botias | The Ivy is Gone!!!

Things I bought that I really, really didn't need: A yard-sale tarantula. At least s/he came with a nifty two-unit tarantula condo. Also, bare root fruit trees were 50% off so I now have a 'Honeycrisp' apple and a 'Liberty' apple.

I have been gardening fearlessly. I don't know if it's just some sort of Spring energy, but it's so wonderful. I'm planting plants that have been waiting far too long for the 'perfect' place. I've tended to be a garden romantic, never seeming to grasp that my relationship with my flowering annuals is fleeting and doomed until they begin to fade. This spring I actually planted cosmos before the agrostemma has even begun to bloom in earnest. I also tackled the Ivy Disaster.

I just went for it late one afternoon with an electric hedge trimmer bought for the purpose and a hand saw. Things went faster when the Mister joined in with his Sawz-all. I had never used a Sawz-all before, but I highly recommend it. We hacked the I.D. into three 4' X 10' slabs with it, and then my mom showed up with her pick-up and took it all to the green waste. I'm very excited by this development even though it will take time to have the same level of privacy. The Mister is in the process of putting in a new fence that is set back some feet from the ivy-covered one. More garden space!!!

And finally: those little white fuzzy things at the right are peaches! I've never grown them before. I can't wait to see how the whole ripening thing works out.

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You have inspired me. I love all your built-up garden edges, the bricks and so forth. Did you build those yourself?

Glad to hear it! I did build the brick edges and the mister built the wood planters.

Here's back when it was in progress:

http://botias.livejournal.com/98284.html

WOAH NELLY! That was a monster, all right. We're getting a new fence too, but no additional garden space with it, because the neighbors are being very unreasonable about giving up any property. :-P

Sounds like we have the same kind of weekend.

I have no peaches, though and not enough room in my sunny spots for cosmos, but I love them.

And I spent part of the day today rooting out lemon balm, and carefully redistributing baby rose campions, and thought of you. Yours is already blooming! *iz jealous*

Those darn neighbors.

I was rooting out native aster instead. It thrives in cracks in the sidewalk, so when some foolish but well-meaning soul planted it in their rich garden soil it went a little crazy. I gave away two rose campion teenagers recently. It's definitely warming up for the big show. I never seem to notice pollinators on the flowers, but some sort of flower sex is definitely going on there.

Congratulations on the ivy removal, that looks like quite a job.

Ooh, peaches and apples; enjoy your Summer bounty.

Thanks, it was a job. I'm just grateful that we did it now and not later in the season when it would be teeming with spiders and assorted other arthropods. As it was, the poor Mister had an allergic reaction to the ivy similar to poison oak.

I hope so! The jury is still out as to whether the peaches will ripen, but I have them in the warmest part of my yard.

I can't get past the tarantula... just typing the word makes me come out in hives!!!

The thing with ivy is you have to be really vigilent and firm with it. I do like ivy because the birds nest in it, but mine gets chopped back the minute it comes out more than about 18 inches! I'm growing some up a dead tree in my garden at the minute - it's got to look prettier covered in ivy, and the birds will love it.

New World tarantulas like this one will literally make you itch. They flick their barbed hairs at anything that annoys them. I think they aim for the eyes.

Ivy covered stuff is very romantic, and it seems wonderful for birds. I've seen them devouring the berries. The problem with the ivy, besides the maintenance issue, is that it's considered an invasive plant in my part of the world. Native plant aficionados get together for 'ivy bashes' in our natural areas. My plan is to replace it with bird-friendly native and non-invasive shrubs.

Whoa, now that's an IVY! LOL! You did a great job clearing out that monster. Have fun planning what you'll plant in front of the new fence. :)

Yay for apple trees. Beautiful flowers AND fruit: it's a win/win.

Hi!!! I am very excited. I love new garden projects.

I'm sure it's possible to have too much of a good thing. Right now I have three apples on my earliest tree. The others are blooming though, so there's hope of more.

Yard-Sale Tarantula is a great band name!

Wow, you've been a busy bee. I know that apples thrive in your end of the world and I'm curious how the peaches will do *crosses fingers*

It is! How could I resist?

I may need the crossed fingers for the peaches. These varieties are most likely to succeed with a lack of real summer heat but still...

Wow! That is a lot of ivy! Those vines must've been really thick.

Good luck with all your flowers and fruit. I'm envious. My fruit trees are still kinda sad thanks to yearly winter deer munchies.

They are like small trees down at the ground. Now I get to dig out the stumps. But I've done it before. The Ivy Disaster actually used to be twice as long.

Thanks! Yes, I've seen fruit trees with deer fencing around them. No deer here in the heart of town though.

That IVY DISASTER coupled with allergy and tarantula mentions have me scratching!

That reminds me of the time I started ivy [dumb me] to cover a chain link fence in he corner of my backyard. Three years later, it hadn't gone vertical so...I ripped it out, [So satisfied.] Then the next spring I saw it thirty feet away!! climbing up my wooden stockade fence.

Never thought of sawzall!!

Good luck with the fruit trees and all your new space.

I guess the chain link just wasn't to it's taste. :)

Thanks!

It looks great! Your post is really inspiring me. It's been so cold and rainy here than my garden is extremely bedraggled. I literally haven't had a day off with decent weather! However tomorrow looks promising!

::sigh:: though I really need to do some serious weeding and cleaning up before the fun planting parts...

Thanks! I hope your weather cooperates.

The Ivy is Gone!!!

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