The stones are history! I am also going to pull up that landscaping cloth and replace it with cardboard. Just my way of leaving less plastic behind in the world. And I am going to use mulch!

This is one of my favorite gardens. It’s full of day lilies my sister dlyn gave me plus a really nice peonie that was here when we bought the house. My one rose bush is there too and I also have a bunch of daffodils and crocus growing there. I think while I am working this garden I am going to add a clematis too. I hope to have the finished garden for you to see in a couple months.In the meantime we will be continuing to clean up the winter and hopefully we will see the last of it soon. Its been a long one.