Weeds

My back yard is a mess. I can't even identify all the stuff growing there, but it's all weeds and they all need to go. Every day I pluck weeds for an hour, shortly after sunrise when the soil's still loose from dew. By 9am it's already too hot and dry to work much else in the yard. I don't even recycle the weeds and through them in the dumpster when there's room. I have goat heads, dandelions and other desert weeds like desert broom.

I started a compost pile two days ago, using an old tin garbage pail we bought as a small fire bail. Overnight the pile settled to half its size. Filled with dead grasses, kitchen scraps, dead leaves and water, the compost should work itself into usuable compost in a few weeks if the daytime heat remains. The pail is covered to keep the heat in.

The front yard has plenty of leaves I will recycle. I'm now removing the dead leaves to reveal new growth on most of the plants. Even the lantana that I thought had died shows some new leaves. Only my Yellow Bells are dead, the crepe myrtle as well, but the sages and lavenders and penstemons are doing well.

I'm not sure I'm going to replace any of the dead plants just yet, as I will try harder to make the front yard more xeriscape and use less water. What water the front yard will get will be recycled shower water.

I planted six new agastaches yesterday that I got from High Country Gardens. (They are expensive but carry an awesome line of xeriscape plants ideal for the high desert). They are in the same area my other agastaches were (wonder why they didn't survive?).

One of our pecan trees is looking sicker and sicker each year. The smaller of the two always blooms later than its partner. Its bark broke down to the cambrium a few years back (from a wind storm?) and it seems to have done some permanent damage to the tree. The previous home owners cut the tree's damaged branches off exposing the tree's south side to the sun, but it's also the south side of the tree that is mostly bald. I don't expect the tree to live much longer.

Neither pecan has yet had any nuts, so both are most likely male or female plants.

The acorns I planted in Texas are still sprouting. The acorns were in coffee cups that I kept wrapped in a plastic bag in the back of the van during my trip across Texas. Although suffering from lack of sunlight--the seedlings are all white--they should hopefully continue to grow well now that they are on the back porch. Maybe one of the oaks will replace the pecan tree in a few years?

I will continue to de-weed the back yard every day until the majority of dead grasses and weeds are gone. Once that is done hopefully the maintenance of the yard will be easier. I will be as holistic as possible and avoid pesticides.

A cool front is expected Sunday afternoon with rain possible that night. That would be ideal as it hasn't rained here in a while and the soil is very dry. We keep getting Red Flag warnings for high winds, though.