Priorities

5 years of neglect have taken their toll on the backyard, virtually eliminating any progress I had made. Blackberries send up forty foot canes, our version of kudzu. Mustard takes over, grass invades the flowerbeds. Ivy got out of control and now just flat out has to be eliminated itself.

So I am in a rebuilding phase that is going to take alot of work. Hard work. Every year for the last five years I have taken a stab at it, only to be overwhelmed by the scope and distracted by the political scene that has taken over my life.

Every year I have sworn that this would be the last time I would do this. That I would cement in the area around the pond, lay the fieldstone permanently so that I am not pulling weeds from between the stones where the pretty moss was supposed to be. That I would put in the concrete mowing strip to prevent the grass from encroaching on the planted areas and vice versa.

But I didn't.

This year I will. This year, I will hire a crew to come in and put in the hardscape and the sprinkler system and sod the lawn area.

Then I will work on the planted areas and restore them. And happily plant new things.

Because the good side is that there are now established trees, and rhodies, and lilacs and the like. The plans I had set in motion have borne fruit. The bones and the structure of the garden are there.

And the stage is set to ensure that we will be able, finally, to enjoy the backyard.

The deck, the barbeque, the chairs, the table, the firepit, the playset and the greenhouse turned playhouse...

wish me luck.

UPDATE: Good intentions. Did not come to pass. That was 2008. A few more stabs at it since then, and now it is 2016. I've shed my other obligations entirely. Spent the summer digging out from under the blackberries yet again. Hauled truckloads of green waste to the dump. Got rid of piles of old garden furniture that had rusted.

The good news is, it's cleared, at least an area. Plantings are returning to life. New plants are in. We're clearing the area for sod - long-awaited sod.

And the good news is, there's still the established trees, and rhodies, and lilacs... it can be done.