It's Friday and I'm joining Friday Smiles which is hosted by Annie (at A Stitch in Time). Let's visit her and the other wonderful ladies who also share their smiles each Friday. I probably shouldn't join in because I will be busy the rest of the day preparing for the neighborhood cleanup which is tomorrow. For those who don't know, all materials need to be at the curb by 6 p.m. tonight. I'm going to work until it's all finished, though.
For those of you who don't know, I am trying to get rid of all my very invasive bamboo that has taken over my yard. I've been working on it since Monday, only taking breaks when I get too exhausted or need a muscle break. Consequently, I may not visit you until Saturday. I must find a way to get rid of it, because when I dug it up in 2012, it came back with a vengeance.
Some of you may remember when I had this dill. I only show it because you can see what the bamboo looked like in July. Yes, last month. See how much it has encroached on my yard.
Allow me to digress. This is from 2015. To answer Erika's question about how long it's been since I've seen the fence, it was probably 2012 or 2013.
You can't see a lot, but this is the only photo of the bamboo I could find from 2016.
This is just a partial view of the bamboo in 2017.
This is just a small part of what it looked like on Tuesday after I worked two days chopping it down.
More from Tuesday.
This was the mess I had on Wednesday.
You can see I've already taken some of the bundles to the curb in anticipation of the Saturday pick up.
It's fairly obvious, my big guy is totally uninterested in helping. Of course, Squiggles is nowhere to be found now my camera is out.
This shot doesn't look much different from Wednesday, I fear.
This was Wednesday again. 
Note the piles of brush that are still in the yard, but more importantly, note the neighbor's fence and all the stuff growing on it.
Here is where you begin to see a difference, though.
Bags and bags of these bamboo shards have already been taken to the curb.
Now look at the yard and more importantly, note the neighbor's fence.
This area is looking much better already. I will probably wait until after the cleanup to remove the rest of that vine. That can easily go in the compost pile, while bamboo cannot go into a compost pile.
As of Thursday morning, these are the fruits of my labors.
Up close and personal, so to speak.
Bags of bamboo shards and tree limbs are on this side of my driveway.
I keep fixating on all that bamboo.
As I was heading inside, I noticed one more Naked Lady/Surprise Lily was popping up.
I turned to take one more photo of the lilies in the flower bed.
Imagine my surprise when I saw this beautiful rose in full bloom.
Believe it or not, it's now 9:22 p.m. Thursday night and I am calling this project finished.
It may not look this late, but I am having a hard time keeping the camera steady because it wants to compensate for the lack of light.
I'll let you peruse a few of these shots I took.
I'm thrilled with how this looks. It's the first time I've been able to get to the north side of my house due to the bamboo being in the way.
I'm also quite happy with the south side of my house, too.
For this, I stood in the center of the yard so you could get an idea of where all that bamboo had been.
In an attempt to keep the gazillion mosquitoes that were trying to suck all my blood, I lit a fire in the chiminea. Now it's time to put it out, get these photos off my camera and take a well deserved shower. Maybe after I shower, I'll soak in the tub, if I have enough time.
Dollar Exchange Rate
18 thoughtful remarks:
Wow. You must be totally exhausted. If you can manage it, reach up and pat yourself on your back. Bamboo definitely has plans for world domination doesn't it?
This was an enormous job Elizabeth, and looks like lots of seriously hard and back-breaking work. Well done on getting it finished! Have a restful day, Yor garden looks so much better! Hugs, Valerie
What a job you’ve had Elizabeth and what a brilliant job you’ve done too...I can see why you’re smiling but I bet you’re exhausted.
Huge pat on the back from me and a big hug.
Annie x
Wow, that was a huge task for one person to tackle. You deserve more than a long soak. I hope you are recovering now and not suffering too much from your labours. Of course the garden looks much better. Maybe if it shoots again you can tackle it before it gets so big. I am wary of planting any grasses, or bamboo type plants because I learned the hard way in UK, how invasive they can be.
Have a good rest now. Kate x
I hope you are not too tired, a big task indeed. Looking great!
Oh wow Elizabeth, it tired me out just trying to get to the end of the post so I can't imagine how you are feeling! Many years ago we altered the garden and there was this pathetic looking Bamboo in the way of where we needed to put the fence so we moved it to another part of the garden and it just shot up so I understand your feelings about them. Thanks for asking about mum she seems to be fine it looks as though she went a bit dizzy and dropped to the floor so didn't actually hit anything on the way down. Have a lovely weekend. Hugs, Angela xXx
I feel your hard work and satisfaction of a job well done through your post. If all your dirt areas with no grass was where the bamboo had crawled out to, well, holy moly girl that was one treacherous undertaking to get it all done in just 4-5 days! Some things in nature are so hard to extinguish from their happy home. I do hope you find a way to keep it from returning. Well done, time to sit out in the yard with a favorite drink and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Now you can wave to your neighbors and have a chat over the fence. Your naked ladies flower ‘bed’ is such a fun scene.
Those darned cats! No help at all. And you could have used it. That's a huge job and you should feel oh, so productive for having done it and by yourself. It looks terrific, Elizabeth. And when I see that big pile on the curb, I am even more impressed. Well done, my friend. Take a wonderful and long break!
whew clearing out bamboo is a big job, and clearing landscaping really changes your view doesn't it? Creating mental space kind of.
I'm impressed! You got a lot of hard work done! I hope it doesn't come back this time. I'll be interested in seeing if you do anything along that fence now that the bamboo is gone.
That looks fabulous all cleaned up Elizabeth. Wow, you worked hard. Thanks for answering the fence question too. You must be thrilled to be able to see it and call this project done. I am also impressed how late you stay light in August. We're so far east we get more morning sun than evening so you have some time on us too. I'd love more evening sun than morning. Thanks for sharing with us. Happy start to your weekend. Hugs-Erika
Elizabeth; you need to do nothing this weekend except....NOTHING...☺☺☺☺ and treat yourself to a nice dinner with your foodie friend Sally for a job well done on that bamboo !!! ♥♥♥
bleu and squiggles....keep up de "good werk" doodz !!!!!! ☺☺☺☺☺☺
Wow, you did such a good job clearing for that bamboo! Your garden looks amazing and I think I would need a week to recover after doing all that 😀. Take care and happy weekend! Hugs Jo x
Honestly Elizabeth, I can't believe how much bamboo you have...and how much you've taken out. What a job!
You deserve a medal for the amount of work you did. At one point, I had thought of planting bamboo for a natural privacy screen. I heard bamboo was very invasive so I never planted it. Now I’m glad I didn’t.
That was a massive undertaking! You must be utterly exhausted!
It is now really looking very neat and tidy. I wonder if the neighbors are happy on the other side of the fence now you can look through the fence...
If this was the olympics, you would have earned a golden medal! Well done you, and that without help from Bluebeard or Squiggles.
Have a lovely weekend (of rest) and see you in two weeks' time.
Lisca
Great job!!
You deserve a long rest--whew!
Oh Wow this is a great clean up job. I wish my town would do something like this. Have a great weekend.
Post a Comment