Green Monster, cont.

The saga continues, that is the conquering of the green monster at LM's house. For the past two months or so, LM and I have been valiantly waging war against the green monster that threatens to consume the little house. Because Bob was losing steam in his last years, he gave up trying to control the English ivy, wisteria, bittersweet and honeysuckle which flourishes on all sides of the property. Now that LM and I have the responsibility of the garden, we have launched an all-out mostly-successful offensive. My back, hips and knees might not agree that we have won the war, but it is looking very nice over there.

This morning, I was up at 4:30 and had a nice batch of Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins in the oven by 5:30 am. These will help to fuel Paul Bunyan and company today - AKA LM and my SIL, Richie. Chainsaw in hand they plan to take down more than 7 trees today in our continuing effort to fight back the green tide. Considering that I have been pretty hobbled by hip pain, etc, LM has decreed that I cannot help, but I may supervise. Tough for me to sit still as I thrive working in the garden and seeing the beauty emerge. There is something so satisfying in cutting and dragging huge amounts of these invasive vines and weeds to the mulch pile, which, by the way, is towering these days.
So far, our battle with the English ivy has been the hardest. LM has worked with a crow bar, huge loppers and other heavy equipment to remove most of the surface material but roots remain on 2 sides of the house and they are daunting. We just keep telling ourselves that we are making progress and that is all that counts. There will have to be the application of some vine and stump killer at some point and we do not like to do that BUT! Last sunday, we did clear out a 7ft area along the right front side of the house we intend to plant hydrangeas on both sides of the front in late Fall when they are on sale.
Last week, I cut back some massive lilacs, which were growing over the sidewalk along the street, planted petunias and between rest periods, I did a lot of lopping. There are already some beautiful plantings around the house and with the trees removed, we think they will be able to thrive in the sunlight. Most of the trees are dead or growing up underneath other large shade trees.

Since I last wrote, my emotions have seemed to level out and grief is in a more manageable place. Keeping life simple and resting has helped restore my spirit.

I'm still getting to know my new laptop and hope to be back tomorrow with some pictures and details of "Paul Bunyan's visit."