There was a large overgrown flower bed outside my back door. It's between the house and the shed. It was so overgrown I could barely see the shed from the bathroom window. It contains Peonies, Irises, Hosta, Phlox, False Solomon Seal, Honeysuckle, and white Lilac.
There is also blackberry, raspberry, wintercreeper euonymus, goldenrod, black walnut saplings, maple suckers, and poison ivy, all of which I pulled out with ruthless abandon.
The Hosta/Peony/Phlox end of the bed is overgrown and needs to be divided (by quarters!) but that has to wait for fall. The Honeysuckle/Lilac end of the bed needed to be pruned after flowering.
I have read,( and seen), that you can rejuvenate old lilacs by cutting them back HARD. I took a deep breath and started cutting back. And cutting back.
It was a long work in progress, because I'd do a little when I'd get home from work. There's no great before pictures - just imagine a lot of green blocking one building from being able to see the other.
As of last night, I only need about 4 more bags of mulch, and I think this bed is done until the dividing.
 |
| View from the shed. That whole mulched area was just a tangle of plants. I've put brown craft paper under the mulch to act as a biodegradable weed barrier. I'm hoping it slows the poison ivy, forcing it to struggle, so I can see it and pull it easier where it emerges. |
 |
| View from the house. I'm hoping I didn't murder the lilacs and the honeysuckle. The honeysuckle can be invasive, so if I killed that, I won't be sad. But I will be a bit miffed with myself if I killed the lilacs |
No comments:
Post a Comment