Well phase one of the mulch project went so well that it has grown into phase two. Phase two swung over to the other side of the house to improve the front entrance, to perk up the poor plants that we have planted here in the sand, and to cover a plethora of uglies perpetrated by the previous owners. These two photos are the before pictures.
We seem to go to extremes, to quote Billy Joel... Our "lifetime" house, the one that we never planned to sell, but New York state had other plans for, had soil that was 75% rocks. That rock soil was totally shaded by trees, creating a complete shade garden, definitely a gardening challenge. This house has a 90% sand soil, well maybe 80% sand, 10% oyster shells, and 10% organic matter would be a better description of the soil. It is like the Sahara, you can water it forever but there is not enough organic material to hold the moisture.....hence we are mulching. It is pretty ironic that we are surrounded by water, but the the soil is completely arid. Not the best for gardening. Anyway, the mulch will break down over the next two years to enhance the soil with organic matter. It should make some good garden soil when all is said and done.
So, that is what phase two was and continues, placing the pine bark mulch just about everywhere weeds could grow. It then expanded to cover very ugly landscape problems like a giant tree stump to the left of the brick walkway, portions of the lawn that for some mysterious reason has landscape fabric underneath it, weed filled garden beds and a design to simplify lawn mowing.
Well, it was a booming success, much to our surprise. I stupidly didn't forsee or bother to identify some of the problems it solved, until we were in the middle of the project, so the whole process was a pleasant surprise. It is still evolving, but I have some good pictures to share. The garden is filled with lots of spring bulbs in various stages of bloom, so that intensified the whole look, much for the better.
At this point there isn't too much not blooming in the garden, that is a joy. Apple trees, cherry trees, pear trees, red bud trees, lilacs, spring bulbs, and now the irises are coming to a head, all are blooming.
The yard is yellow with all of the pollen. It is shocking and nusance, but hey it is better than snow or city clatter. A house wren showed up to move into my pottery bird house. Thank goodness, I was worried I didn't have any men interested in setting up house to attract a lady friend. I was wrong, a fella showed up about five days ago and he has set out to fille the house up with attractive living quarters. Hopefully he is a fastidious as he seems, and a lady will move in with him. Yesteday I took a taco chip that fell on the ground and I crushed it into pieces which I put in the birdfood platform feeder next to his bird house. He came out of the house and he went into the feeding platform and picked out each section of taco chip and threw it over the edge of the dish onto the ground. He did this systematically until all pieces were removed from the feeder. I just had to laugh. Spring is definitely here and it feels good for a change!
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