Thursday, May 2, 2013

Hoe, Hoe, Hoe....



Sometimes, it seems like we have just TWO seasons here.


One...the fall....when the Cedar Elm leaves fall.
And, Spring...when the Live Oaks lose their leaves.


Then, we have these.  I call them Brown Squiggleys.
Officially they are Live Oak Pollen Catkins.

Catkins....sounds so sweet, doesn't it?
They're NOT.


They cover everything.


They fill in between rocks, making it hard to brush out.


They STICK to the fur of  little white dogs....who by the way, LOVES to roll around in them.


And, as an added bonus this year, we have all the little Cedar Elms coming up.
Above is the front bed, which has been cleaned out...twice...and mulched.
It hasn't deterred more from appearing.


My mother's hoe has come in handy.  I'm not sure how old this is.  It's been around as long as 
I can remember.  But, it still works.


If you get the roots turned over, they die.


Some places are harder to get at.  I've poured some boiling water on these.
That works pretty well.  We'll see if more come up.


I got this weapon tool, for chopping around places I don't want other roots disturbed.


So, that's what's been going on here.  
After we get the leaves and the brown...uh, Catkins...cleaned up, and all 
the Cedar Elms dug up and REdug up, THEN we can put down new mulch.


Ah...a gardener's work is never done.

And...while I'm whining...we have ANOTHER cold front here.
Tonight is supposed to be low 40s in town.
That could mean 30s here.

THIS IS MAY, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!  

Some of the plants here are very confused.
And, so is this gardener.

Back to hoeing and raking. 

Until later...

Happy Gardening...
~~Linda~~

7 comments:

  1. We are finally over the brown squiggly things here in Conroe. We had a bumper crop! Things are looking nice and green and blooming. Wind is blowing like crazy and supposed to cold here to night also! What's up? Guess we should just enjoy it-it will be 100 deg. soon enough! Have a great weekend! Carol

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  2. Hi Linda...I can't even imagine how hard it is to get the squiggleys out of your dogs fur!! You are so right...a gardeners work is never done so it's a good thing we love what we do! I really like your fence!

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  3. Crazy, crazy weather. I agree. It's May! I'll be thinking about you and all my Hill Country gardening friends tonight. Keep warm!

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  4. I LOVE your fence!

    When we lived in Mobile, we dealt with the live oak leaves and catkins in the spring too, plus turkey oak leaves and others in the fall. Irritating to deal with, but great mulch for the flower beds if run through a shredder or the lawnmower.

    Each area of the country certainly has its challenges for gardening, doesn't it?

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  5. Work, but I maintain that's good, therapeutic work! You forgot the third season - deer season. Weird weather for sure, may it stop...33F this morning...never seen this so regularly. Uncle!

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  6. You forgot the third season. When the strong winds come and knock the new leaves off the oak trees. Out ground is littered with the new growth that was on the ends of the branches. Grrh! Keeps us busy. It has been nice to sleep with the windows open.

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  7. I just learned that word (catkin) and I like it! As you say, they are pesky. I'm a lazy gardener, so mainly I just let them fall and decompose. It would look better if they were cleaned out of the rock garden, but that probably won't happen here.

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I love your comments. Thanks for dropping by.

This is a word verification free blog. It seems to be working out, so far.

~~Linda...