Tag: yard work

Posted in garden

An afternoon working on the yard

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Jared Muller on Unsplash

After a few morning activities, we got home about noon. A few clouds drifted by, the temperature reached eighty, and there was just enough breeze to jostle the palm branches. It was a perfect afternoon to do some yard work.

I really enjoy getting out to work in the yard. Yes, you read that correctly. I’m a big fan of gardening, yard-ening, and firing up small engines to cut and trim and prune and tame the relentless growth of a northeast Florida yard.

After a smear of sunblock, picking out a hat (Phillies cap), and cleaning my sunglasses, I yanked on the lawnmower starter cord. One pull and it started right up after six weeks of rest and relaxation. As the first day of the vernal equinox approaches, more and more sun reaches our front yard, so it’s growing well. The back yard will catch up soon. It only takes about half an hour to cut the deep green front yard. It looks so much better when it’s all the same length. A few more passes up the west side of the house and I was done.

I topped off the string trimmer with some two-cycle gas and made a mental note to mix up more this week. Ten pumps on the bulb and three pulls on the starter and it roared to life. The edges of the property and gardens hadn’t grown much, so it only took fifteen minutes to trim. Three pulls on the blower started that engine, too, and I blew away all the grass clippings and pine needles from all the walks, driveway, and patio.

While cutting the law, I spent a lot of time dodging low hanging palm branches, so I decided to trim them, too. I grabbed my leather work gloves and pole saw, cut the lowest dozen branches off the canary palm tree, and set them off to the side. I’ll cut them in thirds and put them out on Wednesday, waste collection day.

Next, I raked a whole bunch of pine needles out of the gardens, pulling a few weeds along the way. I’ll need to add some cypress mulch this year. I pumped up my weed sprayer and hit the smaller weeds that are harder to pull.

Since I had protective gear on, I grabbed a hand-trimmer and cut back all the thorn-covered bougainvillea branches along the back yard fence. Everything looked so much better and I felt a few raindrops on my arm. Perfect timing. Enough for today. Plenty to work on another day.

I find yard work relaxing. Songs go through my head. The sun can’t decide whether to warm my skin or duck behind a cloud to let me cool off. Both feel nice. I love the smell of freshly cut grass. Unruly grass yields to a string trimmer. Soon I’ll wander through a nursery, looking for flowers to paint the empty spaces.

I am so glad I had a chance to work outside today.

Posted in garden, Life

Time to tackle some yard work

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

It was a gorgeous March day in Florida and I had nothing else on my schedule. Clear skies and temps in the seventies. Time to tackle some yard work.

I cut and trimmed the lawn. I pruned back all the dead branches from some of the backyard plants that had gotten bitten by a few sub-freezing days last winter. I finished moving landscaping rocks from a pile on the side of the house to the edges of the backyard gardens. Then I raked out tons of pine needles and weeded. Finally, I raked everything up and filled some yard waste bags to put out next week on collection day.

During one of my water breaks, I sat under the shade umbrella, felt the breeze, and thought about the whole yard/garden work experience. It’s not something you can rush. Slow and steady wins this race. Most tasks involved persistent, repetitive action. I loaded up and carried about 40 buckets of rock. Back and forth, back and forth. I cut twenty-two-inch wide rows across the lawn. Back and forth, back and forth. I sat and weeded section after section of the garden, leaving behind pile after pile to rake up. I pruned branch after branch, clipping them into smaller pieces and slowly filling bag after bag. I sprayed grass and weed killer along the fence line, killing off the grass that insists on growing where it’s not welcome.

I spent most of the day outside, slowly but surely getting the work done. The sun felt so good. Shade from some of the trees felt so good. The breeze that came in through spaces in the fence felt so good. The Amaryllis looked as if they were ready to bloom any minute. I’ve always enjoyed the smell of newly mown grass, until my allergies realize what is happening and start to clog up my sinuses.

I wouldn’t want to spend all day every day doing yard work. But some days I wouldn’t want to be any place else. I need a healthy dose of vitamin D from the sun. I need many breaths of fresh air. I need to hear the birds singing in the woods around me. I need to feel the dirt between my fingers. I need to feel the power of the string trimmer and the leaf blower in my hands. I need to see how many more lilies are poking up through the soil this year. I need to think about the new flowers and plants I will add this year.

For the moment, I can savor a completed task. It is a fleeting pleasure, for there are more tasks to be done. The grass’ growth accelerates as the days grow longer. Thankfully, I will have many other days in the yard and garden.