Let the Bodies Hit the Floor

Killing days are here again. I’m not supposed to spend any more money on plants, so the planting is paused while await the delivery of my (previously) mail-ordered plants and the maturation of my seedlings. Now, the weeding begins…

I did not grow up in a weeding family. I think I saw my parents pull weeds once. We were into low-maintenance landscaping, complete with river rock mulch. Thus, I’m a novice weeder.

I love pulling weeds. I admit, dandelions are a bitch, but the others are fun. The henbit and Indian strawberry spread by runners, so grabbing one plant results in pulling up an armful. It’s quite satisfying. The violets require a trowel, but in loose soil, they can be fun to pull out too. The weeds go into my bucket and, when the bucket is full, then into the second compost pile. (The first pile is now cooking.) Who knew death and destruction could be so much fun?

The plants in the front bed are looking perkier, so I took some photos last night. It looks a little messy and sparse now. I plan on filling in the empty space with delphinium (ordered from Park’s) and my winter-sown seedlings: columbine, butterfly weed, and lantern plant.




The left end of the bed is triangular where the sidewalk meets the driveway. When we moved in, the triangle was set with stones, in a sort of crazy-paving. The paving was utilitarian, as we occasionally cut the corner when walking from the driveway to the sidewalk. However, the pockets were filled with weeds and the abundance of stones was sterile looking. I ripped everything out and replaced the weeds and stones with elfin thyme and (fewer) stones. The area is off limits for now, but should be able to take light foot traffic once the plants are established and the soil has compacted. It will look really cute when the thyme has filled in the spaces between the stones.

The next few days will be cool and rainy, perfect weather for my transplants to become established. I will be spending my time nursing them along and ruthlessly exterminating weeds so that I can expand my beds. I’m already scheming ways to fill the new beds for free.