It’s a trifolium attack!
Am I talking about a three pronged sword? Not quite, but it
is a three pronged attack that I need to focus on. The downside to having a
three week break away from home is coming back to an overgrown lawn and rampant
weeds around the garden.
My holiday break is certainly over. I tackled the mountains
of holiday clothes washing on Sunday, cut the grass on Monday, and will now
tackle more of the tidy around the garden tasks today (Tuesday).
And my trifolium? Well, let’s say I’m not as happy ‘in the
clover’ as some might be. I think I have both white and Dutch clover growing on
my ‘lawns’, and more than a carpet of lesser yellow trefoil, which in turn is a
bit euphemistic since there is actually more moss and weeds than real grass
blades.
(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trifolium_repens_Leaves_2009December13_DehesaBoyaldePuertollano.jpg?uselang=en-gb)
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| Wikimedia Commons |
I did the ‘lawn feed weed and mosskill’ thing some weeks ago,
but it clearly needs to be treated again. This is no surprise as it’s a constant
battle. Whether I do a short cut on the grass, or a long cut as was needed
yesterday, since it was so long, the clover continues to thrive. So what is it
about this plant that makes it tenacious?
It’s a hardy little plant which is too widespread in my
garden to be lifted out with a hand fork. If I did that, I’d be on my knees all
day long and I don’t really fancy that. Trifolium
Repens- Dutch clover - is particularly resistant to weed killers, but I
have sometimes managed to keep it under control by strengthening the grass
using sulphate of ammonia. When I know that my granddaughter is not going to be
running around the area (which happens most days since she lives here) I’ll get
out my handy lawn spreader and treat it again.
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| Wikimedia Commons |
My resident child isn’t the only issue to consider when I
make the treatments- It’s also very weather-driven. I’m not supposed to use the
lawn weeding product till 3 days after a grass cut, but I can’t always time it
so neatly since it has to be applied on a dry day i.e. when the grass is dry. Applying
the lawn feed weed and mosskill product needs the ground to be watered within a
24 hour period after the spreading. In Scotland, that’s not often a
problem but just sometimes sod’s law prevails and I have to get out the hose to
water it in!
So, a dry day to apply - at least 3 days after mowing- and
watering within 24 hours after the applying. Check!
It’s dull today but it has rained overnight which means the
grass is not dry. I guess I’ll be checking the weather again tomorrow, but by
then I’ll be involved in other garden tasks and will need to make a note to
remind me.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trifolium_repens_flower.JPG?uselang=en-gb
Another constant battle I have presently is finding enough
time to do my writing. I haven’t managed any new writing for some time, family
ties too pressing, but during my holiday I did start on my re-write of ‘Take Me
Now’ the task being to restore it to the pre- publication version by The Wild
Rose Press. Like Monogamy Twist, my contemporary mystery novel- Take Me Now –
was a lot less sensuous when I wrote it. It’s now going back to an earlier and
non-sensual version. My problem, of
course, is that I don’t have a saved early version, but that’s good because it
is honing my editing skills and that has to be a good thing.
Clove is a three leaved plant so where's the third editing task? My time-travel novel for early teens is still simmering. Oh, dear.
See you later…
Slainthe!
Read samples of my published writing - my Celtic Fervour Series of historical romantic adventures, and my dynasty based mystery thriller Topaz Eyes- available from AMAZON
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