trees

Infested

Posted on by backuphill

macro shot of yellow crawling insect

Photo by Egor Kamelev on Pexels.com

Taking care of a yard, along with all the other things around the house when you’re not at work, can be a pain in the rear. Limited time, limited funds, limited knowledge. Sometimes you can work around two of those, but when the trifecta hits there can be a severe case of the weekend warrior blues.

Thankfully, I have less of those blues than I used to. However, there are somethings in the yard that just irritate me to no end!

There are some flowering trees in the front yard – cherry, plum, whatever. I can’t remember. All I know is they have white blossoms on them in the Spring when they bloom. Anyway, they have taken some work to keep them under control (they grow really fast!) and pruning them is no joy.

This year, they are infested with aphids. Like INFESTED! The trees look sickly and the leaves are falling off like it is late Fall. I can handle bugs in most cases, but for some reason aphids gross me out.

Yesterday, I hope I took care of the infestation. I did some research and bought some spray for the trees. Let me tell you, I sprayed the hell out of those trees! I want those things gone and I want the trees to still have leaves for the summer. So, I went to war.

If I can remember, I’ll let you know if I won.

What insect gives you the eebie-jeebies and just can’t handle?

Like mowing rocks

Posted on by backuphill

douglas-fir-cones_1024x1024

Up here in the PNW we have trees. Lots of them. They’re everywhere. Well, mostly everywhere. There are places that have a shortage of trees, but don’t feel sorry for them. Feel sorry for me. Please. Like right now. Feel it.

Right now I would like to cut down all my trees. I don’t really need them and I don’t really have a use for them. They’re really more of a pain really.

I think I have talked about one aspect of the pain on the blog already, pine needles. I think I also mentioned in another post about trees and their freaking leaves falling in the yard too. BUT there is another aspect of pain that I haven’t yet mentioned when it comes to my trees.

Pine cones.

No, not the great big ones with pokey things on them that smell like cinnamon that you can buy at Michael’s or Hobby Lobby or JoAnn Fabrics during Christmas time. While I am sure those are an issue for someone somewhere, they aren’t my issue.

My pine cones are from the Douglas Fir trees in the yard. (see the photo at the top) These stupid trees produce (seemingly) millions of pine cones every year and then during the winter months they shed them all over my freaking yard. When spring comes and it is time to mow the yard, these pine cones are in varying degrees of opening (so some are “soft” – meaning opened, and some are hard as rocks because they are wet and closed).

It takes time to pick these things up, bent over for hours scouring the ground to find them all (used to bride the kids to do it for money – one year they picked up 40 gallons [8 5-gallon buckets] of them). The kids are old enough now they aren’t going to fall for Dollar Store trinkets any longer.

So, rather than pick them up this year, I just decided to try and mow over them. Oh man the racket!! It was like mowing rocks.

So, between the pine needles and pine cones and sap from some of the trees, and falling leaves from some of the other trees, and moss all over the yard – yeah, this place is a modern day paradise for landscaping nightmares.

#smh

Such a sap

Posted on by backuphill

shallow focus photography of brown tree trunk

Photo by Mahima on Pexels.com

Cars are parked in the driveway.

Pine cones, pine needles, leaves, bird droppings, dirt, pollen are all landing on the cars.

The most frustrating part is that isn’t all. Those trees near the driveway, not next to it or over it, NEAR it…somehow they manage to also drop sap on the cars.

Sap! That sticky stuff doesn’t just wash off. No, that would make it easy. That stuff requires extra elbow grease and some of that “Goof Off” liquid cleaner. It’s a little easier when it is on the windshield, but not so much when it is on paint (or on the roof, which is hard to reach for a short guy like me).

Oh, and don’t get me started about not seeing the sap before using the windshield wipers. Hey, let’s smear that crappy sap all over the windshield and make sure it sticks to the  wipers too.

It would be nice if the garage could be used as such. Not gonna happen.

#smh

Trying to get out of the gutter

Posted on by backuphill

house covered with red flowering plant

Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com

It is that time of year, fall, and it is really irritating that I have to keep climbing to the top of the ladder on a regular basis. And by regular basis, I mean like every other week…

In the Northwest we get a lot of rain, and wind. As a result, the wind causes all the leaves and pine needles and pine cones and small twigs that blow off the trees end up on the roof of the house. When the rain comes it washes it all off the roof and into the gutters on the house.

I try to keep up, but I usually am reminded that the gutters need cleaned when it is pouring down rain and the gutters are overflowing. Then I gotta drag out the ladder, climb to the top, and empty the gutters while I get soaked to the bone.

Sometimes being a homeowner sucks.