One of my Mother’s Day gifts this year was a “landscaping consultation,” which my husband affectionately called my “much-needed gardening lesson.”  Fair enough.  To be honest, the most valuable piece of information I took from the hour-long chat was “this is a weed, this isn’t a weed, this is a weed, this isn’t a weed.” And yes, I took notes.

Despite the less-than-ideal weather over the weekend, we managed to spend a few hours outside, tidying our yard. We finally finished mulching the two biggest flower beds, which I’m sure the neighbours are happy about, since the bags of bark mulch have been haphazardly strewn down the driveway for weeks.

For all my weeding efforts, I can still see them everywhere.  Dandelions.  We tried Weed Be Gone in a few areas, and are disappointed that there are complete circles where not only the dandelions have died, but all of the grass did as well. Many people told us not to worry, that the grass would grow back, but it’s been a month, at least, since we sprayed and we still have dead-grass crop circles to show for it.

No, I prefer the good ol’ fashioned way of taking them out by the roots – hard on the back, but effective. And therapeutic I might add. Call me crazy, but I think there’s something so satisfying about pulling out a big weed, roots and all, and tossing it into the compost. Maybe it’s representative somehow for my need to declutter in my life … or maybe it just proves my sick and twisted affliction for killing plants.

But apparently I’ve learned something, somehow, because our veggies (did I tell you we planted veggies?) are growing! We picked fresh, plump pea pods this weekend and enjoyed the sweet taste of our first crops (all five pods).

The piece de resistance for me this weekend was finally placing our solar lanterns along the path leading up to our front door. I love how they define the space and will keep our guests from tripping over our somewhat uneven patio stones as they approach or depart. It’s a win-win.

So, even though the forecast is calling for rain, I plan to keep up the momentum this week – weeding, pruning and attempting to keep everything alive. Fingers crossed Green thumbs crossed!