One plant I can tackle... (I think)

We're finally here. After much wrangling with real estate agents and financial organizations of various types, we have moved into a 1914 Craftsman house on the top of Beacon Hill. Inside, the house was everything we fell in love with when we first saw it. Outside.....



Hmmm. Perhaps taking possession of the house three weeks before we moved to Seattle left us with a yard for which no one was caring. No big deal, right? I've mowed lawns before...well, 12 years ago, save for once or twice when visiting home during the summer. But hey, this is like riding a bicycle, and I just need the right tools. Right?



This, I can call a minor success. This new lawn mower is indeed electric. It's cheaper, cleaner, and quieter that a gas mower. When I was looking at it, I imagined charging up its battery and taking it out on the lawn, smug in its convenience and environmental responsibility. Then I looked closer, and realized there was no battery. (What did I expect for $130? iPod batteries cost more than that) As you can see, it has an extension cord attached, so it's always tethered. For a small lawn, though, this works very well. It just feels like vacuuming more than mowing, what with a cord thrown over my shoulder and occasionally getting in the way of the mower.

The backyard was mowed with ease. Except...



I see a weed whacker in our future.

Any smugness I felt from my environmentally responsible mower was short lived. After conquering the backyard, I brought it around to mow the small patch of grass out front. As I wheeled the mower down the side walk, I saw our kitty-corner neighbor sitting on the porch, and gave a little wave. I could feel his eyes on me as I carried the mower up the front steps into our yard. I still felt his eyes on me as I carried the extension cord up to the front porch and plugged it in. As I walked back down and plugged the mower into the extension cord, I heard laughter erupt from the neighbors' porch.

You see, this particular neighbor is an Experienced Lawncare Professional, and is part of a household that has been on the block for years. In other words, he is not one of the foreign station wagon owning, Banana Republic wearing yuppies that otherwise populate the neighborhood (myself included). For this reason, ELP's laughter had a little sting to it initially. I thought he was making fun of this rinky-dink mower, and I was determined to show it could mow the lawn just fine. And I did, only accidentally unplugging it twice. Only later, after I was down and he had gone inside, did I see the mower sitting in his front yard: a rotary-style push mower, the kind with no engine at all. It was similar to one I hard looked at in the hardware store, and decided it was too much trouble.

At any rate, the mower works great. The grass, though half-dead, is at least a respectable length, and the clipping mulched.

Now for the hard part...






This is where I need your help, master gardeners (or at least those with more horticulture experience than growing spider plants). I will post more details of individual plants in future posts. There is a soaking hose buried in this part of the yard, so I know I can keep things from dying for a little while (I hope).