I'm tired of yard work!

[Amber]

We have had really nice weather this week, so I have headed outside to work on the yard. We bought this house in late Nov, it sat vacant for at least 6mo before that, and who knows if the previous owners took care of the yard while they were here.

There are lots of nice plants around, and the yard is semi-landscaped...but there is so much work to do. Since no one took care of it last spring/summer everything is over grown. For the past 4 days I have been outside cutting out dead stems/flowers, cleaning out debris and weeding. I am so sore. And there is still so much work left to be done. Yard work/gardening is not my thing :shifty But I am tired of our house looking so bad, and dh is working long hours so it falls to me.

And...we still have to clear out the back part of our property of Scotch Broom so that we can plant our garden :sigh. The Scotch Broom that we have are huge...we have pulled some out with the riding mower...but we have found a couple that would not come out that way :jawdrop If we don't get their roots up they will just come back :sigh

[canadiyank]

When I moved into this house, where the yard was much bigger than I was experienced with and where the focus of the owners had been packing etc, I hired an arborist to come out and help me for a bit. It wasn't cheap but it was worth every penny b/c he got everything to a basically acceptable level *and* taught me how to do it as I shadowed him around. I was completely overwhelmed but he helped me feel competent and got rid of the worst of the probs. Now, 4 yrs. later I absolutely *love* yard work, even the boring stuff like clearing up old dead plants (which I did for hours this week).

[Amber]

I wish we could hire someone...but we don't have the money for that right now, and dh would never go for it, I think that would hurt his ego some :giggle It will be much better in a couple of weeks when dh is able to help me more. He is going on a "guys" snowboarding trip this weekend, and next weekend he is in a wedding. After that I'm sure he will be out there working with me. He loves yardwork :giggle

Until then, I am wishing the rain would come back so I would have a good excuse to injoy the great indoors :shifty

[QuiltinGramma]

Sweetie, I know exactly what you're going through.
Our house in North Carolina was like that.
The yard work just about killed me.
So now, I hate ivy and I hate hedges!
Maybe I can help you when I come.
:heart

[Can'tTurnLeft]

I feel ya! We moved into our house and we have Narnia in the back (this wooded area with a gas lamp) and nobody had touched it in years. There was a bad icestorm here a couple of years ago, and the trees were still down, overgrowth everywhere, and lots of mess. The lawn is patchy and so much of it is just a wreck! I love my vegetable garden, but I don't like the yard work, but am out there doing it and making sure it is safe for the kids come summer! And I'm sore too! I just keep telling myself I've got weight to lose, adn this is a good thing.

[HomeWithMyBabies]

It's too cold to go out right now, but I have a ton of yard work in my future. We just bought the house, but the seller had moved out several months prior so the plants got a bit out of control in the warmer months. There is a massive old maple tree in the center of the back yard that should have been cut back a year or two ago imo. Plus, it's either exfoliating, or dropping bark from temperature fluctuations....or sick/infested. So I'm going to have to hire somebody just for my tree, and it will probably cost more for one tree doctor visit than all our yearly doctor visit copays combined. :lol


We moved into our house and we have Narnia in the back (this wooded area with a gas lamp) and nobody had touched it in years.


I so badly want my own Narnia now. :giggle

[Amber]

We have a Narnia area in the back of our property, where the creek is. I think we are going to leave it pretty much alone...there are lots of good adventures to be had back there for the boys. We do have to whack a path (or two) back to the creek :yes

I was a happy to see that it is supposed to turn rainy again next week, it has been unusually warm and dry for the last couple of weeks :shifty The rain will give me a chance to recover and clean up the inside of the house a bit :giggle

[QuiltinGramma]

Yes :yes clean up the house a bit cause your mama is coming and you don't want her to see a messy house. :haha :P~
NOT!!
Boy, I would still sweat it when Grandma E. would come for a visit.
I'd try to get as much done as possible and then what I couldn't get done, I knew that she would help me.
Grandma E. always kept her house so nice and clean.
I still miss her. :cry
But I miss you guys more and can't wait to see you :smile
:heart

[Amber]

I still miss Grandma too :hug

Don't worry, I'm not going to wear myself out cleaning for when you come :P~

[QuiltinGramma]

...and, l'll spend too much time playing with the boys to help much the yard work anyways. :haha :sillygrin
:heart

[Lantern Light Mama]

We are working on ours to move. yes, you read that right. lol.

[Hermana Linda]

I should be doing yard work. :shifty

[Amber]

It started raining yesterday and it looks like rain for the rest of the week :phew :giggle But that will be good for the little seedling trees that we planted.

[Hermana Linda]

All the rain we have been having has been really good for the plants. :tu

[RiverRock]

I have been taking advantage of the sunny days, but we still get enough snowy days or winds with the winter chill that I don't have to feel too bad about not getting more done. Our yard is once again covered in snow, and a few days ago it was so glorious that I pruned and re-staked my raspberries. Every little bit matters. Even if it takes more than this year, you will eventually get to the point where your yardwork is mostly maintainance and you will have all the necessary tools, and be more aware of the limitations of your yard (light and soil qualities). I'm not quite at that point after living in this house for almost 8 years, but we are slowly getting there.

[Amber]

I'm lucky that my MIL is a really good gardener and willing to give me tips :giggle And dh grew up here, doing gardening stuff for his mom...so he is pretty versed in what works well here as well.

[WI Mama05]

My first thought when I read the title was yard? what yard?? I guess there's one somewhere under the snow. :giggle

Seriously, ITU. I have a yard FULL of canadian thistle to try to whack out come spring. Couldn't get it all last fall preggers and all. That stuff SPREADS too!

OK, winter can stay a few weeks longer......

[QuiltinGramma]

Hey Amber....your MIL wanted me to remind her to tell you that she's getting the garden wench...I mean wrench tomorrow.
:heart

[jrsmama]

My best suggestion is just to take it a little at a time. Maybe even only do a portion of the area that you want to garden in and do more clearing next year. I bought our place 1 1/2 yrs ago and have a very small yard but it's taking me quite a bit of time to get it like I want it since it's only me. I had to hire someone to remove 2 old storage sheds and then I cleared the entire area and handtilled it with a pitchfork (!) and weeded it and then put down sod. Also planted my veggies. Over the winter, I hired someone to tear out the soggy deck, leaving an area where many weeds have sprung up. Now I'm weeding that whole area by hand and trying to get some grass seed to take and looking forward to putting in some small raised beds for my veggies. The important thing is to enjoy the stages you're able to reach when you reach them. :rockon