I came home from work after toting heavy, soaking wet mulch, bag by bag down a mountain and thought, it stays light until 9. I'll go pull weeds for half an hour. Two and a half hours later I finally stopped. I have become obsessed with making a major dent in the removal of the unwanteds from the garden becoming this year. This year, not this decade.
Areas that have received more regular attention over the years are already showing signs of gardenhood. I ventured further out this afternoon and concentrated on a major nemesis, the steel rooted Clematis virginiana vine.
The steel rooted clematis is everywhere. There is a ton of it on the slope below the roadside vegetable garden. I'll get to that eventually.
I started weeding by the back service entrance and ended up much lower down the slope near the Creation. The clematis is so thick down there it forms a nearly pure stand. By the time I was done stomping through and weeding there wasn't much left in my wake.
Are you nuts? Am I really going to try to weed this whole slope of this obnoxious steel rooted vine by hand?
I think I am ready to surrender. It is time to kill these pure stands chemically. I can start editing this section again when the new crop of Lush returns. There is no shortage of clematis around that will still need hand weeding.
I'll keep weeding because I am nuts.
I am making progress though. The composition of the tall flower meadow has already begun to change. I want to have more wildflowers like this Silene virginica that was dug out of a gravel driveway that is regularly mowed. I want less to none of the Clematis virginiana that climbs on top of everything and smothers it.
I want semi-tamed slopes with interesting groundcovers and self seeded Joe Pye weed coming up through it. The Joe Pye was left when the cotoneaster got weeded.
I'll keep weeding. I am making progress. Come fall I can infuse the sprayed sections of clematis with seeds collected from the wanted wild flowers. The Ox-Eye Daisies are loaded with buds and are quite good at self sowing.
Across the path from the pure clematis stands I noticed the Black Eyed Susans have been self sowing behind my back. They have been filling in where I have weeded out the unwanted on a more consistent basis.
I'm nuts, but only slightly nuts. There are times when mass murder of a formidable foe with chemical weapons is the best option for my sanity.
The hand weeding will continue unabated.
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5 comments:
Sometimes you just HAVE to use chemicals to knock down the weeds enough so that hand weeding can be effective.
Go for it. Save you bits of sanity for better use than weeding the wicked.
I think sometimes we must use the unwanted chemicals. But hand is better. I don't think you're nuts, just wants things to look like you want. That's a good trait.
Agree with Sallysmom. I don't like chemicals but sometimes they are necessary. And you have so much good stuff that pops up when given a chance; unlike many other locations!
I use chemicals on poison ivy and very occasionally on something else...but I'm with you about handweeding. It just feels right - and I see so much that I'd miss if I wasn't down there in the dirt, up close and personal.
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