When I redid my yard 10-15 years ago I planted a "carpet" rose in the center. It was supposed to get two feet high and spread across the ground. The idea was it would spread, kill the grass and give me less mowing to do. It would separate the yard from the flowers. It didn't work. That SOB grew six feet high and had the most, and the sharpest, thorns of any rose bush in the universe. And there was a lot of them. You couldn't even cut the roses. Not a Japanese beetle in sight to eat it either.
That yard renovation — inspired by shows on television — was an epic failure on multiple levels. The flowers never grew in the flower section. The neighbors neglected their yards and my "natural yard" took on lots of weed seeds and is no longer a three time a year mow job.
Bottom line. I'm disgusted with the yard. I almost hate it. It's an embarrassment. I no longer like to garden which makes it much worse. And the rose was a literal thorn in my side. I'd cut it down and it would regrow twice as big. Last year I took a hedge cutter to it. I killed it. Now there was a dead stump in my yard.
Yesterday on FB my niece messaged me. Her 17-year-old son (how did that happen?) wanted to know if he could mow my lawn. No. He lost that job last year when he didn't show up. Now Lydia does it to contribute non-monetarily to the household. HOWEVER, if he wanted to dig out the stump of that rose bush, come on over.
That kid worked his ass off. And he doesn't have much of one. He had to do a lot of problem solving to get it out. He reminded me of my brother, his grandfather. The culprit turned out to be a root at least 6 inches in diameter. That's what was keeping that bad-boy in the ground. He sawed it off with the Christmas tree saw. He also got down my porch furniture. Gotta love teenagers.
By the time they left it was past 11. I was sweating like a pig being out in the yard, and I didn't do that much of the work. My poison itched like hell. There was probably some heat rash there as well. Lydia and I finally decided to walk at noon. Where do we go at high noon when it's 90 and sunny. Where can we find shade at that time of the day?
After scouting some locations we settled on Monocacy Way and the Burnside Plantation. Although not 100% shady, there are trees on either side of the path that filter the sunlight so it's not beating down on your body.
We headed thru the plantation and down thru the garden and headed south on the path towards Union Boulevard. Surprisingly the Monocacy was very low, and at some places bone dry. The weeds were so high you couldn't see what was going on. I wonder if a tree fell that was restricting the water flow. Some areas the water was very high. It made no sense. Especially with the amount of erosion and mud patches on the trail.
The board walks (above) signal the end of the trail thru the woods. You cross Union Boulevard, then go down Old York Road and thru the historic district. The tail picks up again on Sand Island. We didn't go there. We knew already it was sunny and hot.
We turned around and head back to the plantation.
Miles/Steps: 1.5
Weather: 90, hot and sunny, 40% humidity
Wildlife: chipmunk
Photos: Lydia
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