Sunday, August 8, 2010

Sunflowers, Etc.








These sunflowers grow in my mother's garden.

I don't know what kind of magic juju she waves over her plants, but everything she's grown this year has been super-sized up to and including her flock of wild geese .

On the other hand, my tomatoes have all but given up. The peppers are choked out by weeds, and my roses are dying from neglect.

The crab grass, however, is doing remarkably well thanks to in spite of the neglect.

Keeping the yard cut is one thing. To keep the weeds out of the garden and flower beds would require hours each week that I simply do not have. That black weed block paper stuff? Doesn't work. The crab grass howled with laughter and, to add salt to the wound, came back stronger than ever. I'm not big on using poison unless it's for ants or Gustav's water bucket either.

Aside from hiring someone, which is cost prohibitive for me, is there some magic juju that retards grass growth in flower beds and gardens?

Today I'll be contemplating these domestic dilemmas which include how to clean mold from a pop-up camper; how to keep the Canada geese and their deposits* out of my yard when my mother feeds then next door; and how to repair a ping pong table damaged in an unexpected rain storm during a party. It was my great idea to put it outside.

*The Canada geese aren't scared of me at all. Several times per day I come dashing out the back door trying to scare them off, much like a madwoman. They laugh when I yell, jump up and down, stomp my feet, flail my arms and swirl large objects in the air. I'm sure the neighbors are equally bemused amused.

At least I hope so.

Serenity now.

May your Sunday be free from stress, maintenance dilemmas and geese chores.

7 comments:

deborah said...

Have a great Sunday!
There is some stuff you can sprinkle on your garden that supposedly stops weeds from growing, but the weeds, I think, gain strength from it and grow that much faster. The weeds are glorious this year, I can attest to that! I gave in, and have the nicest morning glories in town:)

Geese seem to leave the most unwelcome things in a yard or on a car...maybe they haven't learned the property boundaries yet and still think they are at your moms?

Daryl said...

That last shot of the sunflowers near Gustav's lair was the subject of many photos .. those two flowers are celebrities in Blogland... maybe pay the kids to weed .. pay 'em with trips to places they like to go vs $$.. give them chits or IOU for something .. make it like the airlines .. # of chits/IOU/points = something they want...

And my WV . chitalud .. give chitalud you wont be sorry

Meg McCormick said...

Have you tried jujubes?

kaffy said...

Love the sunflowers! Mumma sure has a green thumb. What color is yours?

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

deborah - They DO think they're at my mother's AND they think that I am my mother when I come running out the house. The difference is I am not throwing corn and beckoning them to eat out of my hand - I am swirling large objects in the air and stomping my feet while making hissing and screaming noises trying to get them to leave. It's very confusing for them, I am sure, but I will not back down. They are welcome to float along in the creek and have a field day next door, but I cannot have them eating my tomatoes and dropping their excess baggage all over the deck, the patio and the yard.

daryl-Chits is such a tempting word. In fact, I have a great story involving that word and a really bad slogan on a t-shirt in 9th grade Spanish. (Good idea about using the kids to work the flower beds.)

Meg-I would except that would probably attract ants, and Lord knows we don't want to entice them any more than we have to.

kaffy-One thumb is black, the other is gray. The gray one grows the weeds. This apple evidently fell very far from that branch of the family tree, to mix a few metaphors.

foolery said...

I got nuthin'. My yard is half jungle, half desert.

Noe Noe Girl...A Queen of all Trades. said...

My grass is crunchy. Everything is burnt up except for the weeds.
I think I'll have some wine!
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