Posts Tagged ‘mowing labyrinth’
Ruthless Trimmer
I suspect gardeners with more skill and knowledge would cringe to witness my barbaric technique when wielding the ferocious blades of my hedge trimmer. I don’t so much as prune the ornamental growth and surrounding woods in and around the labyrinth as ruthlessly hack it back from impeding the pathway opening.
It had been too long since I last shaped the variety of plantings that decorate the walk through the labyrinth, and they showed it. I wasn’t going to get away with leaving a few odd trimmings on the ground as mulch because there was just too much of it.
Out came the rake and, eventually, even a pruning saw to remove some real branches before I could get around to pushing the mower along between the rock borders. The thick grass and dampness of humidity made the cut less than ideal as the mulched cuttings became a sticky mess, but the bottom line is, it has been mowed, which it wasn’t at the start of the day.
There still remain plenty of unsightly weeds and some tall grass in the nooks and corners around the rocks that the mower can’t reach. That will require some focused weed pulling or deft application of a string trimmer to bring down, but that will need to wait until I finish clearing the rest of the hay field and back pasture fence lines.
I am just as ruthless with the STIHL trimmer with the small gas engine when it comes to growth around the fences. It’s a great way to burn off any aggression if a person is so inclined. But that’s not me. I may trim ruthlessly, but I do it with love. Tough love, you could say!
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Surprise Addition
At the end of the day yesterday, I made a last-minute decision to mow the labyrinth. I had skipped it the week before so I didn’t want to miss it before heading out of town this weekend. The grass was thick and a bit intimidating. I put my head down and got to work pushing the mower, oblivious to the new feature someone had secretly added.
When I reached the Red Barberry shrub, I discovered a beautiful sculpture of a small momma deer with a fawn. I double-checked with Cyndie when I got back to the house and learned she hadn’t recently added any sculptures. I didn’t tell her what I’d found so she could experience a surprise similar to mine upon seeing it for the first time.
We both quickly suspected our friends, Pam and John who were staying at our house while we were out of town over the two previous weekends.
Pam said she didn’t know anything about it and would need to check with John when he got home. Sure enough, John had snuck it into that spot after a trip to an Ellsworth garage sale two weekends ago. None of us had noticed it until yesterday.
The little deer is a timely addition after a recent incident Cyndie survived on a walk with Asher. They had entered the tall growth in our North Loop field and Asher broke loose from her grip in pursuit of a young deer. Cyndie suddenly needed to leap out of the way of the sprinting deer that was racing right toward her.
There’s no telling when a deer might reverse direction when it’s employing evasive maneuvers during a chase, much to Cyndie’s surprise!
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Reclaiming Pathway
One place that suffers when we get behind during periods of fast-growing grass is the labyrinth. I tend to leave it until last when trying to mow all the other grass areas. In addition to the front, back, and side of the house, I cut grass beside the shop garage, along both sides of the driveway to the road, between the road and our hay field fence, around the hay shed, around 2 sides of paddock fences, around the perimeter of the back pasture fence, the space in front of the labyrinth, and two pathways: the north loop and the south side of the hay field fence.
When that is done, I roll the push mower down to the labyrinth and remove the grass discharge chute to close the mulching cover. That’s required to fit between the rocks of the labyrinth pathway but it also provides the bonus of eliminating grass clippings.
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The grass that the mower can’t reach is beginning to swallow the rocks. At least the pathway becomes clearly evident upon a fresh cut.
We have experimented with different techniques (no hazardous chemicals allowed) for trimming grass and pulling weeds around the rocks but haven’t found anything more effective than the time and labor-intensive hand-cutting/weed pulling. When things are growing at this crazy pace that we’ve been experiencing this summer, we can’t dedicate the time it would require to focus solely on the rocks of the labyrinth for a few days.
Maybe if we didn’t go galivanting off to the lake so often, it would be easier to manage the entire property to the level it deserves. We leave this morning with Cyndie’s mom for another dreamy 4-day getaway to Wildwood. [First World Problems®]
Horse Behavior
Both Cyndie and I have noticed that, for the most part, the horses appear to be ignoring the recently mowed back pasture since I opened that gate. I’m hoping our perception is off and they are spending time out there when we aren’t looking. Still, the amount of manure we find beneath the overhang offers reasonable evidence that they are lingering by the barn more often than not.
It could be they are waiting for the hay field to be opened back up to them instead. It may be available soon if the baling happens today as planned. Then we will be able to open all gates like they are normally granted, giving them full access to go wherever they want, whenever they want.
It won’t surprise me if the back pasture needs a second round of mowing by the time we return home from the lake. I’ve decided we should plan to mow that field regularly since it is obvious there’s no interest in cutting it for baling.
More tractor time!
Sorry, labyrinth. You may be waiting even longer between trimmings.
Don’t worry, though. I’ll still keep the pathway open for you.
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Relative Something 