I fell backwards again, while mowing the grass (with pics!)

17 years ago

Not of me falling, though! At least I didn't fall when the ex was here-LOL! He came by with Lauren and her best friend so she could grab some clothes. Alex decided not to go right now, it's Spring break.

I had just started mowing the side yard and it kinda slopes downhill. I was near the bottom near the road when I tripped on the uneven ground and fell backwards. Of course, it took me a minute to release the handle. I always hold on, and I don't know why. I was pretty embarrassed and wonder how many of my neighbors were looking out their window and laughing. I've fallen quite a few times while mowing, mostly when I was in the backyard, though. Never got hurt, yet anyway.

I'm so tired and sweaty now. I still have to vacuum my car out, it's full of dirt from driving the trees home and I have to go grocery shopping.

I asked Alex to go out and take some pictures of the newly planted trees for me...I'm too tired to. Here's what the front of the house looks like now:

Yoshino cherry is the tall skinny tree in the foreground. The two tiny evergreens are the dwarf Alberta Spruces I just planted.

The purple leaved tree is the Bonfire Patio Peach, which is supposed to have pink flowers when it blooms in the Spring.

Now I need to mulch everything. The last picture shows how crappy the painted vinyl shutters look. I think I'm going to replace them with new ones in the Fall.

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Comments (21)

Linda Wayman
17 years ago
Your yard and trees look great Kath. I'm glad you didn't hurt yourself while mowing. If you had hurt yourself you probably still would have looked around first thing to see if anyone saw you; at least I would have.
patti43
17 years ago
Your house is so pretty. Love the little bonfire patio peach. Wonder if they'd grow here--I'll check the garden web. You worked hard today!!
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laag, that is exactly what I meant. I did not mean to replace one's landscape every 5 years. We just need more conversations on the order of, here is a good place for some instant gratification; over here is where you plant your beech tree for your, or someone's, grandchildren; here you want some quick impact but don't use that ornamental grass x because you'll never be able to wrestle it out; and so on. The other thing is, I don't think a knowledgeable gardener has to plant his or her yard JUST so that it will be beautiful for the next buyer or so that buyer doesn't have to do anything to maintain or rejuvenate the landscape. Let the buyer beware! So I see a balance between responsibility vs. freedom. Irresponsible might be knowingly planting something in a way that it will destroy the foundation in 5 years; responsibility AND satisfaction can come from plantint a nice small oak that you may, or may not, get to enjoy as a shade tree, but you know it's the right plant for the right place, so you nurture and cherish it, and someday you or someone else will get the benefit; freedom is planting some large evergreens for a screen that you just need now, that might have to be thinned later by you OR someone else-- In between all this is acquiring more landscape and plant knowledge or advice so you are avoiding totally daft creations--for the evergreen screen, maybe researching it a bit since there are choices that are more or less painful down the road-- but not merely existing to create a legacy.( How do you like your garden? Oh, I hate it, but in 20 years someone will really like it.)This is all still compatible with planting "real" trees and things. In reality, no matter how carefully you plan, it will not necessarily fulfill that dream in 15-20 yrs anyway and certainly without knowledgeable maintenance. Here is a funny thing about mature neighborhoods. In many of them, the trees are way too big for perfect (or even good) aesthetics with the small homes and lots--but the neighborhoods are beautiful in fall with glowing maples, oaks, gingko. If we followed a roadmap for scale, everyone would have had to plant only dogwoods and redbuds and Japanese maples. In some neighborhoods, hardly a home is sited on the lot in a way that a nice shade tree can be placed to provide both proper shade and not dwarf the house. So were those people visionaries, planting trees that in 20-30 yrs would be breathtaking, or irresponsible for not finding the perfect species that would not exceed 20 ft, or whatever? I agree with the shrub myth, too. In my current home, I have some ginormous azaleas that I HAVE crawled under and seen, gosh, there are actually 4 shrubs here and if I could possibly rip out 2, I wouldn't have to prune so much. But I'm not sure it can be done now(well, maybe anything can be done with the right tools and risk-taking). So one of my convoluted points is that even if one person plants the "perfectly spaced for maturity" landscape, or whatever, it will still never be care-free, and a succession of subsequent, generally plant-ignorant and/or plant-disinterested homeowners (I think that's fair; it's not meant to be holier-than-thou) will likely screw it up. As in, beds with lots of space between plantings have to have regular attention to mulching and weeding ("look at these idiots who planted here before us--they just left us these puny shrubs in a weed farm!). So one of the myths is that humans have some kind of amoebic shared mind and will carry on the garden vision of the previous homeowner. All that said, I LIKE being well-warned, in print or otherwise, about the characteristics of a tree or shrub or whatever, and find myself doing a lot more research before trying something (can almost get paralyzing) so that I can make an informed decision about placement, maintenance and so forth.
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pattico_gw
17 years ago
Kath...the little trees you've planted right next to the house...Won't the roots be too close to the foundation...?

I'd be afraid they'd cause cracking trouble....

I think it is okay to plant close but not with things that have deep and strong roots...

I may be wrong......maybe you can get better info from other KTers...

Your house is really a nice home...I love it.

patti
Granlan_TX
17 years ago
You have a lovely home and yard, Kathleen.

Landscaping is hard work and you've done a great job!

I've always liked the look of shutters, so I hope you do get to replace yours in the fall. But I do like the color your shutters now.
Kathsgrdn
Original Author
17 years ago
Patti, I would be worried if they were big trees but they're dwarf trees, only supposed to get 5 or 6 foot tall. I hope I'm right. The Blue Spruces that were there before really worried me because they were planted right beside the house and were huge already. They were pretty, though, and I miss the old look of the house and yard. I'll probably be dead before the dwarf spruces are five foot tall.
vicki_lv
17 years ago
Your home and yard is beautiful! And I hope you are ok after your fall.
glenda_al
17 years ago
You hard work is paying off, Kathleen!

Love your beautiful home!
Cherryfizz
17 years ago
Pretty house and landscaping. Sorry about the fall. LOL

My grass is just starting to green up but we are expecting some snow tonight so I am hoping it will be a bit longer before I have to mow. LOL I do have pretty violets blooming in a patch on the grass. I should dig them up but they are kind of pretty.

I see you have a forsythia at the side of the house. I love forsythia bushes and wish I had one.

Anne
stargazzer
17 years ago
very nice home and yard. Give those new plants a dose of Milorganite fertilizer. It doesn't burn, just stinks a little for a couple of days. I have used it and it really works. The spruce are slow maybe it will help.
Kathsgrdn
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for the compliments, I think it looks pretty bare now that all the big plants are gone.

Stargazzer, I've never heard of that fertilizer before, will have to Google it. I put composted cow manure in the holes with them all.
ont_gal
17 years ago
Kath,you have a beautiful home...as far as your *dwarf* trees go,remember this much..as tall as the tree grows,is how far the roots go.
linda_in_iowa
17 years ago
Your house is beautiful. My dwarf peach tree I planted 3 years ago is 9 feet tall now and is planted far away from the house.
susan_on
17 years ago
Beautiful home! You amaze me with all you do. You take care of your kids, and work and manage to have a nice home like that. I think you're very inspiring!

Sorry you fell, and I hope you're not hurt. Sometimes the aches show up later.
donna_oh
17 years ago
Your house is so cute!

Glad ya didn't hurt yourself!

Donna (^_^)
gemini40
17 years ago
I would suggest you post these pics of your very pretty home on the landscape forum . I am certain they could give you some wonderful ideas on how to enhance your landscaping dilema. Love the trim and shutter color...would also paint the garage door the same ...
FlamingO in AR
17 years ago
Be careful, Kath, I would hate to see you post about being cut by the lawnmower blades! Maybe you need some spiky shoes for when mowing.

Your house and yard look great, IMO. And the shutters looked fine to me!
maryanntx
17 years ago
Your home is lovely Kath! Please be careful of falling with your mower! Isn't it funny that you don't want to let go...I would do the same.

I'm surprised everything is so pretty and green after the awful cold weather you have had.
chisue
17 years ago
Glad you were not hurt. I had to laugh that you were mowing a lawn because we had an inch of snow last night. (Chicagoland) I've asked Scott's to delay the first weed and feed application because the spring clean-up hasn't been started. Our Century Elm is really leafing out though! I'm always SO happy to see that. I worry that one of these years it won't happen -- our street has lost most of its fine old elms.
catlady15
17 years ago
Kaths,I am glad you didn't get hurt.Also I want to say I am very proud of you.You have came a long ways.Your home is just beautiful!There is no words strong enough to say how happy I am for you.You hung in there,went to nursing school,done amazing job of raising two beautiful smart children.Also purchased a beautiful home.Some would have gave up,but you did not.Again I am so proud of YOU.
Kathsgrdn
Original Author
17 years ago
Linda, is your tree a sweet cherry? Mine's ornamental...I hope that makes a difference, tag says it only gets up to five foot tall. If it gets much bigger than that it will get the ax...or chain saw.

Gemini, that's a good idea, because I was thinking about getting dark brown shutters like the garage. I really don't want to paint over vinyl. I may post a picture over there on my day off this week.

Flamingo and Maryann, I know, I've fallen half a dozen times while mowing and everytime I hold onto the stupid thing as I go down...then I realize I should probably let go. Haven't hurt anything but my pride.

Chisue, it's been in the low 70s the past few days and today it was in the 30s. Tomorrow's high is supposed to be 39. I want the Springtime weather back!
OklaMoni
17 years ago
kath, those trees shouldn't bother the foundation. Their root system isn't that big.

:)

Moni

I fell backwards again, while mowing the grass (with pics!)

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