Evil

I feel such the evil person this morning in total destruction mode. I poured All Vegetation Killer on parts of the property.

I want certain areas of the yard free of all possible vegetation in preparation for new beds next year. I’ve removed some “waste ground” plants and trees that keep sprouting in bad areas (right on the fence or right against the foundation of the house where they can cause a lot of damage), and have been trying to find a nice electric wood chipper.

I’d be happy to rent one, and willing to buy one, but apparently, around here, wood chippers are seasonal and won’t be available until September.

The only places I can find a nice electric wood chipper on line are out of stock until at least the middle of August, and I’d still not get the chipper until September. Only then, I’d also pay an extra $50.00 in shipping costs.

Why do power lawn equipment places think trees only shed or are pruned or weeded out in the fall? What about those crazy bent-on-destruction people like myself who prune all year round?

There doesn’t seem to be a specific season in my yard for trees – they grow all year long so there’s no dormant season to prune.

Hehe. I uprooted and transplanted my rose bushes in July – to horrified gasping from the rose growers’ association. But the rose bush is just fine and has many new leaves sprouting all over it. It appears happier in its new location.

I’ve transplanted mimosas in Februray, where I had to use an ice pick to break the ground about it and had the tree be happy.

I prune the maple, cedars, mulberry, butterfly trees, and myrtles all year because they keep growing all year.

That means I have lots and lots of little branches that need chipping all year long.

I’m sure, in more northern climates where there are actual seasons, there might be a “growing season” and a “dormant season”, but here? Here, it’s warm season, hot season, warm season, warm season with a few days of ice tossed in for variation. A few plants don’t like the ice, but everything else does great here.

Even my redbud tree (the worst at shedding small branches all year round) grows all year. The only difference is, it produces redbuds (yummy delicious redbuds) in the spring that grow into seed pods later on. When it finally sheds its leaves, it’s just to make room for the buds.

My tomatoes, if I let them, would produce tomatoes all year long. I uproot them in March so the ground can lie fallow and be de-bugged for a couple of months, and I replant the tomatoes in late April, early May.

Anyway, back to the total destruction.

I killed all the vegetation growing along the front of the house so I can put in a small fragrant garden to enjoy while letting Itzl play outside in hte new fenced in playyard we’re installing for him.

I killed all the vegetations seeking to take over the driveway and patio.

I killed all the vegetation along the west neighbor’s fence so I could put in temporary repairs. It’s her fence, but she’s too poor to pay for even half the replacement (best case scenario) and too clueless to figure out how to repair what’s there. So, it’s up to me to fix it so the dogs don’t get in her yard.

And I killed all the vegetation on my eastern neighbor’s side because she’s terrified of green growing things, and when my yard creeps too close to hers, she freaks out.

So, killing spree is over for today.

I’ll see what all dies as it should in the next week, and kill again next week if I must.