Oops! Doing what I have chastised people for doing - not a good look

I have repeatedly chastised people (silently) who volcano mulch their trees with either rocks or mulch. Surrounding the base of a tree doesn't allow it to breathe and invites rot and insect activity. So one day, as I'm looking at the overgrowth mess at the base of our giant Chinese Elm we love so much in the backyard, I realized with a shock, that I am GUILTY of a version of volcano mulching that didn't enter my pea brain. In my case, it's putting potted plants at the base of the tree, allowing debris to pile up. Allowing too many spider plants to take over and suffocate the base - not to mention just covering up any other decorative elements. So with the zest of a born again gardener, I have started the process of clearing out and sprucing up. Naturally this project was begun during the hottest weeks we've had to date because why not? Nothing like working up a good sweat, right?

This does have a certain charm, until you look closely and realize certain things are not thriving by being choked out.

As I pulled pots away from the base, the amount of leaf buildup was a bit unnerving. Poor tree was gasping. You can see the dark band at the base of the tree. Not good.

Another view of the overgrowth. The large blue pot held plants that had been knocked over in the wind/firestorm we had in January and were not thriving. In remaking the area, high winds, which now seem to be a given, are being taken into account.

Ferns seemed to be a good choice for the pot because it doesn't get too much sun. The ferns that were thriving in another area of the yard had been destroyed in the windstorm, so I salvaged what I could and hope they will fill in nicely in a year or two. All the spider plants are gone as well. While the wind isn't an issue for them, they just weren't thriving and were creating a debris catch-all.

This is as far as the rehab goes so far. Still thinking how to finish off this area without choking the tree and allowing other plants to thrive. A work in progress.

Mow, blow, and go away!!!

People who hire gardeners are lucky they don't have to deal with the messy hard labor of keeping up appearances in their yards. Of course, in general, those are people who have lawns, a few shrubs, and trees that drop leaves. Cue the mow, blow, and go guys.

Our City wisely adopted a ban on gas leaf blowers that went into effect over a year ago. Electric blowers only. Quieter. Less pollution. Good benefits indeed. The City even provided help for gardeners with obtaining the new equipment. Sounds well thought out and doable. Yeah...not so much.

What the City unwisely decided to do, was no longer hold the person employing said gardeners with upholding the new ruling. Doesn't take too many guesses to know how that turned out. Gardeners felt it was too much trouble or expense, other cities have not banned gas blowers, and why change what works for them, right? When asked, a couple of the gardeners in the 'hood said that it took too many batteries to get through the day and the blowers weren't strong enough. (Side note: my electric blower is plenty strong enough). The gardeners have a good point about the batteries not giving them enough juice to do all their jobs. So what to do about that?

Naturally I have the answer. If someone is rich enough to hire someone, then they can provide either the entire blower with a fully charged battery every time their worker shows up OR, they can simply have fully charged batteries available the model owned by the gardener if they don't want to purchase the whole tool. They can put the equipment in a secure place for the gardener to access when they begin work. It reduces expenses for both parties and it confirms compliance with the law. (Side note: won't happen). I get why raking and sweeping is not viable for those who have multiple clients per day. But having a gas blower that only creates a hurricane of dust, fumes, and noise that sounds like jet planes taking off, is truly not a good choice for the planet.

The other problem with the whole mow, blow, and go concept is all the mowing. If a gardener is retained weekly, that means the lawn (which in SoCal is a big water waster) is mowed weekly. What's wrong with that? Lawns that are cut short enough to play a game of pool (billiards) are hotter and don't retain water well. As a result, they need to be watered more frequently and never look as lush and green as people expect. In fact, in the summer they just look sad.

And don't get me started on weed whacking. Used carelessly around the base of trees it causes damage. Weed whackers don't solve the problem of certain weeds that should be pulled out by the roots, like foxtails, which are so dangerous to pets and other animals. It simply spreads the whacked seeds around.

OK -- enough ranting for one day. Though I will point out that the name of this blog is CRANKY little old lady, which means, yes, there will be rants from time to time.