Dog for scale lol

Looks good! Are you planning to spread mulch to decrease resprouting? Do you know what kind of trees they are? Any plans for some shade-loving plants in there such as mountain laurels or dogwood or Rhododendrons around the edges?

Thank you!! I’m not sure what kinds of trees they are, we have a couple oak trees nearby so perhaps they are young oaks? I’m terrible about tree ID.

I was trying to figure out what I should do to prevent resprouting. I was going to rip out all the ivy my mowing it down, then using pruners and ripping out all the roots. Not sure if I should use chemical treatment or if it’s be better to mulch. It would require a lot of mulch but then again mulch would look very nice there. Do you think temporarily using weed fabric might be worth it? I know it prevents nutrient transfer but I’m thinking it might really help cut down on the ivy resprouting and I could just take it away later.

as far as replacements there’s a few ornamental grasses I want to add. But other than that I’m not really sure yet! I might add a couple flowering shade plants like Bleeding Heart, I can’t wait to look into more options though! I know I want some hostess probably near the trunks or the remaining trees. Maybe some lavender could tolerate this location too. I want this area to look a bit more natural than my ultra symmetrical other gardens haha

Lavender likes sun, but hosta and bleeding heart should be fine. If you have maples, planting will be tougher to do successfully, so come spring, take some photos and post to get an ID. If you can get clear photos of the trunks, branches, and buds, it can most likely be IDed now. I wouldn't plan to plant until resprouting is taken care of.

Landscape fabric is designed to work under a covering of mulch and so won't do any good alone. It also won't suppress established weeds resprouting. It really is quite ineffective, and removal after even a season is tough because plants can grow into the fibers, making it a bear to remove. DH put some down in a bed he did, and I now have to wait for tree stumps to rot before it can be removed. A disposable foam paint brush and glyphosate herbicide (used with protective gloves and eyewear just in case) can be painted on sprouts in spring. Then a layer of mulch to discourage resprouting and periodic toughups with the glyphosate whenever you see sprouts coming through the mulch. If you are diligent for a couple of seasons, that should get things well under control, though I still am removing some brambles and other unwelcome sprouts after 15 years in a similar semiwooded spot.

Babs, I just googled Maple trees and what their leaves look like, no maples here! At least I’m about 95% sure haha. Ah I wish I could plant lavender in that area, it does face east but because of the tree cover it doesn’t qualify for “full sun”.

Thank you for the advice about the weed fabric, I always want it to work for some reason (I think I just want an easy way out haha). I’ll be sure to try the glyposphate herbicide! I hope you get that stump removed soon! I know how annoying they can be. I have this really annoying squiggly stump smack in the center or a circular garden bed (it was there when I moved in). I’m very impatient so I think I’m just going to rent a grinder and make a day of removing all the stumps on my property (there’s quite a few now that I think of it, but they’re all very small save for 1 or 2).

Ill be so excited come spring time to show everyone the progress! Or hey maybe if there’s more warm days in January it’ll be done before spring haha

Before spring comes, I really want some snow that I can enjoy. It's either been too cold or too wet or too windy to be safe in the woods, so I have managed walks along the road for the last couple of days, but no snowshoeing or skiing in the woods or ice skating outside yet this winter. I had planned to go into the woods today, but when I went outside I heard a tree fall across the river, and then we lost power most likely due to another tree down, so I decided it wouldn't be wise. It was really windy here. Our snow is still too deep and the ground too frozen for me to do any plant removal or gardening, so enjoying the snow is my only outlet at this time of year.

My stumps are just going to stay where they are and rot. They are cut close to the ground and aren't visible from many spots, so they will just stay as is. I am impressed that you are going to try to grind your stumps - that is beyond my abilities.

Susan thank you for the advice! I had no idea they were active in winter! Luckily I changed clothes and showered right after because I hate feeling dirty.

Babs sounds like a good thing you didn’t go in the woods! I hope you get to enjoy them soon though! And thanks, not sure how the grinding will turn out but I might as well try. It’ll be my excuse to not go the the gym hahah

Timely warning, Susan.

Kali, as part of my gardening routine, I check for ticks every time I come inside from the yard, but I also do a full body check using touch as well as sight standing in front of a well-lit full length mirror every night before bed with particular attention to places like ears and belly button, tops of socks or other spots where clothing is snug against the body, back of knees, armpits, and scalp. I even check between my toes since I found one there once after I had been in the garden barefoot. They can be poppy seed sized, so it takes me several minutes, but I figure it's time well spent. They grab on enough to not be washed away with water fairly quickly, so don't just rely on a shower. Wash clothes in hot water. I mostly garden with my shirt tucked into my pants and my pants tucked into my socks - which looks totally dorky, but I'd rather limit their places to get to skin. DEET on clothing is good also. Dogs can get Lyme disease, and I know that there used to be a dog vaccine for it, but I don't know about any of the other tick borne diseases. Just be vigilant with your cute pup as well.

i am not too worried at this point of the year since they tend to winter under the snow (prevents dehydration as well as keeps them warmer) and we still have snow completely covering the ground, but it looks like your area is milder nearer the ocean.

That’s a great system Babs! I’ll be sure to be much more careful about ticks.

At least for the puppy I’m much more vigilant haha, it’s weird how sometimes we take care of other creatures much more than ourselves. She did get the vaccine for Lyme, unfortunately the poor girl had an AWFUL allergic reaction to it and had a seizure, so we won’t be getting it again once it wears off and we will have to take extra precautions. But we keep 100% up to date on her flea and ticks treatments. Luckily since she’s blonde (like me and my fiancé lol), it’s pretty easy to check her.

thanks so much for the info! I always worry about poison ivy but forget about ticks on myself (Kat year I got poison by for the first time and it was awful! I kept accidentally reinfecting myself too because i didn’t realize the oil could stay on garden tools and gloves and had it all summer while I stupidly and slowly encountered each tool I had used near the ivy).

Ugh, that sounds miserable! You will get to the point that you recognize it even without leaves.

I got my first case of poison ivy when I was about 40 after spending lots of time outdoors since I was little. I couldn't figure out why I kept getting it on the back of my legs because I am allergic to grass and so always wear long pants outside. Turns out the cat was going into the field with the PI and then sitting on the upholstered chair, which I then sat on wearing shorts after going to the gym. A combo of covering the chair with a sheet when I sat on it and getting rid of the PI (thank heavens for glyphosate) in the field did the trick. Washing with a combo of soap alternating with rubbing alcohol gets rid of all the oil and can be used on tools as well as you (though since it strips oils, it's a bit tough on skin.) I use just a paper towel with alcohol for shoes and furniture and even on clothes before I wash them.

Oh no that sounds awful!! I’m glad you figured out the kitty was bringing it in though, I imagine that could’ve taken quite a bit of time.

I got mine the dumbest way possible, I always thought I was one of the very few who wasn’t allergic, because as a kid i had walked through it a million times and never gotten it. So I never really worried about it. Mistake. So flash forward to last summer and it’s blazing hot and I need to weed whack, I’m also super excited because it’s my first time using the whacker, but there’s also a ton of work to be done. So I figure “it’s like 95 degrees I’ll just wear shorts”, essentially I ended up making a purée of ivy and other plants (by mistake obviously) and the weed whacker spread a coat all over my legs, my gloves, my clothes, the whacker etc. so I don’t think anything of this since i didn’t see the ivy and when I’m done I go to take a shower. Unfortunately I thought I should shave my legs so essentially I created all sorts of little microscopic cuts on my leg and smeared around the oil without knowing. When the giant welts did appear I thought they were bug bites. But when I went to the dr they told me it was PI and put me on all sorts of steroids and pain relievers because my legs were disgusting!

lesson learned. Now I always wear pants, shower immediately, no shaving lol, out clothes directly in hot washer alone and clean all my tools with alcohol or bleach

I can't believe what we go through to enjoy the outdoors. I've been gardening and sewing since childhood and will never give them up.

What works to repel ticks are permethrin and cedar oil. Spray shoes and pants with permethrin while off your body and let dry. It lasts 2 weeks. Wash separately from your other laundry, or like I do, don't use permethrin on clothes, just on boots, and wash everytime I wear them. I have a lot of outdoor clothes! Use cedar oil on skin. It's an ingredient in a lot of the natural bug sprays you can get at good garden centers.

Twice a year I walk around with PI killer spray with a mask and full body dress to get all the new plants. Between those times, I pull the seedlings with a latex glove and toss in garbage can. I dream PI in my sleep and can recognize it anywhere by a glance. Uch, horrible stuff. I, too, was not allergic as a kid.

The tiniest tick that was attached to me was so small I needed to use a magnifier to see its legs. It was between my fingers. Sometimes we don't even see the tick before it passes on its infectious material and drops off. That myth about it taking a day to attach is false.

One year I bought 10 bags of cedar mulch for my pathways and they were filled with ticks crawling all over me and the shower for weeks. Uch, what an ordeal. I got my money back but now I solarize any bag of anything for a season before I use it.

At this point in my life I'm seriously thinking of those gardens in tubs raised up on legs! I'll never stop gardening or being outdoors.

Right now I'm enjoying 75 degrees and sunny in Tucson, outdoors in nature from morning through night. Glad to get away for a while to be outdoors.

I just realized I have two rows of Japanese Barberry up against the house. They're under some tall windows on a side of the house that we never look at, so even though I walked by them occassionally, my attention was always elsewhere so I didn't put two and two together. I saw them in a gardening magazine and thought, "Hmmm...." They'll be ripped out this year because of how they allow the tick population to increase. Also invasive in Maine.

Susan, that's great advice! And oh my goodness, the ticks in the mulch sounds terrifying. I think if I ever found that many on myself (or even one) I'd get sick to my stomach. Do you think there are lots of ticks in mulch generally, or do you think it was just a fluke from that manufacturer? I never even thought about ticks being in the mulch, I'm grateful I never got one since I spread dozens and dozens of bags this past season!

Deanna, oh wow I didn't know barberry contributed to the tick population! That's good info to have. I almost got a bunch of them until I realized they were invasive/illegal in Massachusetts as well. I thought they looked so pretty, but now I am glad for 2 reasons that I didn't get them!