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what else is going on
Mar. 30th, 2014 06:45 pmLong time no post. It has truly been "the winter of our discontent". Let us hope it will be "made glorious summer."
The sun has finally gotten strong enough to think about going outside after work. So we've been spending some time wading through snow, getting our pantlegs soaked, and pretending to make progress in the yard.
I'm pretty sure we have 3 of the top invasive species in our yard, two of which are doing their best to kill the trees.
The Rambler Rose is the rose bush we have battled for years in Freeport. There are huge vines of it here. The biggest I've seen so far was the size of my forearm at the base. Nasty stuff which can puncture regular leather work gloves and the skin underneath them with impunity.
The second vine is our old friend Asiatic Bittersweet. It is not nearly as nasty to the remove as the rose, but is perhaps more deadly to the trees.
The third, as yet unconfirmed, invasive is Shrubby Honeysuckle. It tends to block out native groundcovers. The reason that we think we have it is that the neighbors down the hill have a lot of a bush they described as "some kind of honeysuckle". Once things start leafing out we'll try to figure out if it is our one native honeysuckle or one of the three non-native invasive species that are on Maine's most wanted list.
The good news is that so far I have seen no evidence whatsoever of Japanese Knotweed. It will be easier to kill off all the rose and the bittersweet than it would be to deal with one stand of knotweed.
I have the bird feeder up and a hunk of suet as well, but I don't know if the chickadees have found it yet. They have been singing, which is a lovely thing to hear this time of year.
The sun has finally gotten strong enough to think about going outside after work. So we've been spending some time wading through snow, getting our pantlegs soaked, and pretending to make progress in the yard.
I'm pretty sure we have 3 of the top invasive species in our yard, two of which are doing their best to kill the trees.
The Rambler Rose is the rose bush we have battled for years in Freeport. There are huge vines of it here. The biggest I've seen so far was the size of my forearm at the base. Nasty stuff which can puncture regular leather work gloves and the skin underneath them with impunity.
The second vine is our old friend Asiatic Bittersweet. It is not nearly as nasty to the remove as the rose, but is perhaps more deadly to the trees.
The third, as yet unconfirmed, invasive is Shrubby Honeysuckle. It tends to block out native groundcovers. The reason that we think we have it is that the neighbors down the hill have a lot of a bush they described as "some kind of honeysuckle". Once things start leafing out we'll try to figure out if it is our one native honeysuckle or one of the three non-native invasive species that are on Maine's most wanted list.
The good news is that so far I have seen no evidence whatsoever of Japanese Knotweed. It will be easier to kill off all the rose and the bittersweet than it would be to deal with one stand of knotweed.
I have the bird feeder up and a hunk of suet as well, but I don't know if the chickadees have found it yet. They have been singing, which is a lovely thing to hear this time of year.
