Day One of Promise

So I promised myself I would spend at least 30 minutes a day out in the yard catching up on the weeding, and for general upkeep of the planting beds. I was out there for an hour today, working in the back corner. The weed grass was almost as tall as the heliconias, so I managed to make a good bit of headway in that area. I also trimmed back the surinam cherry bushes that have sprung up behind the heliconias. I plan to get into the easement to kill the roots, once I have the inside cut back.

I started by pulling all of the cucumber vine off the side fence. As you can see from the photo, the neighbor's fence is the culprit, spreading it all into my yard. I managed to get rid of the cucumber vine from the right side of the house, and was working on

Then there is the kudzu type vine. I have a couple of photos here to show what I mean. They have a small white flower, kind of like a 1 inch white morning glory. The stalk is very tough and ropey, with the outer husk quick to slough off leaving the green vine safe. It has climbed through my tangerine and up into the nasty weed tree behind it - about 30 feet into the sky. All along the back fence it has been invading the confederate and winter jasmine, and the three passionfruit vines, killing everything in its wake. It has started to cover the hibiscus and brugmansias, so I need to take serious action. I have started cutting every stalk I find, hoping to cut off the food supply. I am planning to go over the fence with muriatic acid to kill the roots if I can find the source.

Finally, I took some photos of the front of the house, showing the new half moon bed. I have a lot of plants in there, in small clusters - plumeria, crotons, chiflera, even a spindle palm. I will think of something else to put there once everything starts growing, and then mulch it all. I figured I

had to do something to cut down on the upkeep since we terminated our lawn service today. I may do as my mother suggests and cover every bit of green with mulch.