Why I Oughta...

I waited as long as I could: but, I finally cut the lawn last week.  Posting this on Wednesday, May 3rd, but I ended up cutting the lawn on Thursday,  April 27th.  It was long and ready for a cut.  Here, below, is a peek at the deep-green color of the lawn right now.  It never looks better than mid-Spring. I cut it on the 4-setting on the mower - that's two slots from the tallest.  One of my 2023 items on my lawn care list is to try to cut front a bit lower, so this 4 setting is exactly where I was last year.  My 2022 list says that I cut the front on 6 in 2020.  5 in 2021.  So, it was 4 in 2022 .   This first mow, I used the bagger to keep the cuttings out of the lawn.  As I get more regular, I'll switch to mulching it in as I've done every other year. 

Last Spring, I dug out two pairs of Lilac flowering shrubs and moved them from a shady, understory spot along the south fence (under a Walnut tree, too) to the north side fenceline - in a a more open, and sunny location.   The two 'common' Lilac shrubs have responded and are flush with green leaves and new growth at the tips.  These were planted as small, 2 gallon shrubs in 2018 .  And they struggled.  Too much shade.  Too much Walnut (probably).   That's why I moved them out.  I planted them along with some Thujas.  Those...didn't work.  More on losing two of those soon .  But, the Lilacs?  The common ones, at least.  They're seemingly thriving.   They are thickening up and growing.  See below for first a photo of the pair of them and then the new growth on the tips. Would love to see these get over the top of the fence height this growing season.

When we planted the new Triumph Elm tree last Fall , I had to relocate one of the original boxwoods that were planted in that bed.  As a temporary measure, I had the guys who planted the Elm dig up the boxwood and just put it further back in the bed.  If you look at the photos here and here , you can see the lone boxwood that was moved out from the front line to the back of the bed.   As part of the shaping-up of the front porch bed, it was time to move that boxwood out of there and find it a new home.  With it being mature and larger than anything I can buy at the store, I decided to plant it as a stand alone in the back beds vs....say...the IB2DWs area (where I want to plant boxwoods this year).   Here, below, is a photo showing the front porch bed.  On the right is the Triumph Elm that was planted last Fall.  On the left is the dug-up and moved Boxwood in question.    It is a big, heavy clump, so I dug it out and used my wheelbarrow to load it up for the backyard. I opted for a mid

This Winter, we've been adding our kitchen waste to the carbon storage (mostly leaves) compost bin out back and have been sort of hand-turning it in to the top layer.  I add some kitchen waste, then add a thin layer of leaves on top.  And repeat.  I also started to add a little bit of biosolids to that same storage bin, too.   As the weather warms up, I'll get out there and turn the bin, but for now, I'm just thinking about how to add some amendments that might help speed-up the leaf bin a little bit. To that end, I was at the SBUX in Westmont last week and saw the big bag of used grounds on the counter that they were offering.  I grabbed a bag and brought it home.  Below are some photos of this ' Grounds for Your Garden ' package: I dumped the bag of grounds on the top of the bin and stir'd it in.  Below is how the grounds look straight out of the bag. In that photo, you can see some of the ornamental grasses that I cleaned up and put in the top of the bin. 

Last year, we planted a pair of heart-leaf brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla) from Roy Diblik's Northwind Perennial Farm up in Wisconsin and planted them in the understory garden of our backyard.  This is the little section that my middle child has been planting with various low and mid-height perennials.   These managed to avoid the rabbits last Fall and then went dormant.  They've sprung up this year - a bit behind the other cultivars like Jack of Diamonds  and Queen of Hearts - and have their small flowers putting on a little Spring show.   Here, below, are both of them showing up for their first Spring: This one below is interplanted with tulips:

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. 

Our hedge of Frans Fontaine Columnar Hornbeam trees is waking up for Spring and has begun to leaf-out all over the trees.  The last time that I looked at these trees was earlier this (late) Winter, when all of the trees were still clinging to some of their previous-season's leaves (something called foliar marcescence).   The screening that comes from planting these Frans Fontaine Hornbeams along the property line is starting to come into focus this growing season as the small leaves are opening from their buds.  Below, is a photo showing the current (mid/late April) state in our yard in Northern Illinois (Zone 5b).  And, here below, is a look at the leaf from the Frans Fontaine European Hornbeam (Fastigata).  They are curled and ribbed with a hob-like flower/fruit on the trees It won't be long until they fill-in for the year - check this post to see what these trees look like mid-Summer (July 2022) where they're screening our neighbor's yard. These trees were planted