I meant to give you guys a gardening update. Did I tell you I nabbed all the crocuses at the grocery store up on the Rim once they went on sale? And how I planted them along the dry creek in the back yard? And how I drag everyone that comes to my house around my yard to point at all the places there may be plants at some point?
And, doing that, I’ve noticed a couple of things–One, the bulbs saraclark brought me from Andrew Jackson’s have sent up a couple of tiny green leaves just poking up through the dirt, as have the bulbs NM brought me, as has one of the daffodil bulbs that got planted in the front bed. I hope that’s okay, since we’ve not even had winter yet, but I’m trusting that they know what they’re doing. Also, I’m pleased to have some proof of life, as I was afraid I’d screwed up planting them. Two, we still haven’t settled whether to pull the pine trees out of what I’d like to see become a peonie… peony… bed.
Dad is sure they’re there for some reason. I think the reason that they’re there is obvious: because they grew there! What I’d like to see there eventually is an archway covered with a climbing rose. I wonder if I could transplant the one growing near the clothesline? And hopefully people would walk through the archway rather than through my peonies. I’m talking to you, especially, dog.
But also, I noticed that we have a shit-ton of moles. So, I’m looking for a line on about a hundred pinwheels to set out in the yard to encourage them to go elsewhere.
Ha. Our neighbors will love that.
In sad news, all the dead trees that could have been the basis for my bottle tree have now been chopped down and turned into fireword.
Tiny Cat Pants 
I thought your cats were outdoor cats? If so, you wont have a problem with moles for long.
Remember though; moles eat grubs. If you have alot of moles, they obviously have a decent food source there. Get rid of your mole problem and you may find you have a grub problem.
I’d ponder the peonies idea a little more. Pines create acid soil and you’ll have to limestone the shit out of the area to get peonies thriving (since they like alkaline soils). The other counter-indication is the root network for trees. I’ve learned from hard experience that thinking you’re just going to chop the tree down and plant around the stump is usually a no go. You’ll be cussing feeder roots for the next fifteen years, since pine roots never rot away. The obvious solution to this is to build a raised bed, since peonies need hella lot of drainage or they rot out.
Where are these pines? Peonies like/need northern exposure, so if they are in the north and would (if removed) make a nice sunny patch, maybe it’s worth the labor. On the other hand, if you can stand the pines where they are (and they do wind up having a reason to be there, like blocking wind from the west), you could get some azaleas or rhodendendron (both of which love acidic soil) and have some nice color as well as interesting foliage. You couldn’t go out and cut a bowlful of peonies, though, which I admit is nice.
Just don’t get them too close to the house. Ants love peonies.
I suspect the peonies that are there now (not the ones I planted in that same bed, but the original ones) are older than the pines. I think they’re clearly the same scrub pines that were growing along the side of the shed, which we removed with no tears. So, I don’t know what the attachment to these particular trees is. They clearly sprouted in the peony patch and now need to be removed.
God, the more I talk about it, the more irritated i get by their presence. They’re going to block my view of my crocuses!
In other words, I have a big bed which already has some peonies in the north end of it and it has these four young pines in the middle of it. None of the pines have a trunk that’s even as big around as my wrist.
It’s the perfect place for a flower garden–even if not all peonies–and the pines block the view of the back part of the yard. I think that, if it ends up that the trees were there for a reason, we can always just let the plot go for a couple of years and nurture whatever pine trees pop up there again.
Dolphin, they’re indoor/outdoor cats, which seems, more and more, to mean staying indoors until breakfast time, at which time they must run outside, go to the bathroom, and then run back in.
And I’m all for them doing that!
I wouldn’t mind the moles eating the grubs if they weren’t making my whole yard kind of a mushy mess.
Ah, so the pines are in the peonies already? Then they are nuisance trees and will fuck up the bed if they are left to their own devices.
Yes, exactly. Good. I’m glad to hear that taking them out is the right thing. I have half a mind to call the Butcher and have him do it this afternoon!
I don’t think that a couple of sprouts from the bulbs is a cause for worry, but you might want to mulch those beds (maybe rake your fallen leaves over them) to discourage such behavior and to protect the sprouts once it gets colder.
Good idea. Now I just need to acquire a rake!
You … don’t have a rake?
No. We’re kind of just acquiring things as we realize that we need them. And I just now realized I need a rake.
All this gardening talk reminds me that the moonflower seed is still in the front floorboard of my vehicle.
If I actually get unchained from this desk this week – or next – I’ll probably be near your work ‘hood and will drop them off to you or something…
I don’t have a rake either. Don’t feel bad.
Borrow the rake. Borrow whatever implements you can. In my neighborhood, we’ve got three rakes and we pass them around (and help out the owners to compensate for the loan) so that nobody has to buy tools that they will only need a couple of times a years.