Northeast Slope Progress- Pepper Tree Eradication

I have news to announce!  The Northeast Slope Pepper Tree Gang has been ERADICATED.  It took a few days of hard labor and 5 FULL yard waste bins, but they are GONE!!!  Best part of it, I only fell twice with no major bodily harm!  These saplings were growing off a “mother root” from next door.  The mother root has been severed, the progeny removed and disposed!  Now to keep them from coming back…..  establishment of the eastern border, the DPZ, the DE-PEPPER TREE ZONE.

The interesting thing about these "shrub-trees" that I learned, pulling them out by their roots is just one big puzzle.  If you go to pull them at once, you cant...  BUT if you scrape at the soil and gradually pull them one at a time you will eventually get to the point where they just pop out.  The roots work together to anchor the plant like underground vines.

This is not going ANYWHERE to pull it, but....  If I pull that top one out...

Then pull a side one out...  two out..

Then a third, and before you know it the whole thing is out.
The roots are not deep, just entwined and anchoring each other.

The "Mother root" from which most of the shrubs radiated from

Unfortunately, where there is one “mother root” there is a whole generation wanting to be the next mother.  The “mother root” was not deep, so hypothetically 4” deep edging along the property line should thwart (or at least slow down) future intruders.  It is worth a try and will keep mulch in place if nothing else…. 

Also, the tell-tale “pink peppercorns” I went next door to find were COMPLETELY evident as soon as I started to take the pepper trees out.  They were all I could see and they were EVERYWHERE!!  I have been trying to pick them up, but there is no way I will get them all.  Unfortunately, this disturbed bare ground now favors all those seeds germinating and making a new generation of pepper trees thugs.  I went back to the IPC webpage to review managing this thug.

http://www.cal-ipc.org/ip/management/ipcw/pages/detailreport.cfm@usernumber=72&surveynumber=182.php

Reading through the information again I learned the seeds are not long-lived, only viable for about 5 months.  Germination needs wet cool conditions, and occurs from November to April, with most germination taking place in January and February.  If the pink seeds truly are ONLY viable for 5 months, I may have optimally timed the removal.  Maybe, just maybe, very few seeds will still be viable come November and even fewer in their optimal germination period of January and February.  I can hope, can’t I?  Even if some seeds make it, the seedlings should be easier to pull and less disruptive to the slope if located early.  I know what I am doing next Spring. Pepper tree hunting and pulling.

Meanwhile, DPZ or no DPZ, the soil here is now a HOT MESS!  The necessary evil of removing these plants occurred…  EROSION!!  This area has the steepest slope of the hill, has both native and non-native soil present, and was recently disturbed, or by disturbed I mean I was slip sliding, trampling, and literally ripping roots from the ground for the last week. The poor area needs some erosion damage control fast.    First, I am going to try to smooth it out just a bit (and remove some of the random plastic mesh clods of ex-sod dirt that is here…. we all make mistakes…..  it seemed like the right place for it at the time).  Then I will add mulch, lots of mulch.   Mulch can help with weed control on the disturbed area and reduce erosion.  Mulch will be my placeholder until November when I can repopulate this area with my first set of NATIVE PLANTS!!  Yeah!!! 

Whatever I chose for the northeast slope has big shoes to fill!  Stabilize a slope, drought tolerant, pioneer species, fire wise as this is prime wildfire defensible space.  BIG SHOES!!  I am sure there is a plant out there.

No more pepper tree, a layer of much.
ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES

The Dress- Episode 4

#sdfairflowerlove   ALMOST DONE!  Second to last design!

#sdfairflowerlove lives again. The Blue Eyed Grass has become a theme for this dress appearing on most of them.  YEAH SAN DIEGO NATIVE PLANTS!!!  Just one more design to go for the Fourth of July!

The Dress- Episode 3

It is hard to go on vacation when this is a mile down the road...
Luckily, people come visit you!

Vacation?

Yes, I was quiet last week, but I was not on vacation.  I was preparing for and entertaining guests!  Which is all the fun and none of the travel. WIN! WIN!

I also was working on “The Dress- Episode 3”

#sdfairflowerlove Episode 3

It was a stunner!  I am proud to say I grew all the lavender featured on the dress. This dress was planned to help get the floral budget back on track, so it featured a lot of inexpensive and homegrown flowers. 

As I was cutting the lavender what I saw really got me thinking about ecosystems and the vision I have for the hill.  The weeds on the hill really don’t sustain much life beyond their own.  They don’t!  It is just what the weeds are. They take all their energy and put it into their seeds.  They then die and no longer photosynthesize to help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.  They don’t feed wildlife.  They don’t provide a nesting environment for birds.  They provide minimal shelter for insects, maybe some food...  I don’t see snails eating much of the weeds, they stick to the succulents on the hill.  The amount of life I see on the hill for the area is minimal.  Weeds, gophers, snails, small bugs, more weeds, more gophers, a bird once in a while hopping around, a Great Egret hopefully eating a gopher once a week, more weeds….  Couple other mismatched plants…

Compare that to my lavender.  While lavender is not a California native, it is right at home here in Southern California.  Once established, it doesn’t require a lot of water other than the yearly rains, maybe some summer water support.  There is no need to alter the environment with mass amounts of fertilizer or “cides”.   Lavender is not an invasive plant and is not a threat to take the neighboring lagoons or hills by force anytime soon, or ever.   While lavender is not a California native plant it is building an ecosystem of its own right in my yard.  My lavender is grown organically with no pesticide, and do you know what natives that supports?  Insects!!  The good kinds.  As I harvested the lavender and made the flowers into the front of the dress the variety of insects I saw was just amazing.  Honey bees, wood bees, bumble bees, little spiders, big spiders, green spiders, all manner of winged insects, different colors of aphids…. Lizards enjoying themselves for a shady moment, possibly an insect meal. The lavender was a bustling ecosystem “city” of its own.  I even saw a garden spider jump out and catch a bee.  I love bees, but seeing the spider catch one for a meal was amazing.  The lavender was happy too.  The wildlife doesn’t take too much from the plant, and the plant doesn’t take too much from the environment.  It felt magical.  It was the balance I want for the hill. 

While I do intend to focus on removing invasives and restoring natives, my experience with the lavender made me realize there may be some “felicitous adoptee” plants that can also “nurture native” wildlife and build a thriving ecosystem – my ULTIMATE goal.  Since I refrained from having “rules” and stuck to “guidelines”, I will allow myself some flexibility.  The idea of  “felicitous adoptees” that build the ecosystem will be key.

Word of the Day:

Felicitous: well chosen or suited to the circumstances.

Stay tuned for Episode 4...  Coming very soon.

Herbopredator #1 - Gophers

Yeah, I drew this...  wasn't fast enough to take a picture....
That bugger did dumbly smile at me like I invited him (and his family) over for a Rosa floribunda dinner.

There is one topic on the hill I have been avoiding a discussion on, the herbopredators that make the hill their home.  It is so easy to manage the weed lifecycle, even when they come back year after year.  You just pull it again and again.  See weed, pull weed, plant better plants, add mulch, hope for the best; this cycle is one I have embraced fully.  Embracing this cycle is not hard.

In stark contrast is the herbopredator, pocket gopher (Thomomys), management cycle.  The gopher cycle in the cultivated zone starts something like this, see nothing, lose favorite plant, cry, kick, scream, swear, try to skewer a gopher kabob by ramming a pitchfork into the ground, jump up and down, swear again, notice neighbors peeking out the back door, and quietly compose self, wiping away tears at loss of favorite plant.  Yes!  This has happened!  It would be a viral YouTube sensation I know, but it was not scripted nor recorded.  Too bad…

After the “scene” the “management” cycle starts.

Head to garden store…  buy poison bait…  return home, open poison…  walk to garden poison in hand…  read directions… have a change of heart…  Poison, that is BAD!  I don’t want to hurt wildlife, or my kids, or a stray dog in the very off chance it enters my yard, my BACK yard, and dig in EXACTLY this spot where the poison was placed…  schedule hazardous waste pickup to properly dispose of unused gopher poison….

Head back to garden store….  Buy gopher gasser flares!  Invite friends over for party…  drink a couple beers responsibly…  head to garden…  light flares, drop in hole…  THIS IS FUN!!!  Hope a wildfire doesn’t start because it will be hard to explain…  Kill nothing, but laugh a lot.

Head back to garden store….  Buy Macabee traps…. return home….  Head to garden….  Dig into gopher tunnel…  try to set trap…  Swear….  Take trap around neighborhood for tutorial….  Swear…..  look on internet for trap instructions….  Swear…  Hurl trap into the deepest darkest corner of the garden shed and hope never to see it again unless it figures out how to set itself.

Head back to garden store….  Buy battery operated gopher deterrent stake, you know the one that chirps incessantly….  Buy batteries….  Place stake in garden…  listen to incessant chirp 24 hours a day 7 days a week!!!  Buy Advil…  Say mantra “this is all to keep the gopher away, this noise is OK”…  This is only an option for areas AWAY from sleeping quarters…  Wait for batteries to drain…  not realize batteries are gone….  Enjoy a few days of peace and quiet, wondering what is “missing”…  Begin cycle again with second favorite plant blowing over in a stiff breeze….

Call in a professional!  Pay $500 for one month of treatment to rid cultivated zone of 3 gophers.  Listen to the sales pitch that they will keep coming up from the hill so a “service plan” of $100 a month is warranted.  Cry silently inside at price and not sign service plan paperwork…  Replacing plants may be cheaper in the long run...

Head back to garden store….  Replace batteries in the gopher stake (believe it or not, this works to keep them out of the cultivated zone- I just can’t imagine the headache of hearing multiples going off 24/7)….

 Research better traps…  Black hole trap!  That sounds good! 

Show trap to neighbor and bribe him with 6 pack of GOOD beer for every confirmed kill.  Neighbor kills a gopher right away…  GO NEIGHBOR….  pay up in the beer…  

Head back to garden store…  buy the Black hole traps yourself and watch neighbor’s tutorial…. head to the hill…. set traps (no swearing involved, NICE!!)...  Wait…  try different locations…  wait….  Witness the mass destruction and widespread hill damage….  Wait…  nothing….  Try more traps….  Wait….  Nothing….  Move traps….  Wait…. Nothing…  Wait…. Nothing…  Wait…. Nothing…  Wait…. Nothing…  Wait…. Nothing…  Wait…. Nothing…  Wait…. Nothing…  Wait…. Nothing…  Wait…. Nothing…  Wait…. Nothing…

Reflect how similar your life is to Caddyshack right now, not the rich country club aspects, but the Bill Murray gopher aspects…   WHY GOD WHY!?!?!

I cannot figure out how to kill these buggers, and honestly, I am conflicted about killing them.  WHAT AM I GONNA DO?!?!?!?!?!

Mallow!!

Unidentified dormant mallow bush from the hill.

There is no doubt about it, there is mallow, from the big happy family Malvaceae, on the hill!  Multiple kinds of mallow, big mallow, little mallow, mallow that may creep along.  Having multiple types of mallow is encouraging because there are mallows native to San Diego County, multiple types of mallow!  This means the prospect of FINALLY finding a native plant may be increasing!  YEAH!!  The excitement grows, the native mallows are EXQUISITE!  DOUBLE YEAH!!!  Then reality sets in, there are a few non-native mallows out there too, also called cheeseweed (Malva neglecta) for the shape of the seed pod.   I don't know that they get this big though...  hmm...  and summer dormant...  feels pretty native to me.

I just need to figure out what I have.  There is helpful information out there about identifying mallows on foraging blogs, why because it is edible.  Mallow is the “mallow” in marshmallow before the food industry combined high fructose corn syrup, gelatin, and high speed mixing.  There is just one teensy problem right now, I can’t identify what I have.  The bush, while clearly a mallow at one time can only be identified now as Malva deadest.

Then I have a second problem, as mallow is edible, enter my ole’ pal, ole buddy Mr. Gopher, and his band of brothers, sisters, cousins, and random gophers he allows crash at his pad “the hill.”  It appears, they have not found the modern concoction of corn syrup and gelatin and still frequently dine on the more traditional delicacy.  What is not dead can only be identified as Malva disapeara.

Here one day.....

Gone the next....  Malva disapeara?  or just a gopher treat...

C’est la vie! 

Mallows are annuals, biennials, or short-lived perennials that reproduce by seeds.  I am leaving the bush and its seeds as they are in the hopes that it will show itself again in the future.  The fact that there is a “bush” of mallow the gophers did not touch is reassuring. The fact that the smaller mallow are a gopher delicacy makes me not too worried that I need to “control” it.  At least not until I get the herbopredators (aka gophers) under control.

Speaking of herbopredators again, before I could even post this Malva deadest became Malva dessertii.  The herbopredators made the giant bush into a very tasty meal, even though it was largely dead..  so again... C'est la vie!  Hope some seeds made it.  

Malva deadest made into gopher Malva dessertti

Nurturing Native Investigation 2017-03: Assorted Grasses - Now a Soapbox Rant -Mexican Feather Grass

Mexican Feather Grass (Nassella teuissima)
It is easy to understand why this grass is a Pinterest Darling!
Just look at out it softens the drought resistant landscape.

Then in for a closer look around its neighborhood.....
That is A LOT of seeds!!  How can we possibly contain them all?
In this picture is just a FRACTION of the seeds produced.

Those tiny seeds...  where could they possibly grow?

A crack in a sidewalk perhaps...

Just a little bit of dirt in the road.....

Yeah, this guy is an invasive NIGHTMARE!!!

I have had a lot of focus on Mexican Feather Grass these days.  From exploring the grass on the hill and deciding it needed to go, to adding interest to a floral vignette at the Fair.  It really has highlighted the ultimate paradox of gardening.  What adds a beautiful effect, may not be virtuous. What is virtuous, may not add the beautiful effect you are seeking.   Finding the balance is the journey of gardening.  So what is a responsible gardener to do?  I am not sure I have that answer yet.  I am still very much on the "gardening journey."  But I can RANT about one ornamental (escape artist) grass.   

Mexican Feather grass (Nassella tenuissima) Where did it come from?  It is native to the southwestern United States, northern Mexico, and Argentina, but honestly…  the specimens on the hill came from my cultivated zone.  Yes, it was one plant in my backyard that spread down the hill and is even growing out of the sidewalk and literally on the road (in a small crack).  The plant in my backyard was removed, but it lives on! The sad thing is, I have more of it in the front yard too, and those plants are constantly seeding into the neighbor’s yard. It was all there when I moved in.  It was most likely planted because it is drought tolerant.  Conservation FIRST!? And you know why else it was probably planted?  It is pretty.  The neighbors with the GORGEOUS landscaping done by a PROFESSIONAL with the great website, a portfolio, and a “mission to design outdoor living space appropriate to California’s Mediterranean climate” is FULL of this grass!!  SIGH…   It is all over Pinterest….  SIGH….. It is on the main street of my town…  SIGH….

What am I to do?  Well obviously, it isn’t in line with where I want to be, but I am not able to remove it all from the cultivated zone the next time I walk out my door.  For now, my partner in life and crime and I are TRYING to remove the “flowers” (and subsequent seeds) of this guy before we see them start to fall and spread.  We also are pulling the little seedlings as they pop up.  Luckily, the seedlings come up easily.  For anyone considering planting this plant, it is NOT LOW MAINTENANCE!  It is a mess after about the first few months!  You will be picking the seeds out of every article of clothing your children own!

I have plans to remove it, and there are great alternatives I am considering:

http://www.plantright.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/InvasiveSpeciesSpotlight_MexicanFeathergrass.pdf

There is a warning flag here fellow responsible gardeners!   We should be wary of plants not native to our locale that are “too good to be true.”  No water, bad soil, grows like crazy…  What happens in the has water and good soil scenario?  Does it grow better than crazy? 

We also need to look for patterns.  Many of the listed invasive plants come from environments “harsher” than San Diego.  An environment “harsher” that 60-80 degrees year-round and a coastal fog drip?  Well that is most the world, so it is tough to discern just on that criteria, but we should be aware of it. 

What is the spreading profile of the plant?  Rhizomes, seeds in the wind, runners, vegetative, animal poop?  It is good to research these things BEFORE we bring home that new, great, GORGEOUS, ornamental that caught our eye and we purchased on an impulse. 

We also need to consider the "disposal" of plants.  Suspect invasive plant materials should not be put in home compost piles unless you are REALLY composting, meaning the pile reaches 130-170 °F for at least 3 days to render the seeds DEAD.  Municipal composting (yard waste bin pickup) are experts on getting rid of seeds and pathogens!  They do restrict palm fronds, succulents, and ice plant, but don’t speak to invasive plants such as Mexican feather grass.
 

I am not against the cultivation of interesting plants, but as we cultivate we need to consider the plants through their life cycle, and their progeny’s life cycle as well.  Unfortunately, organizations such as the California Invasive Plant Council can't list a plant until the invasion has occurred.   As responsible gardeners, we can be the front line against invasive plants by researching plants before we buy them, and correcting any gardening mishaps before the neighborhood is covered in the next emerging invasive. 

“The Dress” – Episode 2

#sdfairflowerlove  lives again in a new design!

Well “The Dress” lives again.  This week I petitioned to work some native plants into the design.  It was not a hard sell with the master designer extraordinaire.  Look at the intricate design on the side.  A San Diego Native plant worked that out for us, we just added some subtle orchids for added interest.

Blue Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) a member of the Iris Family
SAN DIEGO NATIVE!!

Blue Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum)
 Spreads through Rhizomes, similar to its iris relatives.
It also spreads  from seeds that burst from these interesting pods once they are dried by the end of summer

I will take some time in the future to properly introduce you to the featured native beauty, Blue Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum).  The cultivated zone is full of Blue Eyed Grass.  The flowers are short lived, but the seed pod is a stunner, and THE contributor to the intricate design.  I leave the seed pod on the plant until it is dried and popping open, which is probably why the cultivated zone is full of it!  It is a beauty though!

I also pulled more Mexican Feather Grass and placed it in the back "garden" area of the vignette.  The "garden" area is now a good representation of how one plant will spread in about three years. Unfortunately, the Mexican Feather Grass has been in the front cultivated zone since before my time in the house (more than 5 years).  The current spread would fill the vignette, not the look master designer extraordinaire is looking for.  So more went into the yard waste bin today.  It just takes time……...  

FLORAL DESIGNER SECRET:  We sprayed the Mexican Feather Grass with Aquanet hairspray to keep the seeds on it….  Genius! Would that work for landscapes too?  Hairspray the plants daily until I can remove them all.  AQUANET COULD SAVE THE DAY AND STOP THE INVASION!

Nurturing Native Investigation 2017-003: Assorted Grasses

Unidentified Grass- seems rather "weedy" but the flowers are kinda pretty.

A substantial part of this “project” was to identify and categorize what was already on the hill.  Then I got to the family Poeceae, that’s grass to most of us, including me before I looked it up.  When I started cataloging and identifying the grass on the hill I had a change of heart.  There are a couple of plants on the hill that I take just one look know what they are.  “Bermuda grass!”  “Wild oats!”   “Mexican feather grass!”  “Cheat grass!”  All listed as noxious weeds, invasive plants, or plants to remove from canyonlands.  Easy Peasy!  Then it gets harder…  “Not identified escaped ornamental grass #1.” “Not identified escaped ornamental grass #2.”  “Not identified escaped ornamental grass #3.”  No pampas grass!!  Check!!  A small victory for the hill!

Bermuda Grass (Cynodon dactylon) Originally from the Middle East.
Arived via Bermuda - hence the name

Wild Oats (Avena fatua)

Do not sow these!  Your mother would not approve!

Cheat Grass (Bromus Tectorum)

Biological crusts may slow the spread of this grass.

Stay tuned for Summer Vacation to Sedona and a special "crust" episode!

Mexican feather grass (Nassella tenuissima) meet morning glory  (Convolvulaceae)

Clearly this is the gardening equivalent of two fashion victims colliding.

Unidentified Grass- Once a dignified ornamental gone rogue, or just a rogue?

Ahhh grass, easy to spot, but not so easy to categorize.

There is a lot of diversity in the grass plant family, practically a plant dynasty, including plants that make up lawns to bamboo.  It is the fifth largest plant family and is estimated to constitute 40.5% of the land area of Earth (not including Greenland and Antarctica- according to Wikipedia).  Grass surrounds us, of course there is some on the hill…  Naturally!  The thought of identifying all the stragglers felt more like a thesis than a hobby.  It was overwhelming!!

So back to the project, I wanted to identify things and THEN decide what to do about them…  well, when it comes to grass on the hill the NEED to identify is murky.  There may be a few native grasses, but growing on a hillside, what does that help?  There is conflicting information on the internet about grass and its ability to control erosion.  I decided to trust a go to resource for native planting, Las Pilitas Nursery, and take their advice on erosion control. 

http://www.laspilitas.com/garden/howto/slope.html

High-level summary of this great article- Grasses in general are not good for a hillside!  Las Pilitas exact words were “Slopes that were planted with grass have GREATER EROSION than anything other than bare ground (even dead sticks beat grass!)”  Grass may grow well, grass may come up fast from seed, but for erosion control and developing a natural plant community (my ultimate goals) grass is not my friend.    So ultimately, the grass needs to be removed, controlled, and replaced with a diversity of plants that better deter erosion and build a plant community.  Dried grasses are also a what I refer to as “tinder,” seasonal tinder as central part of the hill does not sound wise….  

All grasses are sentenced to “Impending eradication,” or rather I will work to control their reseeding and spreading potential, height, "tinder value," and slowly remove and replace them as I work across the hill.  Grass still controls erosion better than bare ground, and I don’t have enough dead sticks. 

Progress- May 2017

Progress, as defined by mulch!!
One bag at a time....
Trucks will come at some point!

PEST HATE CEDAR!!!  But native plants LOVE IT!!

This project started a little less than a month ago and there is an incremental amount of progress- I did say from the beginning this wouldn’t be a quick project!  Even so it is nice to tally the progress monthly to see what was accomplished.  Here it is for May 2017!!!

	May Contribution	Total to Date
Yard Waste Bins of “Weeds” Removed	8	8
Bags of “Weeds” Removed	15	15
Invasives Identified	2	2
Area Cleared	224 sqf	224 sqf
Area Mulched	160 sqf	160 sqf
Natives Identified	0	0
Plants Reintroduced	0	0

First yard waste bins.  We were always so excited with empty bins they were usually full by 10 am on Saturday.  A couple of times we had to really pace ourselves because we knew there was some pruning and weeding needed in the cultivated zone!

The bags of weeds (big reusable grocery bags) were what I removed as I did my morning walks surveying the hill.  These bags pretty much filled an additional 3 yard waste containers, but for accuracy I gave them their own category.

Russian Thistle and Brazilian Peppertree
My first two INVASIVES sentenced to "Impending Eradication" in May 2017

Invasives….  Well I have a RUNNING list, but I thought I would focus on the ones I have identified to the blog so two… Brazilian Peppertrees and Tumbleweeds (Russian Thistle).  Both of these were sentenced to impending eradication…  both still exist on the hill, but were responsible for large proportion of the yard waste bins.  The Peppertrees are cut back a little more every weekend, all still have roots in ground, except for a couple really little ones I yanked.  One major area of Russian thistle was cleared, but there are four areas where this has taken over….  One down, three to go!!

This 64 sqf spot is a start.  At least 5 yard waste bins were devoted to this area

That leads to area cleared.  An intense focus is being placed on the areas we plan on planting this fall and next spring. Basically, we will be retaking the hill from the borders inward.  Seemed like a good plan to create a boundary.  I am happy to say by the sidewalk there is an 8’ x 8’ cleared area where Russian Thistle used to take over.  It doesn’t seem like much, but it was about 5 yard waste bins just in that area between the weeds, ice plant (weed in disguise), and trimming the Peppertrees….  We plan on clearing the swath by the sidewalk over the next few months and mulching it by the truckload when it is clear…  There is NO water on the hill there and Summer is upon us, so we think weeds repopulating this area pre-mulch will be minimal.  YEAH 64 sqf down….  1936 sqf to go in that swath alone!!  We will get there.

The DMZ "De-morning gloried zone"

Yes, more pops up weekly,,,,,

The other area we cleared, and have already mulched is what I like to call the DMZ.  The “de-morning gloried zone” a 20’ x 2’ “border” with the westerly besterly neighbors in the world.  This zone is in ACTIVE weed control.  It will probably be a war, not a battle in this zone.  At this point the zone is about 2 feet wide by 20 feet long.  The zone does get some water from just the runoff from the cultivated zone.  The fact there is some water here is the reason we started with the mulch already, and mulch makes me happy.  We want to focus on weed control in the area through the summer in the HIGH HOPES that once we plant this area the natives will have less competition from the previous residents, largely morning glory and Bermuda grass and a mish mosh of other things.  

Mulch is a thing of beauty.  It just FEELS LIKE PROGRESS!

Building off the DMZ, we decided as a sign of good faith to everyone who passes by the ecological catastrophe via, car, truck, bike, foot, stroller, and paw daily, we mulched a 6’ by 20’ swath at the top of the hill.  This swath will slowly be extended during the summer removing mostly Bermuda grass and a few assorted weeds.  This area will be planted next fall and spring as well. 

Natives identified, sadly NONE….  Well there are two plants I am watching with high hopes, but due to lack of distinguishing features (the features that distinguish them from their cousins which are HIGHLY invasive) I am staying silent until I know more.  The one I am pretty hopeful on so I added some mulch around it and may have watered a few times.  Let hope I don’t regret this in the future.  The other plant is currently dormant.  I have HIGHER HOPES on this guy, but more coming in the future. 

Obviously I have not gotten around to planting…..  It is the wrong season for that.

I am happy with the progress so far!!!