3 rows down...

3 rows cleared, 15 more to go. The pile of 
material in the back is what I pulled out of 
just half of the row today.

I haven’t posted lately because I didn’t have any photos to post. There were no photos because the plots were filled with weeds. It was just guilt and shame because we couldn’t go often enough to overcome the insane growth of weeds on that property. It has rained every day for the last month, often 2-3 times per day, and when it’s not raining, it’s blazingly sunny and hot. That’s great for the willow, but the weeds have loved it too. 

The only available space for them to grow is the 3x3” X-cut slash each willow stalk gets, and yet, within a week, there’s a mat of at least 5 varieties of invasive weeds and vines. The perimeter is extra thick with the yard trying to invade the landscape fabric. I see we need yet another piece of equipment, a power edger, to keep those boundaries in line. 

These rows of Irette were weeded
last week, so they are not as
overcome by weeds. The straw
has helped a little too.

I can’t imagine trying to grow willow without landscape fabric, by the way. At least for the first two years. And if you notice in the big photo above, the first year Rubykins has resisted most weeds because it grows so quickly and overcomes any competition from the start. My two year olds are still having issues with vines, but they seem to be having less surface weediness, and my older beds just have issues around the borders where they get more light at the base. 

The last two varieties I planted in this new bed are doing the worst, and in some cases, the weeds have effectively covered the willow stalks and stunted them. Both Frances Red and Polish Purple start out the first year puny and small for me anyway, but do better the following years. This year’s new babies have taken some losses already. 

This is Polish Purple, the last variety 
planted in this bed. This is how bad it
can get if you don't keep up.

Of course I have fixes for this problem in mind, using something I have in abundance, felted wool cloth. I made 20 little collars ( I also think of them as dickies) to test the theory that felt would block most weeds and yet pass on moisture and stretch during growth. These are definitely colorful and easy to tuck into the holes around the stalks. If this works as imagined, I’ll make more out of some of the seconds and trimmings from when I was a fiber artist. There’s a nice little closure for you, remnants of past endeavors making humble protections for the current inventory. 

You can just see the collars showing up; see the
'video below for a walkthrough. 

So, yes, I’ve cleared the 3 rows of Frances Red, put my felt collars to work on half of them and cleared the rest of weeds in those rows but nothing else. An experiment i hope will work. Now, I just have 15 more rows to clear, not to mention the usurpers in the other beds. 

What else are we doing? Still trying to solve the vehicle problem, making do with the trimmer to keep the bed area mowed if not the whole acre. We are also adding an RV pad and expanding the driveway some so that we can finally stay on the property when we need to do a lot of work, like now. I always liked to do a little weeding in the garden in the mornings and we can’t seem to get there earlier than lunch or two days in a row. The drive is just too much, up to 4 hours roundtrip each time. So this will be a big improvement.  

I’ll be weeding for a bit. Photos of cleaner beds and better days to come. 

You can hear our neighbor's dog that we 

call Barky Bark and the Cult Jam, the 

soundtrack for our work.