Not only have I been slacking off when it comes to blog posts, but I haven’t done anything in the garden for days, maybe weeks. Well it’s a new year and time to shape up! So today I finally got my hands dirty.
When coming back from a short walk with Milo, bits of Bermuda grass poking through the broken stems of buckwheat (I’ll fill you in on the broken stems of buckwheat next time) stopped me in my tracks. Every time I see that stuff it almost feels like an annoying itch. No gloves, no work cloths, just me and my determination – and a hand trowel – started digging it out. Each time I got the whole root out of the soft, moist soil, I was overcome with a delightful feeling – gottcha! Just like scratching an itch.
Now I can just hear my friend, Bart O’Brien (Director of Special Projects at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden) saying, that’s why I used Roundup and got rid of the nasty stuff before I landscaped my yard. Yes, but in addition to my aversion to herbicides, I also get this weird rush from yanking my enemy out by the roots. I know I have not won the war. The Bermuda is on the run but I will not let it get away from me. New year’s resolution: get that weed!
Can’t leave you without posting a few pictures of plants that are just starting to flower in my garden. The manzanitas are getting going, and the fuchsia-flowering gooseberry has a small number of flowers.
Sentinel manzanita (Arctostaphylos ‘Sentinel’)
Lester Rowntree manzanita (Arctostaphylos ‘Lester Rowntree’)
Fuchsia-flowering gooseberry – oh how I love thee! (Ribes speciosum)
Happy New Year to all. Wishing you peace and joy in your garden and your life.
I can so relate to scratching that itch. This is an herbicide free zone too. I felt the same way last spring grabbing our French Broom by the roots, and grinning every time a plant finally released its stranglehold on the soil. Once the rain lets up for a bit, I need to look for more broomlings and pull them before the sun encourages them grow again. I can't believe your gooseberries are
French broom is a formidable adversary! Hats off to you.
Spraying Round Up to eradicate Bermuda grass is like preparing a TV dinner. <br />Is it fast? Yes. <br />Will you hungry after? Nope. <br />Was it good for you? That's debatable. <br />One things for sure, you're going to get hungry again.<br /><br />I'm sure O'Brien's neighbors have enough Bermuda grass to send 50,000+ seeds over into his yard on one good breezy 15 minutes. <