Garden Friend or Foe?

Plants give us oxygen for the lungs and for the soul.  ~Linda Solegato

Hello everyone.  I have been working really hard trying to clean and wake up my garden.  Recently we had a strong storm come through the area and I had enough debris to fill my large container twice and enough left over to make a large donation to my small compost pile.

We also had a little surprise left in our backyard courtesy of our local utility company (a small, invasive Tree-Of-Heaven).  We do not have any trees in our yard, but they were trimming trees in a neighbor’s yard and one fell over the fence onto our property.  This tree has been sitting in our backyard for a while despite numerous calls to have it removed.  The excuse I am given is, “we have to have our arborist look at the stump to see if we our crew cut it”.  Dude…seriously?  My husband is anxious to cut the tree but I am not happy out this.  Oh well, I will let it go and make the hubby happy.

During my outdoor excursion I was happy to see I have new volunteer plants out back in an area I rarely use.  I have a daffodil, coreopsis and a plant I can’t identify.  I am reluctant to remove it at this point so I will watch it until I can identify it.  My garden typically receives a few volunteer plants each year such as Johnny Jump Ups, tulips and red clover.  I typically relocate them to my garden (free plants).

Earlier this week on my way to work, I noticed a neighbor placing pallets out to the curb.  I was so excited to see them and circled around the block to have a little chat.  Of course, I simply had to ask him if he was throwing them out for garbage or utilizing the pallets for a project.   Thank goodness he stated the former and I asked him if I could have the pallets and explained my wish to have my hubby create a small potting station from the wood.  I offered him payment for the pallets (secretly hoping he wouldn’t accept it) and he stated he would give me 7 pallets and would drop them off at my home for $5.00. Yikes!!! I agreed and he dropped them off within the hour.  When completed I will post pictures.

Well, I have to run.  For anyone curious about the tree I mentioned, here's a link: 

http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/aial1.htm

Thanks!

Angela