Tuesday, May 6th, found me home alone in the evening. This is not a bad thing. It donned my grubby clothes, grabbed a shovel and my bag of weeding tools and headed half-way down our hill to my flower beds.
Last year I was pestered by wasps or yellow jackets who decided the Lamb's Ear plants were the perfect place for them and I had NO place in my own garden. I determined the Lamb's Ear needed to be removed this year before those little critters decided once again to nest in my flower bed.
In addition to finishing the removal of the Lamb's Ear (which was interrupted last fall when they stung m...again!!), I was also wanting to remove a Wild Rose Bush I let grow because I somehow felt it would be beautiful at the corner of these beds. It was not beautiful. I never flowered. It was a pit to weed around. It must go. Claude would have taken it out but he left me to my own devices and hence the shovel.
I started by pulling out all the wild onions that seem to thrive in these beds. I also pulled other weeds. Then I shoveled out all the remaining Lamb's Ear. Yippee!! No stings, although something was buzzing my head but it turned out to only be a HUGE bumblebee.
I next looked at that rose bush. Grabbing the shovel I headed down the hill below the rose bush. I have restrictions on weight lifting and things of this nature so I knew I could only try and must content myself, if I had to give up, with the knowledge I gave it as good a try as I could.
I shoveled around the base. The soil was loose and easy to work with. But that rose bush was not going to come out that easily. With loosing the dirt, I found several roots going it several directions. I also noticed at least three other little rose bushes trying to lay their claim to this pitiful plot of ground on which to grow.
With my shovel I easily got the extra bushes. What to do with the big one???
I have a lovely hand tool to use when weeding. It had two instruments at the end of the tool. One half is like a little rake, the other half is like a little hoe. The hoe part was the tool I thought would help me. I found a place I could sit on the hill below the rose bush. I could push the rose bush back a bit after loosing the soil. This kept the thorns from attaching themselves to me. I held that rose bush, which is larger than me in height, back and started to hack at its roots with the hoe end of my hand tool. I have no restrictions on flailing my arms around. I just needed patience and tenacity. This traits I possess.
After who knows how long, I had the main root hacked through. Then I set to work on the other minor roots. Again, with patience and tenacity I hacked through those roots.
I drug all the rose bush parts over to the top of a wall Claude is making to put a tractor/foot path down the hill. Then I stumbled to above the edge of my flower bed and took this picture and sent it to Claude. The hole is in front and the felled rose bush is down the hill a bit.
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