Poking Around the Yard on a Sunday Afternoon

After chuch and a quick lunch I went outside to poke around in the yard.  It was such a nice day outside and although I did not have any huge project to tackle,  I still wanted to get several smaller things done. 

First, I finally spread out the two bales of pine straw I had bought two weeks ago around the sago palms and also around the two crepe myrtles on either side of the front porch.  I also weeded the two front flower beds and evened out the dirt that Jackson, Molly or Willie had piled up towards the back while digging for something.   I then collected the inside of Willie’s teddy that he had thrown around in the front yard and loaded the remains into the wheelbarrow.  His purple dog is now an empty shell that is missing both of its ears and a leg.  It is pretty sad looking and next time we are out we have to pick him up a replacement. 

Once the front yard was looking good I grabbed my bag of fire ant killer and went to work on the mounds that were popping up all over the yard.  I hit the one that was bordering the front walk way as well as two on the side yard, two in the back yard and one small mound near the garage.  I made sure to sprinkle the insecticide on the mound as well as around it and watered each one according to the instructions on the bag.  While I appreciate nature, I cannot stand fire ants and their stings are painful.  I am pretty sure that by tomorrow the ant hills I treated will be dead. 

With my bombardment of the fire ant colonies complete, I transplanted the purple coneflowers to their permanent home on the side yard.  These are the first plants I have ever attempted to grow from seeds and they are curently 2-3 inches tall.   I planted them on the side of the house on the little rise behind the two lantas.  I hope that they continue to grow and I think they will look very pretty once they bloom.  I tried to rope off the area where I had planted them with twine to keep the dogs out but that worked for about an hour until they ran through it and tore the sticks and twine out of the ground.  You’re on your own now little echinacea plants, good luck!

The final project of the evening was to take the chain link fence down at the back of the house.  I do not know which prior owner put up this bit of fencing but it was useless.  It came off the back corner of the house and extended 20 feet towards the driveway.  It did not connect to a larger area of fence or have a gate on it.  Now that we have the picket fence around the house it really looked out of place and with Jackson watching me I undid the ties that bound the chain link fencing onto the poles.  I also took off the caps and pulled out the long bar that ran across the top.  All that remains is the poles that are cemented into the ground.  I am not sure if I am going to dig them out or cut poles off and leave the cement anchors in the ground.  Either way, I will not be able to finish taking down the fence until later this month.