First Frost Expected Tonight!

Make sure to bring in or cover anything that won't make it!

Tis' the season

The focus today was on the grass. I did the following:

• Mowed the grass really short
• Hard raked the bad areas and did overall cleanup
• Overseeded (tall fescue everywhere but the street level..did rye there for the winter)
• Limed
• Fertilized
• Watered in

It's pretty big time...I hope something actually happens. :-)

Suggestion for a tree/bush by the pond

I want to tear out the red tip that sits at the end of my pond and I am looking for some suggestions.


It is the 8 foot tall bush/tree you see in the far left of this pic. I want to replace it with something that will provide some shade over that end of the pond but not grow any higher than the current tree/bush (I would take something shorter as well). I also have a bunch of shade loving plants behind it which I need to protect. It could be a bush or something. I was thinking Japanese Maple but that would be too much of a cliche to have that by the Koi pond.

While I am at it I could use some suggestions for something to help with the run off I am getting down that stone path. We are going to put in a stone wall at the bottom of the deck where the path starts but I need something running up the path and to the swing because when it rains that becomes a river. Bret and I discussed Ajuga and that is what I am going with until someone can suggest something better.

Lawn care

Aerating. Check.

First round of seeding. Pennington Fescue Grass Seed Blend Plus. Check.

Second round of seeding. Due October 15.

Natchez crape myrtle

The Natchez crape myrtle that was mushed by my pine tree has bounced back and is now about 3 feet tall. I have it in a pot but don't have anywhere to plant it. Does anyone want it?

Wisconsin Flora

For anyone interested in what the flora looks like in Northern Wisconsin.

Here is the backyard. Not sure how much of this is local besides the trees and ferns (they are everywhere and huge).















We took a hike on one of the thousands of local trails. There are bogs everywhere



















Here is some of the spongy ground around the bogs. You sink into it.














The water lilies where blooming and everywhere.

Another chunk of the 5-year plan

A big chunk of work was completed this weekend. Frankly, I'm pleased with how it turned out. So, let's start with an update to the plan.

As you can see, I did the section just to the right of the front door. Previously, it had 4 or 5 azaleas (which some were doing horribly and others did OK) and 2 other shrub type bushes which I can't identify. (Side note - these plants are available to you for the low cost of one lunch. See 40 Lunches in 40 Days. Actually, I probably wouldn't charge you, but it sounded good...).

When I took them out of the ground, it was rather obvious to me why they weren't doing well. The guy who lived here before us did a lot of things half ass. There was a black TV cable that literally ran exposed around our bonus room rather than going through the ceiling (it was a nice contrast to the beige carpeting). He painted the living room but failed to remove three picture hooks so when I removed them, I found different color paint underneath the hooks. My kids' bedroom ceiling was painted with one coat of paint so it looked horrible. And now, I yanked these plants out of the ground and found that the roots were intact as in still in one tight cluster like it had just been pulled out of the pot in which they were sold. I always thought that you were supposed to tear them to let the roots grow. Well, apparently, this guy didn't do that and now we know why they didn't grow well.

Back to the project. The replacement plants are:

• 1 Purple Pixie Loropetalum
• 4 Emerald N Gold Euonymus
• 4 Otto Luyken English Laurel
  

The first 5 plants were easy to find. Lowe's had them. The last one, the only ones I could find were rather expensive. I'm talking $79.99 for a good mature one. And since I need a total of 8, 80 clams each wasn't happening. I searched high and low and couldn't find them. Finally, I went back to the woman who did our plan and she sent me to a website, Carroll Gardens. There, I purchased 8 for $14.95 each plus shipping. Total bill was about $140.

This is how the eight plants arrived.



The unboxing...



Plants have been located.



Two for the show.



Frankly, I was fascinated by how they arrived, how they were tied up to prevent their movement, and how well they made the trip. I still have 4 in the box and I think I'm going to pull them out and put them in temporary pots, just so they're not deprived of sunlight for too long.

So now I had all the plants necessary. So, here's the starting point:



I started by weeding and taking out everything I had ignored for the past month and a half. As you'll notice, not a desirable growing thing in this picture.



After the weeds, out came the aforementioned azaleas and unknown shrubs (see note above about availability) were excavated. Then, I got rid of the grass. This part of the job is a huge pain in the arse, but I was able to re-use it for an earlier project where seed I planted too late had met an untimely demise. The result: dirt.



After adding peat moss (Allen's suggestion) and working it into the land, I placed the plants according to the plan (and then got Laura's approval since she's previously questioned my interpretation of the plan) and drank my first beer, a Molson Canadian, eh. Do note the image of my sweaty physique in the window.



In went the plants, on went the mulch, in went Andrew for a shower, out went Andrew with camera. Do note the non-sweaty image of my not so svelte physique in the window. Drank second Molson.



And a slighty different view.



Overall, I'm pleased. These plants are all easily trimmed and shaped and won't require much work, which is basically the whole point of our plan.