De-grass-i High

I hate gardening. I think I might be the only blogger ever, according to all the blogs I read, who hates gardening. But I do - it's hot, and sweaty, and two weeks after all your work the weeds come back and your flowers die and bugs eat your parsley.

But since over there <---- in my resolutions I noted that I wanted "to replant my front flowerbeds and keep them properly weeded and tidy (and alive)" and "get the deck done and the backyard spruced up appropriately", I decided that today was the perfect day to start cleaning the grass from my back flower bed across my fence. There was so much grass in with the jasmine that you couldn't really tell how much jasmine was there. Four hours later most of the grass is taken out, some of the trees from the other side of the fence have been pruned back so that they don't overhang (also our property, it's an easement), and some of the invading vines have been pulled off the fence.

You know what? It really wasn't that terrible. I don't know if it's because I'm in better shape or because it's still relatively early in the hot season, but I wasn't dying at all while I was out there. As a matter of fact, I even came in, made chicken flautas for lunch, ate lunch and then went back outside with no moaning and groaning. My hands hurt a little, but otherwise I'm feeling great, and I'm so happy to have relatively one relatively clean flower bed!

I'm also thankful to have some plants that grow all on their own:



My jasmine. Two years ago I cut it all down because it was so thick it was pulling down the fence, and now it's back! I haven't so much as watered it.


My rose bush. It came with the house, and is always teeming with roses. I cut it back once a year (I was told to do it on Valentine's day) and it's the most fertile rose bush I've ever seen in my life. Fertilizer? What's that?

My gardenia bush. Oh, how I wanted one. Last year my MIL gave me this one, and I nearly killed it by not replanting it, and then I dropped it in a hole with no potting soil and still it loves me. I don't know why, but I am thankful. (PS - see the grass? Yeah, that's supposed to be a mulched flower bed. Let's remind you that I have a lot of work to do).

Oh, and also - this post was going to be called "Why I hate the grass-roots movement". I thought it up while I was yanking out grass roots. Damn grass roots.

*edit: evidently I just had to sleep on it because now I'm SORE! But not uncomfortable, can't get out of bed sore. More of a "Hey, I have muscles there?" sort of sore. And my hands are killing me.