I posted some pictures a while ago of some areas that I wanted to mulch. Many of you probably went, “Hmmm…” when you looked at them. I will admit they weren’t the most attractive photos and most of you didn’t think I could do much with what I had done to the yard. Take a look at them here.

Well, as it turns out, we did make the areas look pretty good. I had fifteen yards of mulch delivered yesterday and only have about a yard and a half left. I plan on making the mailbox area larger this afternoon.

Here are the photos of what we did last night and today. Let me know what you think.

Pile of mulch made from the Witch Hazel tree - 15 yards

Mulch area at top of driveway

Mulch area at other side of driveway and down front hill

Mulch area in front yard

Mulch area in front yard - alternative view

The remaining mulch pile

The neighbors didn’t think I could do it. They laughed when I told them the pile would be gone by today. Don’t laugh at me neighbors, oh, you will see how fast I am. You will see my speed.

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With that said, I decided to beef up the landscape lighting I installed the other day. I mean, it looked good and all, but I didn’t think it was enough. Ever since I went to Punta Cana and saw what the resort did with landscape lighting, I have been intrigued. I like the effects of landscape lighting at night. In my humble opinion, it’s really cool.

Now, I know you remember the six landscape lights that I set up just the other day. I bet you thought that was pretty cool. Well, that was nothing and personally, I thought it was a bit wimpy.

I decided to go back to Home Depot to get six more lights, but this time I got six Malibu low voltage flood lights. They are wicked cool. I also had to upgrade the 121 watt power pack to a 300 watt power pack because there were more lights in the system. That wasn’t hard, it just cost more money. By the way, if anyone wants to set up their own landscape lighting system and needs a 121 watt power pack (good for about ten low voltage lights), let me know and I will give you the old one.

So now, we have six low voltage sidewalk lights and six low voltage flood lights that face up towards the house.

Take a look at what I’m talking about…

Home landscape lighting

Home landscape lighting

Home landscape lighting

Home landscape lighting

How cool is that? Just a few lights brought the place from dark and boring to warm and inviting. I think it looks great, but would love to hear what you think.

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After a few trips to the local hardware store for some mulch and a lot of weeding and digging, I can finally show you some photos of my hard work. I think you will be impressed with my perfection.

Here you go.

Mulch area in front of the house

Front of the house from a distance

New Blue Princess Holly bush

Landscape lighting

After all that weeding and trimming, I had a few open areas. I decided to get two Blue Princess Holly bushes to fill the void. I also decided to get some more landscape lighting. Oh, you just wait for the next post for that one.

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Gone are the days of comparing skateboards, bicycles, motorcycles and finally cars. Now, we get a pellet stove and a John Deere and have to write home about it. Boy, if I had known this when I was younger, I think I may have done some things slightly differently.

Ok, now that that’s out of the way, guess what??? Yeah, I got the new John Deere X300 today. As I said earlier, this is a hot item. It has a 17HP Kawasaki engine, 42″ cut and cruise control. Add all the other goodies and I think I almost have a car with a mower deck. You can read all the specs here.

What’s more important are the pictures. Just to let you know, this is when it was brand new, with zero hours on it. Now that I mowed the lawn today (in like 100th of the time it normally takes), it’s a little dirtier. After I mow, I blow it off with my leaf blower though.

John Deere x300 right side

John Deere X300 left side

John Deere X300 dashboard

John Deere X300 dashboard

John Deere X300 mower settings and directions

John Deere X300 from behind

John Deere X300 front

What I like about this model is that I am able to put on all different types of attachments and not worry about it. It has a stronger frame than the “100″ series. I can get a snow blower, snow plow, bucket and all sorts of stuff. I really don’t think I will be getting any of that. The only thing I see myself getting in the future might be a small trailer for working around the yard. Those are handy.

The John Deere dealer I got this from comes to your house to do all the maintenance (if you want). It’s pretty cool. If there is a big repair, they will come over and pick the machine up for you and then bring it back after it’s fixed. That’s what I like.

I mowed the lawn today and it was rather fun. I like cruising around and getting the job done without sweating. What used to be a 4-hour job now is a 45 minute one. Now, that is sweet.

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I had a second to spare this afternoon, so I decided to put a shovel in my hand. Then, I went outside and started looking around. I had planned on doing all the mulch beds in the Spring, so what the heck was I doing when I started digging up the grass?

Oh well, since it was already started…I decided to drag the shovel along the ground in a nice curvy line. I had a vision of how I wanted these particular mulch beds to look. By the way, here’s a tip for you; when making a mulch bed, make it three times larger than you originally planned. There is nothing worse than a small mulch bed. Trust me, when it’s done, you’ll think a professional landscaper did it. The two beds I made here already, I have to go back and make them bigger.

Before I started digging the mulch bed

Starting to dig the mulch bed

Finished digging the mulch bed

Second finished mulch bed photo

Another dug mulch bed

If you can see what I did, you will notice that I just dug a sharp trench, about eight inches deep, along the line where I want to see the mulch. Anything to the right of that line is going to be covered with mulch. Realistically, you just need somewhere for the mulch to butt up against. I don’t worry about the chunks of grass and the existing grass. That won’t grow through, if you put enough mulch down. I did this back at the old house and only saw small areas of grass peek through. I killed that with weed killer.

Now that the front is done, I have to do the other side, along with some more flower transplants. Once that is done, I am going to order my ten yards of mulch and go to town.

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Even this morning, I was hesitant. I keep wondering why I can toss money away at one moment, but be so cheap about something else another moment. I guess it has to do with investment. A pellet stove is going to save money, a ride on mower is a luxury.

I forced myself to get in my car this morning for a cruise down to D.H. Marvin & Son in Colchester. They are a John Deere dealer. I checked out different mowers last night, so I pretty much knew what I wanted to buy. I parked the car, walked in, talked to Matt for a little while and bought the John Deere X300.

The “X” series is a step up from the “L 100″ series (from Home Depot). Basically, you can get the same tractors at Home Depot as you can get at the John Deere dealership as long as they are in the “L 100″ series. The “X” series is not available at Home Depot. This is a beefier machine and will last longer. Trust me, I would have gotten one from Home Depot if I didn’t have to go through their shipping process…if they have one.

I have delivery scheduled for tomorrow at 11AM. I will take pictures and write another post about it then. I am sure you are thrilled.

PS - If I get a ride on mower, can I get one of those beer helmets with the long straw?

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Well, guess what. I did just that. Since I had to go to the mailbox this morning to put some outgoing mail in it, I decided to enjoy a little walking tour with the good ol’ camera in hand. I know this feels like a Seinfeld episode (about nothing) but this is what I do.

After I put the mail in the mailbox, I headed back down the driveway. I looked at the ground and noticed all sorts of acorns laying there all spread out. Every day this happens. There is a big Red Oak at the end of the driveway that makes a huge mess. I think the squirrels are $%^& with me. I need to call a tree service to come prune a few trees, this being one of them. I hate having this messy tree for everyone to see. Maybe when it’s getting pruned, I’ll take some before and after shots.

Anyway, when I looked down at the driveway, I noticed some ants running around. I took a bunch of pictures of them, but they were too fast and the pictures came out blurry. They would’ve been really cool because they were close up. While I was down on the driveway, I decided to take a picture of an acorn so you know what I am talking about.

Red Oak acorn

There are hundreds of these things. Every time I mow the lawn, I take out the blower to blow off the driveway. Within a few days, they are back. After taking the picture, I had to get up and run because a car was coming. That’s all they need to see…Gaulard laying down on the driveway taking more pictures.

Last night, I also mentioned that I was taking down some small trees in the woods along the driveway. My goal is to make it a bit lighter in there with some breaks of sun. I have to be careful not to take down too much, because I really like the trees. The last thing I want is full sun. I have already made a dent. I would say I am taking down anything smaller than 6″. Here are some photos of that.

Woods along driveway

Woods along driveway

Woods along driveway

As you can see, there is some filtered sunlight coming through. I probably have about 10-15 more trees to remove.

A few days ago, I discovered a faster and quieter way of doing this. Well, one way is quieter, but not faster. I am using a hand saw for some of them. Basically, I take the tree down and then cut the top leafy part off of it. I drag the stalk up and place it in the pile you see in the last photo. I drag the top of the tree down into the brush pile in the woods. I always need a good brush pile. You would be amazed at how fast a big brush pile collapses over time.

The faster way is to do what I described above, but with a chainsaw. I used to cut the wood into firewood right there, but that was noisy. I will do that all in one shot when I am done taking down the trees.

Here is a beautiful picture of one of the stumps.

Birch tree stump

At the bottom of the driveway, I noticed a new flower growing in the spot I just mulched. It was mixed in with all the others. It just bloomed so I thought that deserved some recognition.

New white flower

After I took a picture of that flower, I walked across the front lawn to get some shots of a nice pink flower up there. I did that and then I took a shot of the Highbush Cranberry that we have growing. There are a few of these bushes and the berries are getting very red.

Pink flower

Highbush Cranberry

You see how nice that was? It was a big blog post about nothing and I think I got away with it. Well, we’ll see what people write about it to see if I really got away with it.

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I finally got my butt out there about a week ago and weeded the whole garden. Weeds will only stay down for a short time unless you do something about them. Also, in the garden, I noticed some small plum shrubs getting very dry leaves. That was caused by the very dry soil.

The problem is that every time I tried to water the shrubs when the ground was dry, the water would run right off the dirt. It was very frustrating. This stopped the shrub roots from receiving the much needed water. Also, the soil that the water did soak into dried very quickly from the hot sun.

There really was only one thing to do…mulch. Yesterday, I went out and bought about a yard of mulch just for this occasion. This morning, I did what I had to do.

First, let me explain the benefits of mulching a flower bed.

- Mulch keeps down weeds - prevents germination of many weed seeds
- Mulch keeps the soil moist in between rainy periods and hidden from the hot sun
- Mulch looks really good and accents your garden areas
- Mulch breaks down to add organics to your soil
- Mulch moderates the soil temperature
- Mulch protects the soil from the impact of raindrops that cause hardening
- Mulch encourages the growth of earth worms and other beneficial organisms
- Mulch keeps your plants clean by inhibiting soil splatter when it rains
- Mulch helps the rain water soak into the ground slowly so it doesn’t run off

With all these benefits of mulching, I was very eager to get started. Here are some photos of the process…

Garden before shot - no mulch

This is the before shot of the area I mulched. As you can see, I started digging the beginning of it when I remembered the I had to get the camera. Sometimes I am so excited to get going that I forget one of the reasons I am doing it…PICTURES!!!

Garden dug out and ready for mulch

With a pointed shovel, I edged the entire garden area. I put the shovel about half way into the soil and then just slid it under the grass to peel it up like a carpet. I then put the grass and extra soil into the wheelbarrow to dump on a rocky area that needs soil and grass. I am hoping if I spread it out, it will grow.

I dug the area to be mulched so it’s about four inches below the dirt the grass is growing in. That makes edging later on a heck of a lot easier.

Bags of mulch ready for use

I spread the bags of mulch out where I thought I would need them. When I got to each bag, I ran a knife up the side of each one. This made it a lot easier to pour where I needed the mulch. For this project, I used 27 cubic feet of mulch. I was about 15 cubic feet short.

The mulched garden area

This is the mulched garden area. As I mentioned above, I was about a half yard short of mulch. I like to put it about three inches thick. I had to spread it thin because there just wasn’t enough. I think I am going to wait until Spring to finish. It is a lot easier when all the plants aren’t in the way.

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We see a lot of things on our walks, and landscaping is one of them. One thing I notice in particular is what people do with their mailboxes. You could have guessed that. You know, your mailbox tells a lot about you. It tells what kind of person you are…not that it’s good or bad, just what you are like. I remember one guy back in Brewster had a mailbox that was 10 feet in the air. It read “Air Mail” on the side of it. That tells me he has a sense of humor. If you have a big iron mailbox, but have never had any previous mailbox smashed, that tells me you are kind of paranoid. If you have had a mailbox smashed and you went the iron route, I can see that you are smart.

Ok, this post really isn’t about mailboxes, it’s about the landscaping around them. I really like the idea of making the first thing people see when they come to visit us nice. I like a nice mailbox, a nice post and nice landscaping. As you may know, I already made the mailbox nice.

Today, I ran out to the local hardware store to pick up another yard of pine mulch. I wanted to use some for around the mailbox and the rest for another post I will most likely write tomorrow. Today’s post is about how I spruced up the mailbox area.

Here are a few pictures of what I did:

Mailbox before picture

This is a photo of the mailbox before I did anything to its surrounding area.

Digging out grass around mailbox

The first thing I did was to dig out the existing grass around the mailbox. I used the flat side of a pick-ax. It was pretty easy to get up. Then, I used a shovel to make the edges of the area nice and sharp.

Adding ornamental grass to mailbox area

After the area was prepped and ready for some plants, I added four ornamental grass plants to it.

Adding mulch to mailbox area

When the plants were the way I wanted them, I added three cubic feet of pine mulch over the dirt. This mulch will keep the weeds down and will also keep the dirt moist in between rain showers.

I still need to get a broom up there to clean the dirt off the street, but I think the area looks better than it did. Perhaps now, when someone goes for a walk, they can get an idea or two from what I have done.

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Yesterday, I was thinking about how much I hear about this Milky Spore stuff. You know, Milky Spore is the thing that causes Milky Disease in grubs. It’s powder that you sprinkle onto the ground in a grid that takes years to work. Some people say that too many conditions need to be met and that because of all those conditions, it doesn’t really work. You can read about that here.

Here is how it works…First, Milky Spore comes in two types, powder and granules. The powder is more concentrated, but the granules are a heck of a lot easier to apply to a larger property. I can’t even imagine putting a teaspoon of powder down every four feet to create a grid across the entire lawn. They have applicators, but still…

I prefer the spreader method. Even if you need to apply the Milky Spore more often, it sure is a heck of a lot easier.

Back to how it works. Milky Spore gets placed on the dirt by you. It gets washed in by either a hose or rain. Grubs (when they are feeding) eat the Milky Spore and get sick. Before they get sick, their bodies turn into Milky Spore factories, creating a bunch more Milky Spore. When the grub dies, they release all that new Milky Spore into the soil. This goes on year after year. The only thing you have to remember is that you need to apply enough to build up a certain level of bacterium in the soil to do any damage to the grubs. Also, if it’s too cool when they eat it, it will pass right through them without damage.

Like I said, I like the granule method better.

20lb bag of Milky Spore granules.

The bag says it is safe for other insects, birds, pets and man. I am not sure about women. It didn’t mention anything about them.

Scotts spreader with Milky Spore granules in it.

I bought two 20lb bags this afternoon during a rain storm. When I got home, I waited for the rain to stop and spread both bags. I think there is supposed to be more rain tonight, so it should get washed in. Now, I just have to apply every year. They recommend three times a year, but that probably won’t happen.

I sure would like to get some people’s opinions on this stuff. Does it work?

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