Consulting the Experts

Today's visit to the nursery was very productive. We got some great advice about how to plant our new azaleas, care for our palm trees (large and small), and most importantly, how to manage the ever-troubling Korea Grass. The nurseryman in Capo Beach luckily has had experience with handling overgrown "Zoysia". He told us to chop it all the way down, cover it in weed killer and compost and start watering. It actually seems a little radical. Hope he knows his stuff!

Palms Receive Reprieve

Today was a lucky day for our two remaining palm trees. The quote from the tree trimmers is $1000 less to remove the trees' "skirts" (aka "beards") rather than chopping them down and grinding them up. Right now we're leaning toward letting them live, and putting that $1000 into cement to cover up some of the lumpy, bumpy Korea Grass.

New Shears

Having the proper tools for the job at hand is crucial. That became very apparent when I traded in my kitchen shears for some official grass shears. It's a lot of fun to chop away! I would probably still be out there if my back would have been more cooperative, but man it hurts!

Sprinklers

After lots of digging, the sprinkler lines are uncovered and ready to be repaired and replaced. That soil is hard clay full of roots and rocks!

Backyard in Trouble

Oh my gosh! I thought that because we hired people to take care of our yard that it would actually look nice. What a shock to go out in the back and see how incredibly horrible it looks.
How did this happen? What are those guys doing? They run around with the blowers, I do know that. Getting this place back in shape is going to be a big job, but we'll just have to take it bit by bit.