Who Says Print Media is Dying? Just Use it For This:

I just wanted to let you know that I took this photo today, a month and a half after my last post about using newspaper as a week block. I have not pulled a single weed out of the newspapered bed in that time and...

Look! One of the Hostas is blooming! (The darker green one toward the left.) So exciting!

The newspaper is working beautifully to block weeds! There were a few random ones that popped up in more open spaces, but for the most part the only places with weeds in the entire bed were right next to the hostas and agapanthus we planted. So, do I recommend using newspaper instead of buying weed block sheets? Absolutely! Just be sure to put it ALL the way against the plants you just planted. For comparison, I also haven't pulled any weeds out of the rest of the landscaping. You know, the part we didn't newspaper, and it looks like this:

Yikes.

Our Saturday Project

Surprise! We aren't dead or anything. Wow, it's been nine months since I wrote a post for this blog. My apologies. So what have we done around the house since then? Well, not much which is why I haven't posted. We started a few projects but didn't finish any of them yet. The reason I'm writing today is that we spent the day freshening up our landscaping and I've got some delectable before and after shots for you, as well as gratuitous chicken glamour shots because you know you want them. Here are the three flower beds we worked on before (Well, kind of before. I did not take photos of the horrible amount of weeds that were in here before I pulled them this morning. Some of them were almost as tall as me. Yikes.)

We went to a local nursery called Harb's Oasis because I had a coupon and because I like that place even though it's a bit of a drive. We came home with a Jeep full of plants.

These lucky guys got to ride up front with me. 

We got Coleus for the two beds around the Crepe Myrtles, and Coleus, Hostas, and Agapanthus for the big bed in front of our dining room window on the side of the house. We also picked up two kinds of basil and two kinds of mint to plant in the planters that sit on our patio railing.

 These are the planters I'm talking about.

 Planting the Basil.

Mint.

Basil.

Of course, while we were on the patio working on the planters/taking pictures, the chickens came over to see what we were doing.

First, we placed the pots where we wanted the plants to go. I couldn't really place the coleus because it came in six packs.

Harley is convinced there are squirrels in this tree whether there are or not.

We've been saving up newspapers and sales ads for a while to use as a weed blocker in the landscaping beds. 

 We didn't put cat litter in the flowerbed. We were just using that container for mulch.

Close up of the newspapery goodness.

Are you ready for the final results? Okay, drumroll please...ta da!

There wasn't quite enough mulch to completely cover the newspapers.

 We didn't do newspaper in the smaller beds because the plants were closer together.

So there you have it. I think that's a pretty good day's work, don't you?

Update: I woke up Sunday with the backs of my thighs just KILLING ME. I realized that spending the day in the garden basically means you are doing squats all day long. Owww.

Curb Appeal

We've been doing lots of yardwork lately. Alton cut the grass for the first time last week and we've been dabbling with the garden a bit. For example, there used to be a very large sago palm growing right next to the driveway, which you can see in this photo:

It's branches were hanging over into the space we needed to drive through and it produced baby palms like crazy, which we do not want. So we ripped it out.

It left quite a divot...

We also removed a second sago on the other side of the driveway while we were at it.

The ripping up of the palms happened last week (with assisstance from Alton's dad). Today, we focused on the flowers. Our house came with lots of nice landscaping all around. Unfortunately, the previous owners left all the weeding to be done by us. Luckily, they also left us three bags of mulch which is supposed to help suppress weeds. So this morning I spent about two hours pulling up weeds from the flower beds around the front and side of the house. According to the calorie counter app I have on my phone, gardening burns three calories a minute. I also learned that I rather like gardening. So making the house look better, doing something I enjoy, and burning lots of calories. I feel like Charlie Sheen, that's such a win! Anyway, on to the pictures.

Here is a before and after shot of one area of the garden (This was actually one of the least weedy areas):

Muuuuuch better!

Alton came outside after a while and decided to tackle the area next to our side fence. Apparently some acorns got in there somehow and sprouted baby oak trees. Alton pulled them all out except for one that was about as tall as he is - we need to get a spade and dig that sucker out.

baby oak trees:

He also vanquished the giant thistle plant that was growing over there:

All while wearing his slippers. hehe.

The yard is really starting to look good now. There are a couple of smaller flower beds that still need to be weeded. I might do that tomorrow...or as soon as I have the feeling back in my fingers. (Note to self: get gardening tools.)