June 27, 2026

It doesn't look like much - but that white blob is what's left of a root that grew through the edging. It was 1" in diameter and between the metal stakes and the roots - it is really hard for me to dig down and remove all the problems. The edging was/is around a brick patio - that has been sinking. Five years ago is was just a mass of weeds growing through the cracks. I gave up two years ago and covered the whole patio with black plastic. Now I have to decide what to do.

Below you can see the back of the garage. 

The yard slopes down a bit towards the back

so the hostas next to the garage are about 10 inches higher than the ground. 

Little by little - soil gravitated down to the patio and the edging was buried a couple inches under the soil. 

The whole patio needs to be removed -

and then - I have to decide what to do in that space.

Below is what the patio looks like - 

I had piled a bunch of sod and weeds on top of it

and it has all started to compost -

so I rolled it all up in the black plastic and might just leave it there for the winter.

If I do that - I'll have a ton of compost in the spring.

If it isn't through decomposing - I can transfer it somewhere 

and let it finish.

This is the view from the back corner.

I am researching all the different ways to make paths.

I might try a few different ways and see which one works best.

Hunter has no idea what he wants - other than low maintenance.

So - if I create a random hodge hodge of ideas - he won't mind.

The swing set came with the house.

He rigged it up with a hammock and spent So.Much.Time in his hammock 

that when it ripped - I told him he couldn't get a new one - until we had made more progress with the house and yard. I'd like to move the swing set hammock further toward the fence - so that it is behind the garage. But first I have to figure out what's going to happen with the brick patio.

Right between the rectangular green bucket and the garage is a tree stump.

There was a HUGE tree and the entire yard was shaded - so the hostas were very happy.

His house insurance company told him they would cancel his insurance if he didn't take the tree down.

It had already lost some limbs and done som minor damage.

Now that the yard is sunny - the hostas get brown and crispy - but most people around here agree that no matter how much you abuse an established hosta - they will survive.

I have some fabric and hope to make some canopies for the hostas.

There is a heatwave coming - so perhaps that will get done while I hunker down at my house with the AC.

The photo above - if you zoom in - shows the hideous creeping Charlie which has set me on my mission to banish it. More of my happy ajuga on the right - along the north side of the yard.

That's a panoramic view of the west side of the yard.

You can see part of the tree stump at the left.