Raking
This has been a strange fall. Normally, I start raking in October and have to rake a couple of times a week for the entire month. By mid-November everything is frozen, and it is too cold to work outside. This year, the leaves did not even start coming off the trees until late October, and we did not rake once until last Saturday the 14th.
Here is the before picture of the front yard. There were not even that many leaves on the ground. We discovered a secret. Our neighbors have been ridding their yard of leaves with a leaf blower. It seems that most of our leaves have been blowing into their yard, and they have been dealing with them. So, that is our secret. Leave the leaves and hope they blow into someone else’s yard.
There were still a few leaves in our yard. I raked them into the garden beds to offer nutrients to enrich the soil. They will also offer insulation for the bulbs and perennials under the soil. Here is the after picture of the front yard.
We also planted more bulbs. We typically spend about $25 every fall on bulbs. That means that every spring we have even more flowers than the year before, especially because many of the bulbs naturalize and spread on their own. Someone started in the back yard before we even moved in. There is a carpet of crocuses out there every April. $25 of bulbs is the best investment ever. This year it bought us ten tulips, twenty five daffodils and thirty crocuses.
I forgot to take before pictures of the back yard. I expect my blogging license to be taken away at any moment. There were even more leaves back there. I believe that proves our theory because they row of privets prevents the leaves from blowing off our lawn. Here are the after pictures.
We got one last harvest of Swiss chard and herbs before piling the leaves on the garden beds.
Look at the delphiniums threatening to bloom again before going into their winter hibernation. Things are weird this fall, I tell you.
Here is one last look at the before and after. Can you venture a guess at what I am planning to share with you on Friday by looking at these pictures?
Happy Homemaking!
I am a teacher, traveler, artist, writer, homemaker and a whole lot more. In January 2009, I bought the Cape of Dreams. It was the second house that I had ever owned, but it was the first that I bought by myself. I now live in the house with my husband Douglas, our dog Kahlua, and Crème de Menthe, the cat. Because, what life is complete without a little Kahlua and Cream? I love arts and crafts of all kinds, and I refinish furniture as well. We are slowly redoing our entire house. You can read about my projects on my blog www.CapeofDreams.com
Looks like raking makes the sun come out! 🙂 We have late-blooming plants here, too. I think much of the country had an unusual summer and the plants are confused. But we’ve finally had a freeze, and that’ll be the end of it.
It was weird how it appeared in the pictures. The sun was actually casting the shadows, so when the sun when behind the clouds, the pictures came out clearer and look sunnier. It is hard to believe that you got a freeze before we did!
You’ve done a very neat job. Our yard is covered with leaves. We don’t rake as much as mow and dump. I don’t know when that project will happen. It seems we’re the yard where all the leaves blow. As to late bloomers, we have a clematis blossom. Weird. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
If we had a power mower we would probably do that too, but I do not think that our push mower would do much to the leaves. Enjoy your clematis!
i wish we had a good place for bulbs. the place where i could plant them gets way too much shade and nothing ever grows there. your yard is looking great!
If it is shade from trees, it will not be a problem because the flowers bloom before there are leaves on the trees. If it is shade from a building, that might be a problem, but most bulbs do not need a lot of sun.