Yesterday we weeded the front flowerbeds, and we’re really almost done with all the weeding. Yeah! There’s just the area where the vinca groundcover is that has a lot of wild grass in it. On Saturday, I fertilized the front and back flowerbeds with that Lily Miller rose fertilizer (5-8-4 formula). I’m not sure it was enough, and I think I’ll buy some more. I ordered more compost from Tucker Lawn Care, and it will be dropped off today. 10 more yards. I hope it’s plenty for our needs. I’m still concerned about two of my butterfly bushes. I see…

Today, the twins and I planted some corn seeds. We did two rows of Silver Queen and two rows of Kandy King. One ripens in 70-something days, and the other in 90-some days. In a few weeks, I need to remember to plant some more. I’m trying to make the harvest extend over a month or so by having the different ripening times and different planting times. The peas we planted are coming up now, and I need to find some support for them. We finished using all the compost we got from the dump truck, and we didn’t finish…

I’ve had a few unusual problem this year, and I think it was caused by a late freeze after a warm week. First, I noticed that one of my Golden Rain trees had tiny new leaf shoots that died and got crispy. The leaves at the top of the tree were OK, but all the lower ones died. A few days later, though, I saw that new buds were forming on the branches, and those new leaves are now coming out. Whew! I also noticed a few days ago that my butterfly bushes are struggling. One looks OK, but the…

I finally fertilized the rose hedge. I dug a small trench with the trowel all along the side of the hedge and put in Lily Miller 5-8-4 rose food and added some Colorbust 15-30-15 to give it a little more oomph. It took two small bags of the colorbust, and one large bag of the rose food. We got a dump truck load of compost from Tucker Lawn Care for the area where our aspen trees are. We’re putting down weed fabric and laying the compost on about 2-3″ thick. I hope it stays looking good without much maintenance. It’s…

Yesterday, I turned on the lawn sprinklers to make sure the fertilizer is watered in. This morning, the grass already looks noticeably greener! I don’t know if it’s just the water or the fertilizer, but it’s sure working quickly!

Last night, I fertilized the lawn with IFA Spring/Summer Blend 25-5-10 Premium Lawn Fertilizer. The bag said it would handle 8,000 sq ft, and I believe I have about 5,000 sq ft of sod. I used most of the bag, and took the rest and threw it around my burning bushes, golden rain trees, and around two of the big Autumn Blaze maples. Oh, yeah, I also gave a little to the laurel bushes and to one of the birch trees.

It was an awesome day today! I worked out side so long, I have a serious sunburn on the back of my neck. Ouch. Here are some things we did today — Dana worked hard most of the day, too: Finished pruning the roses Pruned all the shrubs along the south fence, including yellow-twig dogwoods, Hibiscus syriacus, ‘Burning Bush’ euonymus, and ‘Anthony Waterer’ spirea Weeded all the beds along the south fence Sprayed Roundup on weeds in the gravel area and in the front sidewalk cracks and along the south edge of the front yard Sprayed Weed-B-Gone on the dandelions…

Here’s a handy webpage to check each week to be sure I’m using the right amount of water on my lawn this year: Utah Climate Data and Turf Water Requirements