For the Birds

The birds seem to be appreciating my spring yard cleanup. So far I've raked up about 20 bags of leaves--mostly long-lasting oak--and the birds like to follow behind. I guess they are scooping up the bugs I've disturbed with the raking and bagging. The process has definitely woken up a lot of moths that fly out of every clump I throw in a bag. I did mulch some of the leaves, but I'll need a more efficient piece of equipment to do much more of that.

I've still been doing a lot of cleanup of debris from years past. Every planting bed includes at least a handful of golf balls. Definitely not from me, as I agree with Mark Twain that "golf is a good walk spoiled."

To celebrate my new job I went out and bought a few new plants. I couldn't find a redbud, so I ended up ordering a few from the Arbor Day Foundation. But, I did pick up another azalea to place by the herb garden--a white one to balance the pink one that came with the house. Also, a bleeding heart for the bird bath area, and a mountain fire pieris for the east side.

I've been looking at several options for adding a garden path and for edging the planting beds. That would definitely add some polish to the yard. Better Homes and Gardens has a great website. Lots of ads, but lots of good ideas, too. I'm going to the flower show at Coney tomorrow. I'm sure there will be lots of cool concepts there. I'll just need to pace myself!