Thursday, August 28th, 2008
As you may know, I have been doing a lot of work outside trying to make things look nice. A lot of sweat has gone into these projects. Things are rolling along smoothly and actually getting somewhere.
I have been visiting the local hardware store every few days to get a yard of mulch. I can fit twelve bags in the car, which is actually about a yard and a third. It’s good enough to do smaller areas. Once you start raking, mulch doesn’t go all that far.
I am up to the front sidewalk area of the house. I weeded the whole area this morning in preparation for the sidewalk lighting I purchased at Home Depot yesterday. There were already three lights out there, but two of them were out. I decided to buy three more lights and a set of bulbs. I got the Malibu “Do-it-yourself” metal lights, because they matched the ones already installed.
These lights are pretty nice. They are about a foot and a half tall, made of metal, use 11 watt bulbs and are really easy to install.
Since there were already some installed, but I like to do things my own way, I decided to take them out, along with all the wire. With the 50′ of outdoor wire I bought yesterday, coupled with the existing wire, I had plenty to add three light to make a total of six.
After I did all the weeding and pulled out the wire and lighting fixtures, I assembled all the new lights. Each one took just a few minutes. I installed the lights and re-ran the wire so it accessed all of them. I changed the time on the outdoor timer and took a look. Miraculously, all of them worked. I am very excited for it to get dark tonight to I can attempt another picture. I am hoping it will come out so I can post it here. Then, you will see the pure beauty of my work.
After I showed Laura what I did, she suggested that we put in some small floodlights that aim at the house from the sidewalk, facing upward. I am sure you have seen them. There are a few houses that have those types of lights in this neighborhood and I get jealous when I see them. There is nothing worse than a naked, dark house at night time. Well, I’m sure there are some things worse than that. But still, it’s all about the lighting.
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Thursday, August 21st, 2008
I am not sure how I get myself into these messes.
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
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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Friday, August 15th, 2008
In my last post, I said that people need to start writing more. I said that our readers don’t care what we write about, just that we write. I even threatened to take my camera out with me this morning.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
Do you remember back when I transplanted those shrubs from the front yard to the side of the driveway? Well, everything is going well, except for the fact that the soil I planted everything in is extremely fertile for weeds. I had a little forest growing within a few weeks.
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…
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!!!
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.
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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Monday, August 4th, 2008
Laura and I have been walking quite a bit. We are up to 3.7 miles per walk now. I never really thought that walking was much exercise until recently. When I hit that three mile point, I start feeling it. The feeling has been less and less intense though, so I guess I am getting in better shape.
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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Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
It has been pretty dry here lately. It just rained this morning, which is good, but up until that, we haven’t had any substantial rainfall in quite some time. I have been watching many plants wilt because of the dryness. The neighbors are getting used to the guy with no shirt standing out front with a hose in his hand.
I have had a few goals. One of them was to finish the rhododendron line across the front of the property. I have been looking at Home Depot for rhododendrons, but none can be found…anywhere. I guess they are a Spring time seller. I actually had to dig up and few that were already planted on the property and the ones I planted earlier in the season to finish the row. It’s done now, so that’s good.
I also wanted to plant some sort of a perimeter around the patio area near the basement doors. I decided to go with the Blue Prince Holly that I have been buying (it’s the only thing left), along with some that I planted earlier on. Earlier in the season, I had no plan and I was just sticking these things in the dirt. Now, at least I have a plan.
I did make a nice discovery yesterday. For a few months, I have been dismayed at the price of mulch around here. I used to pay $20 per yard at the other house. Here, these crooks are charging about $50 per yard. I need to get some of what they are smoking. It’s funny because when I call somewhere for a price, I always sense a little hesitancy in their voices as they tell me how much they charge. They know what they are doing.
I called the local hardware store and found out they sold mulch by the bag. They had 3lb bags of pine mulch for $4.49 per bag. I didn’t think that was too bad, since I just paid almost $5 per bag at Home Depot for that dyed junk. I stopped by the store and picked up 10 bags. That’s 30 cubic feet (a little over a yard) for about $45. I beat the system, you see. Now, I can go back and get 10 bags at a time only when I need them.
The mulch is very important, not only to me and my mulch addiction, but for the plants as well. The whole reason for the plants wilting is because the ground wasn’t holding in any of the moisture. I kept watering them, but the sunshine was just too strong. Now, since I mulched and gave each plant a nice soaking, I think the plants will grow nicely.
Blue Prince Holly planted for a hedge line.
The holly bushes really don’t need any mulch because the grass is nice and moist in the back yard.
Speaking of grass, I don’t know how I did it, but the back and side lawns are like a nice thick green carpet. I now mow the lawn on the highest level the mower will go and I think it made a difference. I also overseeded with the Vigoro Contractor’s Mix, so there is some good warm weather seed in there. The reason I mow with the higher setting now is because the grass I planted holds most of the water it absorbs in its leaves. If you mow too low, you are actually cutting off all that water. Also, a short mow exposes the dirt so it gets baked and weeds start to grow. Mowing at a higher level will give you a greener lawn.
Here, check it out…
Hand in grass showing height of mowing.
See, I’m not making this stuff up. Now, if I could just get rid of the brown crispy grass in the front and replace it with this stuff, I will be in good shape. The seed is down, so a bit more rainfall should do it.
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Sunday, September 23rd, 2007
I just finished up with the latest mulching. I think it looks pretty damn good. I had some extra mulch, so I used it in the front yard where the dirt is like concrete. I covered that area right up. I put a bunch around the trees, so they are good. Now all I need is some water. I already watered a new bush and the new crabapple trees in the back, but the rest of the property needs some of the wet stuff.
This is the side of the front yard that I covered. This is along the property line.
This is a picture of all the white pines and blue spruces that I planted last year. I mulched all around them. The picture is on the side of the house facing down in the back yard.
Here I am, walking a little further towards the back yard.
This is looking up from the back yard. This area is the whole reason why I got the mulch in the first place.
Man, I am a little sore. I always forget how much ten yards actually is.
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Saturday, September 22nd, 2007
Hopefully. No, I mean it.
You knew I was going to get some more mulch by the way I was writing, right? I mean, I mentioned it here and here. I just had one last part of the backyard to smooth over. I also wanted to mulch around all the trees I planted. The dirt (I say dirt, because it is no where near soil) was getting rather crispy. I checked under the mulch that I previously put down this year and the dirt is nice and moist. I knew what I had to do.
I am not sure how many of these pictures you can take.
When the mulch dude called me back this morning, I asked him for a “big” ten yards, instead of the “not so big” ten yards he delivered last time. I know the pile doesn’t look any bigger, but it is. After he dumped it, the whole pile was steaming like a big cow pie.
Here is the area in the back yard that I am fixing up. I forgot to take a picture before I started, so you can see some of the fresh stuff towards the top of the hill. The whole area is really crappy and dry. It also has a bunch of stone mixed in with the dusty dirt. I say, cover the whole damn thing up. I have a few trees planted in there, so they should appreciate that.
I will take an “after” photo tomorrow when I finish up. I hope it looks beautiful.
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Thursday, August 9th, 2007
This is just a little update post to my previous “Spreading the Mulch” post.
I was a little worried that a good hard rain was going to cause all of my newly spread mulch to slide down the backyard. Well, I have some good news. There was a heavy rain storm the other night and I woke up to see my mulch in exactly the same spot as I put it. That is good news indeed. I even found an article online that backs up my plan to stop topsoil erosion by using mulch. Pretty cool, huh?
I think I am going to order five more yards to finish up the back yard.
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Monday, August 6th, 2007
I had to write this post. Along with my three reasons for living (fiber, vinegar and mulch), I love beer. I am not a huge beer drinker, but I do love a nice, rich, creamy beer. The darker and richer, the better. With that said…
…I had the best beer of my life yesterday. After Laura and I went hiking up at Sam’s Point, we drove up to Emmanual’s in Stone Ridge. We did some shopping for our Harry Potter date later in the evening. We haven’t seen any of the Harry Potter movies and thought it would be cool to jump on the band wagon, or off the wagon, whatever. While we were shopping for very expensive food (everything is expensive in that store), I decided to refill my beer stash in the fridge. I ran out last week and have been feeling the loss. I decided to pick up some Sam Adams Double Bock along with some Honey Brown.
I was so excited to get home to open the bottle of Double Bock. I have never tried it. I got home and popped the top off. I took my first sip and said, “WOW.” I handed the bottle to Laura and had her try it. I have to say, it is the richest, creamiest beer I have ever had. I like creamy beers and this topped the cake. I just had to write about it because I was kind of excited. Give it a try.
I am going to have a bottle of Honey Brown tonight so I don’t spoil a good thing, but tommorow, I will be back to the Sam Adams.
This is a little addition to the original post - What the heck is it with these stupid age verifications on these beer websites? Heaven forbid someone under the age of eighteen read about beer. Yes, that’s it, let’s keep them so sheltered that the minute they turn twenty one, they get totally blitzed. Like they aren’t going to put in a fake date anyway.
I remember one time, back when I was seventeen, I read about a beer in a magazine. I was so inspired that I went out and bought a keg. Yeah right.
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