This is not a pretty post, but a work post. We’re having a few days of what I like to call “San Diego” weather. If you’ve ever been to San Diego, you know what I mean. But, if not . . . it’s weather that is not to cold, and not to hot – in other words – it’s perfect weather. And I decided to take advantage of it and do some gardening and work on one of my summer projects.
Way at the back of my yard are a few very tall pine trees and lots of overgrown honeysuckle trees. The honeysuckle trees so overwhelm everything else, you can’t even see the pine trees at all.
I spend a good part of every summer pruning the honeysuckle trees in my yard. This year I decided since I’m turning 65 next month, and realized I won’t always be able to maintain these trees, that it was time for them to go – permanently. I love the privacy they give me from the neighbors behind me, but in reality, because it is so overgrown behind the fence, none of the privacy will be lost.
I actually started this project before it got so hot back in May. And after 8 hours of work yesterday, this is what it looks like now.
It is slowly coming around to some sense of order. Now I can see the bird house and my flower and veg garden actually get full sun. These clippings will all go out on trash day.
And these branches I’ve not decided if I want to haul away or bag up. Thinking it might be easier just to put them all in the back of my van and take them to a place where I can dump them for $5. These branches alone came from the pine tree and there are still more up there beyond my reach.
These branches are from the honeysuckle trees. Many more of them yet to take down also. The compost bins to the left are not on fire – that is just the sun.
This is where I took breaks and ate lunch. In the shade with a nice breeze it was actually quite cool and refreshing.
This is the finished look I’m going for once the area is cleared.
This is what I’ve purchased so far to plant in the area once all the major branches have been dropped. There are some volunteer echinacea coming up back there, some plants I will transplant from other gardens, and the rest will be filled in with plants I will grow from seed. I’m also not going to deadhead these plants because the birds love the seeds and will help in the reseeding process.
Anxiously waiting for some of the volunteers to show their true colors.
Tossing around the trending idea of staining the 6-foot wood fence back there black. I love black fences and flowers and greenery seem to pop with a black background. Found this picture on the internet – what do you think? Would you stain it black or leave natural?
Just a few more branches to get down from the pine tree and a rain barrel to put in place this afternoon, and then I can get the echinacea in the ground. But first . . . a Sunday afternoon nap . . . wore myself out yesterday.
Beautiful photos. Where I live we have a place to dump tree branches and leaves and it’s free for the residents. Many towns around here get free pick up. They just put them by the road on certain days of the year and a town truck drives through and takes them.
Our town has free pick up too, but it has to be bagged. I thought it might be easier than cutting the wood down and even cheaper than buying more bags to just haul it away.
I vote for Essex green. I think it’s a sherwin Williams color. It’s also called Zcharleston a Green….cause if you stand still a skinny minute in Charleston, someone will paint you just that color! It reads very dark, but when you get right up on it, it’s a very black green! It would look the 💣💥 back there. Opinions, inc. to the rescue! Haha!
Thank you Mary. I’ve never heard of it, but there is a Sherwin Williams store just down the street, so I’ll check it out. Is it paint or stain?
Paint, but it might come in a stain. I’ve never checked!
Wow, what a difference some hard hot work makes! Looks amazing!
I personally would make the fence white to help brighten the space even more, or a pale green or gray, since your house and shed are gray. But Mary’s idea sounds nice too!
Isn’t it great when you can step back after some hard graft and see what you have achieved. It looks really bright compared to the before pictures. I’d go for the black fence if it was me as I hate boring brown fences. So far I have painted two fences in my current garden make-over one is a Moroccan blue colour and the other is a pale blue/grey called Sea Mist.
It is a good feeling to see it coming into the light again. Everything will be so much happier and stand up straight instead of leaning for light. Speaking of leaning, I’m very much leaning towards a black fence, but I’ll let that simmer on the back burner of my mind until I’m absolutely sure.