Why I Oughta...

This is always one of the toughest times in the garden for me:  things are done for the year and we're facing Fall decline.  But, that doesn't stop the weeds from showing up.  And, I've usually been not-so-good about keeping on top of them.  That's part of why I put "Be a gardener who weeds" at the #8 slot on my 2025 to-do list .  Last year, I let clover go too much.   This year, I've been better.  Between using my push-pull hoe and just yanking out clumps of weeds (and lots of clover), I've tried to stay on top of the weeds and get to them before they can flower.  In early August, I posted a photo of a big handful of clover I yanked out one evening .   This week, I did the same thing:  walked and pulled.   Clover, yes.  But, also some other stuff that was in flower.  Just-in-the-nick-of-time, I think. Here's to being a better weeder this year.

Last growing season, I fell behind on weeding the garden.  Between the pizza oven build, my own health and the lack of mulch on top of our soil, we had some weed problems.  Sure, I tried to use my push/pull hoe to chop them off.  But, I fell behind. That's why I put #8 on my 2025 to-do list : 8. Be a weeder. Just use the push-pull hoe. It is a good way to get out in the evenings to observe what is working in the garden. In the list item, I say that I should just use the hoe.  But, I (now) know that isn't enough.  Especially...when things are getting ahead of me in terms of weeds with flowers.  And...going to seed. This year, we have a clover infestation.  Clover in the beds.  Clover in the lawn.  Clover with little yellow flowers.  The past few weeks, I've been pulling as much clover and other weeds as I can.  See below...here's one evening's work: The weeds that are producing flowers are the key ones that I've been pulling and toss...

We have tree kinds of astilbes in our garden.  The original were Fanal with their red flowers .  I added a couple of bareroot Maggie Daley Astilbes a few years back .  And, most-recently, I've bought (in two different years) some dark-foliage Astilbes named Dark Side of the Moon .  I moved/transplanted them (6 total plants) to the 'nook garden' as part of an edit last year .   They sort-of just *were* last year.  With the transplant stress coupled with a little bit of neglect and some weed pressure, I wasn't sure what to expect this Spring.  Would they come back?  Were they going to put on size?   Turns out, all six came back.  Just like the Sun Kings .  And, for the first time a couple of them (not all six) have put up flower blooms.  Straight, rigid, dark purple stalks with tiny clusters of dots on top.  Below is a photo showing one of them: One of the big items on my 2025 to-do list was to finish up the edits ...

The Wild Onion continues to be a problem.  The clumps of these bulbs are in our lawn and in our beds.  I've worked at them for years - including cultural and herbicide treatments over the years.  I've removed them, sprayed them and attempted to treat the soil to make them less happy.  This Spring, I've lime'd the backyard , sprayed the tips with Tenacity and pulled them out by hand.  This past week, I went into the understory garden bed and used my Hori Hori to pull up a bunch of these jerks.  Below is the orange trug filled up with the bulbs.  What's different in the beds vs the lawn is that it is a bit easier to get the bulbs out without taking more dirt/soil/earth.  I pry up the bulbs, cut the clump and pull from the bottom.   If you have Wild Onions like we do, be SURE TO NOT COMPOST THEM.  These go right in the trash - not the compost pile.   Here's a couple of other Spring 2023 posts on these awful things. 

Earlier this year, in the 'scorecard' post of my 2022 garden to-do list, I marked the 'upgrade my garden tools' item as 'complete' and mentioned that I was set to explain that with a new tool that I received as a Christmas gift.  This post...is paying off that item - and showing a new Dutch push-pull diamond-shaped garden hoe with p-grip.  This one is from DeWit Garden tools and features a 84" wooden handle - with that p-grip that you can see in the first photo: Below is a look at the diamond-cutting head of this long, push/pull hoe: Below is the product label that lists this as: DeWit Dutch Diamond Push/Pull Hoe with Ash Handle - 1700mm.   And, finally, below you can see the DeWit logo on the metal head that connects to the ash wooden long handle: This is the second wood-handled garden tool that I have - with the first one being a Sneeboer garden hoe .  In that post, I mentioned that I've been thinking about this very push/pull hoe based on the recomm...