Delayed post for Week VII, partially due to weather conditions mucking about with my plans, and partially due to my pre-existing condition of being human.

It was finally time for me to take a more active role in the wee plot of garden in front of my house.

While I would love to fill the plot with vegetables and herbs, soil in the city is likely to be contaminated and it would pose a potential health risk to eat anything grown from said soil. Thus, raised garden beds. Between the beds I would like to sanction growth of non-edibles, to nurture the birds, the bees, and other wildlife. Sharing is caring.

I had intended to plant oodles of aromatic, low-growing creeping red thyme as ground cover, but alas, thyme is dead.

My next preference would be “weeds.” They’re extremely hardy, enduring the blistering heat of summer and obviously requiring no effort on my part. I also consider them pleasing to look upon, being so vibrantly green and full of life. Unfortunately, the wild greens thriving in my garden are of the invasive species variety. So I set myself the task of removing the current weeds, in order to replace them with native wildflowers and grasses (seeds not yet selected).

First, I needed to uproot the plants. Which meant waiting for it to rain before I work, yet not raining while I’m working. I *strongly* recommend pulling weeds only after the ground has been thoroughly soaked with water. It is infinitely easier to pull up the roots, which is a longer lasting solution than breaking weeds off at the base of the stem only, whereupon they often grow back. Feast your eyes upon the massive tuber below, which took a great deal of effort to dig up. Imagine the resilience of that plant, with a safety bunker of that magnitude. 

After multiple early mornings and a few tears shed at the tragedy of destroying the homes of so many bugs, I finally razed the garden.  I can only hope that this is one of those “it looks worse before it gets better” scenarios.

Next I pinned down a layer of weed barrier fabric. The burning August sun will toast anything I did not manage to unearth. I have heard of using trash bags instead of the fabric, to save money, but I wanted the fabric to allow water to pass through, instead of creating mosquito breeding puddles. They’re thriving as it is, and I definitely earned some cookies after all the blood I recently donated to the local mosquito population.

I forewent the mulch on top of the weed barrier, which I hope won’t come back to bite me in the ass. Like the mosquitoes did. One objective of mulch, that I’ve read, is to weigh down the fabric and further suffocate the weeds. I think I’ve got it pinned down sufficiently. Another reason appears to be for aesthetics, which seems unnecessary for my purposes. I’ve read differing accounts on the value of mulch being added to the garden, overall indicating it adds nutrients, but only if used correctly. With my current skill level, I’d probably only be providing a layer for weeds to grow on top of my weed-killing barrier.

As we of the Northern Hemisphere enter the hottest time of the year, my garden will be returned to factory settings and made ready for native planting, fingers crossed.

Bonus content (and warning for those avoiding bug pictures): Feast thine eyes upon this Eastern Cicada Killer, which I believe may have had a nest in my garden. This little guy (not so little, they are massive and quite terrifying) has been hanging around the same spot this whole week. Interesting facts about the Eastern Cicada Killer – the male has a pseudo-stinger, incapable of actually stinging, while the female has a chonker stinger that can hurt like the dickens. Thankfully, they are non-aggressive and have no nest-guarding instincts. Good news for me, as I paparazzi-ed around this funky dude for many minutes, as one does.