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I'm naming it the 'Decade Garden'

As I mentioned in my previous crazy neighbors post, things are happening in the garden.

Fortunately, some of them are good things!

I bought my condo maybe 10 years ago now and I have been battling the crappy soil, demonic weeds, tenacious tree roots, grubs and slugs and snails and other creepy things ever since.

I've focused most of my attention on one spot near the driveway. The first year I whacked down weeds that were growing above my head, cleared it of construction debris, dug out old chunks of concrete buried in the ground, and cut down "weed trees"--those effing maples that grow anywhere and everywhere.

Every year since, I've pulled weeds, dug up roots, laid yards and yards of weed barrier and put down bag after bag after bag of new soil and enough mulch to fill a truck or two (lugged bag by bag weekend by weekend from Home Depot).

Over the years, my mom donated some healthy plants and rich soil from her own garden, supplemented with some plants I bought ... although none of them lasted and they're all dead and gone now.

RIP, good intentions.

It is a tiny space and yet it's been a huge job. But this spring I think I've (mostly) got the decade garden under control.

First, the before pictures from this year--I really wish I had thought to take before pictures starting that first year):


Pretty effing bleak.

I kind of skipped the fall clean-up last year. 

I split one of my hostas, which for some reason I thought would be a half hour job at most. Not so much--it took almost three hours and I broke my spade and nearly broke my back. The other one will have to wait till next spring to divide and multiply.

Here's the "during" photo at the start of day two.

Not a big fan of raking leaves--the mess on the left of the pic looks exactly the same four days later.
That's what next weekends are for.

Three bags of mulch--and it was barely enough for this small space.
Seriously--there's never enough effing mulch. 

Made a Home Depot run to replace the spade, buy mulch, gardening gloves, a heather plant and some other odds and ends. 

Will the heather live or die? Too soon to tell. 
Every time I go to Home Depot for a couple of things I end up spending $110--it's as bad as a trip to Target. 

I can't help it--I'm a good shopper. 


I got this bird bath (or feeder--it's pretty shallow) from a local  guy who makes them out of old dishes and  table legs.
Below it is one half of the split hosta.  


Got the little bluebird bird bath on Amazon last summer.
The birds have ignored it for a year but I saw one land on it today.
Yay!
And below it is the other half of the split hosta. 

Cement shell planter on the left was an estate sale score.
Solar lights from Target.
Slate in the foreground and mulch, mulch, mulch from Home Depot.
Wait, where was I before I started going on about shopping?

Ah, yes, my little "decade garden." Spring clean-up this year took me about four hours and half a vicodin on Saturday and another three-ish hours on Sunday (not counting the Home Depot run) to finish up.

Here are the after photos:

Well, mostly after ... if you ignore the leaves on the left and pretend I don't still have a couple of hours' worth of edging to do. :(
Also, it will look better when some of the plants fill in--but I'm still pretty pleased with myself.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of projects on my to-do list, none of them nearly as "easy" as this was.

Take my lawn ... please:

My entry into the World's Shittiest Lawn competition. Front, back, side--they all look like this.
Honest to God I have no freaking idea what is wrong with my lawn. I may have broken the rules and let Sadie pee on it a few times over the winter--but only when there was so much snow I didn't have any other choice but to shovel out a little square for her.

But that doesn't account for the fact that it's 72% weeds and crab grass. The rest is dirt. And grubs. I actually mow this shit! I wish I could just lay down new sod. It's pretty expensive, though, and not exactly a DIY project.

Some other areas in need of a little improvement:

In case there's any confusion, our house is not the one on the left, with the nice raised flower bed.
It's the one on the right with the nice strip of weeds. 

Um, it looks better in real life?

This one actually looks worse in real life.
I know--wah, wah, poor me. I guess I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it a little. Being out in the sun, getting some exercise, shopping, a sense of accomplishment, etc. These are all things I like. Honest. But I do get overwhelmed--I don't know how I will get it all done. (Does anyone know any nice, single landscapers?) 

But imagine how awesome it will look in 2023!

Other stuff:
I first met mulch in 2007. Our relationship has not matured since then: Look what the cat dragged in.