Mulch happens....

Spring has sprung. I know that because I have broken two nails and my hands get dirty even when I'm wearing gloves outside.  About the only thing I knew about gardening back in Clear Lake was to call Mr. R and his lawn crew. Out they came, four guys with rakes and lawn-mowers......  and in less than 30 minutes, our quarter-acre piece of property looked wonderful. Everything neat and tidy and clipped to within an inch of its green life.

We have 23 acres here.... lots of green grass surrounding the house, two pastures beyond our first fence going towards the woods and the creek, and flowerbeds all around the house and the cottage, and between the cottage and the barn.  The previous owner was a real gardener...... loved roses, loved flowers, loved to shape and clip and prune and grow.   I doubt very much she cared about nail polish and I'm betting she rarely wore gloves. 

We do have a lawn guy who mows for us..... and another guy who comes to cut and bale the hay from the pastures twice a year. But other than the lawn guy pulling up weeds, the flowerbeds weren't getting all that much attention.  Ah.... but Spring has sprung.

My husband and I started with the flowerbed behind the garage.  We had eggplants growing there last year, which looked nice while they were green and growing, but left an expanse of dirt after the plants were pulled up.  With a borrowed tiller from friend J, my husband turned that dirt over to reveal even darker dirt below the soil that was on top.  After a trip to Home Depot, we were ready to cover the ground with that fabric stuff to keep (most of the) weeds out, and then we planted azaleas and marigolds, and purple and white flowers whose names I can't remember. Around all of the new plants, I put down mulch. Bags and bags of mulch that our outside cat Gatsby loves to nap in. He smells like a pine tree now, but he hasn't disturbed the plants and flowers. Gentleman cat that he is, he's napping inbetween and around the new plants.

Of course, now that one flowerbed is done, the rest look neglected.  The biggest chore will be the flowerbeds that go all around the house. Those larger beds have palm trees and crepe myrtles, butterfly bushes and sage plants..... and some tiger-lily type of flower that comes up in early summer as long as the temperatures aren't broiling hot by then.  Our lawn guy will be here next week to do all the weeding for us....... we'll order a couple of yards of mulch from Home Depot or one of those places who sell mulch by the truck-load instead of in those plastic bags. We'll buy some more plants and flowers, and maybe I can buy some better gardening gloves.

After going to A & J's house this afternoon for their Bluebonnet Gathering, I will be on a mission to find cute little decorative things to put into the newly-mulched flowerbeds..... the thrift stores always seem to have garden things on their shelves.  And I also have a few garden ornaments in my own space at the antique shop, so I'll give those a second look to see if there's anything I can bring home for the flowerbeds.

I am honestly trying not to break another nail..... the fabric garden gloves aren't strong enough.... and they get soaked through with one blast of the hose.  Plastic gloves work well if you put two or three of them on so you have more coverage from the weeds with sharp little needles on their edges.  All those layers of plastic don't exactly give you flexibility... it's like trying to count out pennies with mittens on your hands.

The flowerbeds will look wonderful when they're weeded and planted and mulched...... and then we'll be out there watering every day, all summer long when the temperatures go over 100 and the water dries up as quickly as you get it on the plants.  In one of the backyard spots, I suggested to my husband that we plant some Texas-native cactus. Pretty ones that bloom with bright flowers.  My husband doesn't like cactus. I don't like most cactus plants either, but they're no-maintenance in this state.  "I thought you liked an English garden look...." my husband said.   Well, of course I do, but we're in Texas, not England....... and it doesn't rain here like it does in Britain..... and above all else, we don't have a live-in British gardener who will tend to the watering and the weeding and the floral arrangements.  Details.... details....