Rooting Out the Underground

When I decided to write this entry, the original title was going to be "The Roots of Evil." But then I decided against that title because it sounded too ominous.

When we bought this house, we had no idea the treasure of a yard we were getting because we first saw it in late November and closed on it in January during the dead of winter. However, on the day of closing, the previous owner stood on the back deck with my husband and told him that in the spring, the color would begin on the right side of the back yard and gradually progress around the perifery until it finished on the left.

What we found was that she had planned the azaleas by choosing varieties that would bloom in a sequence to create a wave of color that progressed from one side all around the back of the yard. It is truly spectacular and we are so grateful for her careful planning. In addition to the regular azaleas, there are rhodedendrons, dogwoods, native azaleas and trees in the same beds. She also planted daffodils and other bulbs underneath them that provide early spring color before the azaleas start to bloom.

We noticed this year that vines and trash shrubs had invaded that area and were choking the azaleas. In early April, we began a progam of clearing out the unwanted shrubs and removing some of the dead trees and azaleas. As we started to pull out the vines, we noticed literally thousands of runners going everywhere under the carpet of leaves that covered the ground. As we would pull up on vine, it would pull up many runners in all directions. It was like a network of evil invaders coming in from underground to take over and choke our beautful azaleas.

This Friday, we spent nearly the entire day pulling up vines and trash shrubs. My hands were raw from pulling them up and then having to hand carry the debris up the hill to where the city picks it up. Despite my hands being torn to shreds, I kept coming back to pull more vines. I was bound and determined to rid the undergound of these roots of evil.