the bush

This bush (or whatever it is) spans a 40-foot section of our rear exterior wall, and hugs it too tightly for our liking. With termites and other pests posing a big threat to homes like ours, this sucker could potentially conceal any problems. It had to go.

So I ripped it out. It took some effort, but it was easier than it might have been –the bush had bound itself to a wire guide, used when it was planted, so it pretty much came out in one long section. Still lots of clearing needed, then masses of roots to dig out.

First, Karen was keen to address any pest problems, so she gave the area a good spraying. We had a pest report as part of our purchase, and fixed the few small issues, so we should be fine. But we need to keep on top of things.

I was dreading removing so many roots, but it was easier than anticipated. Equipped with our new spade, wrecking bar, and wheelbarrow, it took me a couple of hours. Then I added the roots to our growing pile of yard waste.

Finally we have (virtually) root-free earth. Not that we’ll be planting anything. We plan to fill this with pebbles –specifically, gray-colored Mexican beach pebbles, which we’ll also use for some other areas of our landscaping.

Problem is, these pebbles are expensive, and our budget won’t stretch right now. When we’re ready, we’ll buy a bulk-load. For a temporary fix, we opted for black bark. which is only three bucks a bag, and good for the earth. This area took three bags..

It doesn’t look amazing but it’s neat and tidy, which is more than you can say for our disastrous rear lawn. And now we can relax about the pest situation. We’ll leave it like this for the winter months, and take it from there.