Hacking Away

Eugenia Hedge Before....

Yesterday we got to work on chopping back the overgrown remains of the Eugenia hedge to reduce the amount of fuel for wildfire on the north side of the back yard.

The Eugenia was so overgrown you couldn't even see the equally overgrown Oleander behind it.  The Oleander is right on the edge of the canyon.  It's nasty stuff; the Eugenia is a nuisance because it grows so exuberantly and requires constant vigilance to keep it in check, but at least it's not poisonous like the Oleander.  The Oleander flowers are beautiful, but this particular plant has black sooty mold, Oleander scale and the Fire blight that will eventually kill the plant.

... and After

So we hacked away at the shrubbery for a couple of hours and eventually subdued it.  We kept the little patch of catnip growing at the edge of the space, but now we're reluctant to give it to the cats because of all the toxic Oleander clippings we dragged through there.

The Eugenia looks much neater now, but we know it will be back.  Still, there is a real sense of satisfaction at putting is some effort like this and then seeing an immediate result.  That's one thing we like about the garden:  it's changing all the time, and there's something different almost every day.