Apparently, they weren't yews after all.

[quasigeostrophy]

As we were ripping them out yesterday afternoon, Toni found a tag under the last one that identified them as some sort of juniper. Whatever they were, as I was around them being hacked up and dragged about, scratching up my forearms, I learned that I think they're on my allergy list. Good riddance for one more reason then. My forearms are broken out and I was sneezing quite a bit yesterday. Anyway, like a dumb ass I forgot to take before pictures for those of you who haven't seen what the front of the house looked like dominated by six, six-foot tall junipers and two similarly sized privets. There are pictures around here somewhere, and when I find one I'll link to it later. Suffice that the junipers blocked the view of the entire porch railing from in front, and kept the porch in quite a lot of shadow. Between them and the privets, the sidewalk leading to the front door was crowded and I would often find it bridged with spider webs on summer mornings. Well, no more. After yesterday's work, this is what the area looked like:

• The new view from the porch.
  
• From the porch again, where the privets used to be.
  
• From the driveway.
  
• From the front yard / common drive.

Toni's mom and I went to Lowe's and picked up three petunias, four silver mound artemisia, and three hybrid sage this morning. Nothing that will grow quite as large as what we had. And while I can smell the hybrid sage, it's not as bad to my sinuses as what I've run into before. They and fifteen bags of topsoil, after watering and feeding, look like this:

• All the new plants.
  
• Two of the petunias.
  
• The third petunia, sage and artemisia.

I've got no arm strength left for the day, and it's only just after noon. But the front bed is done. I may still mulch around the lamp post and neighboring rock, just because I hate using the string trimmer, but that can wait.

Comments

[krasota.livejournal.com]

I'm just curious-- why do people rip out landscaping when they're trying to sell? I know realtors recommend it, but seeing denuded yards really turned me *off* of property when we were looking.

Juniper is a pretty major allergen pollen-wise, and the resin in the leaves/fruits can be very irritating. Try some benadryl cream. :)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I'm with you most of the time, but our junipers and privets were just too big and not very flattering. They kept the porch in shadow which kept it rather buggy, too. They were the supplied basic landscape plants when we bought the place ten years ago and we just never got around to doing anything else, as neither I nor Toni have that green of thumbs. :-)

Thanks for the benadryl cream suggestion. The arms aren't too itchy anymore, just a bit red, and I didn't think of benadryl yesterday because the oral version never does squat for me.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

I'm allergic to Bendadryl, but I'm told the cream does wonders when the oral meds don't.

I usually opt for hydrocortisone. ;) Calamine is nice for burning, though. I use that a lot.

I do have to admit, seeing juniper in plantings near house foundations drives me nuts. It's *not* a good plant to put that close. I'm rather irked about the boxwoods and azaleas in front of our house, but I don't want to cut 'em down. They'll need to go at some point. Right now, I'm trying to figure out if I can un-prune the azaleas so that they can regain a natural shape.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I usually opt for hydrocortisone.

Wow, I think there's something I'm allergic to (topical hc) that you're not? ;-)

Never tried calamine, as far as I can remember. I've used aloe vera for sunburns but have never thought of it for allergic reactions. You can't use that, right?

[krasota.livejournal.com]

WOOHOO! I'm not allergic to something!

I am, of course, horrifically allergic to aloe vera.

You're not done yet :-)

[elmegil.livejournal.com]

You really need some mulch, unless you want the weeds to crop up in all that open space between the plants...

Trust me, I'm an expert at weeds with no mulch :-)

Re: You're not done yet :-)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I really wasn't sure I was done completely. I'd wondered about mulch. I'm done for today, though. :-)

Re: You're not done yet :-)

[djinnthespazz.livejournal.com]

And to be really sure, drag the newspapers out of the recycle bin and lay them down, first, overlapping sections by 3-4 inches. Then lay your mulch over that, covering it completely.

Leave a ring around each plant about 3" out from the plant, for it to increase, and to keep it from rotting from the mulch (esp. for your silver mounds).

Do that and you will be in good shape, sir.
The Garden Djinn says so.

Re: You're not done yet :-)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

With mulch, I want to extend the bed and actually eliminate needing to cut grass all the way up to the house all around the house. Do I need to do anything to the grass first (newspaper?) or will mulch be enough to kill it?

Re: You're not done yet :-)

[djinnthespazz.livejournal.com]

You will want to put an underlay down, or dig out and remove the grass before mulching. The mulch without using an underlay will have to be pretty thick - 4-6 inches with the grass removed, to keep the weeds down.

If you are grass killing with the newspaper mulch, you will want to use about 2 sections for each spot (about 20 pages or so - you get a good idea after you've been doing it for a while). If you are in a windy area, or over the grass areas, I'd recomment wetting down the sections before you place them, they will stay put better and press down the grass quicker.

I open the paper up as if I was looking at the front page, and use that brick shaped layout as my 'building block.' A rubbermaid storage tote works great for watering it down. Run it through the water like pre-pasted wall paper.

Re: You're not done yet :-)

[djinnthespazz.livejournal.com]

With the paper under, you can just top dress with around an 1 1/2 or 2 inches of mulch - much more economical.

Re: You're not done yet :-)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :-)

Re: You're not done yet :-)

[krasota.livejournal.com]

Thoroughly soak the newspaper as you lay it down, then mulch well over it (3 to 6"). You may end up lifting the plants slightly so that you don't choke them, but that's okay.

If you want to be super extra sure, scalp the grass to the soil with a weedwhacker first. ;)

Re: You're not done yet :-)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I was contemplating doing the weedwhacker thing if for no other reason than to mark the area I want to cover, so that will serve. :-)

Re: You're not done yet :-)

[gasslight.livejournal.com]

Agreed. The mulching is key for that reason, to nourish the plantings and to bring the whole look together. Trust me on this, Dan. It will really look done when mulched. I had pine bark chips, but any of the smaller colored mulch will be nice. Smell 'em first though, cuz you may be allergic to the aroma of some kinds.

[purplerifka.livejournal.com]

looks pretty to me.
and looks like lots of work- better you then me.
LOL