MUSHY'S MOOCHINGS: TIPTOEING THROUGH THE BACKYARD

Monday, April 28, 2008

TIPTOEING THROUGH THE BACKYARD

Spring is here people…best one we’ve had for at least 3 years. This year there will be nuts galore on the oak, hickory, and beech trees! The pickings for the squirrels have been sparse the last 2 or 3 years, because heavy rains came every time just as the trees tried to release their prized pollen. No baby trees were made and the squirrels and chipmunks had to dip into their reserves or range further from home. Incidentally, there haven’t been too many new baby squirrels around either.

However, I suspect that this year the acorns, hickory, and beech nuts will be piling up in the driveway and bouncing off my metal roof! I suspect too that there will be many new baby squirrels and chipmunks chasing each other in the yard. Good thing Baylee is getting a little old to chase them far, or she would bring back their little pelts for me to pick up and toss in the garbage!

If you look closely to the left of the top merged photo, you can just make out Judy pulling weeds out of her yellow cannas bed, while I keep watch! Well, someone had to keep Baylee occupied, otherwise she would be lying right in front of Judy and mashing down all the young green shoots! You can see in her eyes that she could care less about flowers!

The azaleas, both in front and out back, have been there since the mid-seventies, pretty much as long as the old tire swing! Judy will not let me trim back the flower laden bushes and shape them up. So, they grow pretty much wild, as does the rest of the yard.

Jeff commented once that we must work our butts off in the yard, but the truth is, we do very little besides pick up dead limbs, cut up the trees that occasionally get blown down, and mow. We don’t really weed or mulch, we just mow very close and sit on the deck and admire God’s good works. After all, they were growing pretty well before man came along to corral and bunch them up into tight little color groups!

I don’t fertilize or aerate, like Corey, I just keep it mowed and mulch back in the fall leaves. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I remember reading something about how trees use up the soil in a yard and actually lower its level over time if you didn’t add back in what was used up! Makes good sense, and I figure that’s all the fertilizing it needs. It also makes for less raking!

Oh, I do trim off low hanging limbs, especially the ones that slap my hat off, waking me up, from time to time, while I mow, or those that poke me in the chins or ribs! I hate it when that happens! I also keep my grape vine pruned back, but I have yet to have a crop survive the birds…and I don’t really care. It’s not like I’m going to make wine or anything! I get a couple off each year, as I make my mowing rounds, and that’s about it.

The other merged shots either look toward the back of the house, or toward the lake, which has not filled up yet, but we can see the water getting closer every day. Once a spring the water covers the backyard up to the azalea line, and the carp come in and roll in their love tumbles in the grass! Its TVA land up to that mark anyway, but I mow everything down to the shore anyway. I keep hoping someone will give me one of those Florida air-boats and I can come screaming in off the lake and up into the yard! What a hoot that would be!

Well, thanks for walking around with me and enjoying spring. I’d love to share it with you any time – free of charge…’course you could bring some beer!

23 comments:

none said...

looks nice, I don't do more yard work than that myself.

I've seen some folks put netting over the vines and collect enough grapes for home made preserves.

Anonymous said...

Spring is my favorite time of the year. Your place is beautiful. I really enjoy your photos, seems like I'm right there on a walk with you.
Have a great day!!

Sassy

J said...

Oh, Mr. Mush, it's beautiful!! I wish I had a yard that looked like that. How wonderful to have something so beautiful for a backyard.

FHB said...

Beautiful, as usual. glad to see you finally got rid of the brush pile over there where Baylee is standing in the last shot.

And that's a deal on the visit. We'll bring some nice Texes wine this time so you guys can sample some of the stuff we swill on a regular basis. See if you guys can Get Shiner Bock there, othersise I'll need to bring some. But since you can get yuengling off the tap now there's really no need for me to do that. I will want to bring some of that home though.

It all looks beautiful man. You're livin' in paradise, but you know that.

Suldog said...

I want your place and your dog. I may be down later this year, when you're not expecting me, carrying. You've been warned.

fuzzbert_1999@yahoo.com said...

Come on down!

Yeah, we have Shiner...but don't ever buy it...yuck!

GUYK said...

Looks good. I do the same thing with the grass and leaves..just use a mulching blase on the tractor and let it settle back into the soil. This soil in my part of Florida ain't soil..it is sand with a half inch of mulch on top of it. I have to fertilize as well as using the leaf mulch to keep anything growing.

*Goddess* said...

How many acres do you guys have? Your yard looks incredibly peaceful:)

Buck said...

You live in a freakin' PARK, Mushy!

Spring has always been my favorite season, with Fall a close second. Your Spring is quite lovely!

And Hey! Don't be dissin' that little ol' brewery down in Shiner. Try some of their hefeweizen, if you don't like the bock. But: it's ALL good (speaking of Spoetzl's product), in my book!

fuzzbert_1999@yahoo.com said...

Guy - Leaves make a good fertilizer.

Goddess - We have 3, I mow about 1, and TVA owns another 3 that I pretend is mine! Plenty of room to party. It's like country living in a subdivision. We live on and own the cul-de-sac, so we have lots of privacy. Of course, my speakers blare out over the water in the summer and the sound carries all the way to Chattanooga when the conditions are just right!

BRUNO said...

Gee, I'm supposed to get a FROST here Tuesday morning!

Indeed, when the limbs slap you in the face and ribs while on the mower, you just hate to, but ya' hafta break-down and trim!

I made the "mistake" of fertilizing my yard once---never again! Grew like crazy! Then the next year, ya' couldn't make a toadstool grow on it! I agree---leave it to nature, unless you wanna grow it for hay---now that's an exception to the rule...!

Loki said...

Incredible place Mushy. I particularly like the next to last merge. Great shadows.

Olga, the Traveling Bra said...

Wow! I didn't realize you lived in PARADISE! :) Thanks for sharing this!

Jose said...

Mushy that's not a yard, those are fields. From where I see them, they very well could be fields of dreams. Absolutely beautiful. Thanks for the tour.

fuzzbert_1999@yahoo.com said...

Thank you all for these comments...we don't take it for granted, but we had no idea you all would like it too. It makes us feel even more blessed!

PRH said...

Spring has sprung a set back in Ohio...down to 32 with a hard freeze warning for tomorrow morning...but back to 70 by Friday.

Anonymous said...

Spring has sprung for sure. Lovely yard, wish mine was larger than it is, but I got what I got and enjoy working in it alot!

Lin said...

What a gorgeous place! No wonder you want to stay put. Still ... you can visit the desert without obligation. The good part is that we haven't run a mower or trimmer in going on 3 years - but it took some getting used to.

Right Truth said...

Great tour, I love Spring. The flowers and blooming shrubs look great. You have tons of trees like we do.

Hubby doesn't like any form of yard or garden work, not even WATCHING others do the work. He's too involved in his music, computers, ham radio, and other hobbies.

Debbie Hamilton
Right Truth

Jerry in Texas said...

Wow! What a beautiful back yard, Mushy.

*Goddess* said...

Well, it looks incredibly peaceful and I'm glad to see all those trees. Seems like everyone around us keeps whacking down their trees because--God forbid--a leaf should land on their lawn.

Ron Southern said...

You're not the only person I know who can't finish a post or complete a sentence or email without remarking about beer, but you all lmight recoup a few brain cells if you could do that.

fuzzbert_1999@yahoo.com said...

Why?