Yard Work, That Time of Year

A couple weeks ago, I started to get the yard prepared for spring. I cut down all of the reed grass, trimmed the dead branches from the rose bushes, raked the leaves away from the foundation of the house, and blew leaves out from under the bushes, from under the deck, etc. I also mowed for the first time, and then put down spring fertilizer and crab grass preventer. Over the last week, especially after the last rain, the grass started to green up.

This afternoon and evening, I spent about 4 hours in the yard and pulled grass from all the mulch, and also decided to pull up all the brick edging and re-seat it. Wow, that was a hard job. But, it looks much better, and I feel better and the overall front yard appearance. I also mowed the front yard again, and will finish the back yard tomorrow. I decided to move the mower lower one notch this year. Wow, that created a lot of grass clippings, but I think overall the yard will look a lot neater.

I'm not really happy with the overall landscaping scheme in the front yard, but am likely stuck with it in the meantime. I do need to re-arrange some reed grass tomorrow as well, and re-arrange some of the boulders we have strewn about the landscaping. I do have some perennials in the bush beds, and also plant some annuals as well. But, it's nothing special, I wish I had more of a green thumb and the time and patience to take care of it all.

I've also got a commercial flagpole that I need to install, but can't really decided if I want to put it on the left or right corner of the house. Supposedly, our covenants prevent the installation of flag poles, but a neighbor on the next street over has installed a flag pole, so if he can do it, I will too.

While raking the grass in the front yard, I uncovered no less than a half-dozen cigarette butts in the stripe of grass next to the street. Nothing peeves me more than someone throwing out their cigarette butts on my property. I assume they came from folks driving by and tossing out their butts. I'd like to pop anyone in the mouth if I catch them doing it. Smokers can be so rude sometimes. You see it all the time, especially at stop lights, just take a look on the ground. You'll often see hundreds of cigarette butts. Disgusting.

Anyhow, my back aches, my legs hurt, and my hands look and feel like hamburger. I imagine in a few years, I'll just say to hell with it and hire a professional lawn service and just sit back on the deck and drink a cold beverage instead. In fact, that option is sounding better and better. I used to love yard work, but unfortunately, my age is starting to show.