Hoo boy. So I’ve spent the last two weeks working on the front and back yards in a last ditch attempt to stop our place from looking like the “After” pic of Coachella. I’m not joking — the front left yard is badly eroded due to the tree that was there until January, the flower beds are weedy disasters, and I have an overgrown rose bush that someone decided to plant underneath the kitchen bay window so it has to reach out into the sunlight to get any Vitamin D. What can I say — yard work is not my favorite thing.

But it needed to be done, so a few weeks ago I hied my way to Calloways and Home Depot. One wheelbarrow, ten bags of mulch, seven bags of compost, one bag of bermudagrass seed, and a bunch of bacon and eggs lantana and varigated verbena later, and … well, it’s not done.

So what has been done, you ask. I’m happy to answer:

• The enclosure around the now-gone tree was filled with mulch and planted with lantana and verbena. In hindsight I should have layered topsoil in it before adding the mulch, but the plants seem to be doing okay. if they start failing, I’ll transplant them into one of the other full sun flower beds and we’ll have the whole damn thing ground out in the fall.
• The badly eroded front left yard has been reseeded and covered with compost (why compost? Because I read an article where a rancher had brought back all the grass on his almost dead land by spreading compost. Not only does it fertilize everything and encourage grass growth, but it locks higher amounts of CO2 into the grass than if you just use regular grass fertilizer or topsoil. Works for me).
• The right front shrub beds have been mulched.
• The little breakfast nook window bed has been mulched, and begonias and orange celosia have been planted.

Still to do:

• Mulch the left front shrub beds (five bags)
• Reseed gaps in the back yard grass along the pool and cover with compost.
• Mulch the garage flower bed (two bags) and plant more lantana and Mexican heather (the lantana has already been purchased and is sitting on the bed ready to go).
• After a thorough weeding, fill the side flower bed with two bags of topsoil and three bags of mulch, then plant salvia and yarrow or perennial wallflower.
• Trim back the rosebush. In February, prepare the shady corner of the yard and transplant it there.
• Add three bags topsoil and three bags of mulch to the shrub bed that hides the pool pump equipment. This will also require reseating six stepping stones.
• Trim back the decorative grass plant next to the pool heater, which will require digging into the roots to pull the damn thing out

Possible plans:

• Add a rotating composter to the front corner of the yard. The ground there is rocky and won’t grow anything, so I may as well stick the composter there.
• Install a butterfly garden in the opposite corner next to the pool pump. It’s a weird little triangle of meh grass — I’m sure I can do something more creative with it.

So, yeah, kind of busy. But I’ve been writing along with all the yard work so I’ve got that going for me. As you may have noticed, Grading the Curve was finally finished and re-released, and I’m currently working on Uncertainty Principle (Pacifica Rising 2) and King of Blades (Two Throne 2). And er, I may be writing a wee GoT fanfic because, well, I want to.