Stumped

Current Project

When we took out the Eugenia hedge four or five years ago, it didn't occur to us that it would keep coming back again and again.  But it did.  Cindy kept cutting it back every couple of months, but it was clear that just cutting it wasn't going to kill the stumps.

When we started our back yard renovation project two years ago, we knew that we would have to deal with the Eugenia stumps when we did the north side of the yard.  Our goal is to put some small fruit trees in that area and make a level area for the barbecue grill.

So now that we've started this phase of the project, that meant the stumps finally had to go.  Greg Eubanks of Serenity Gardens has been working on them for a couple of weeks.  He was doing fine until he hit one huge old stump that seemed to have roots that went all the way to China, but he finally got that one out, too.

In all, there were about thirty Eugenia stumps, but they finally all came out.

Monster Stump

Then he realized he had forgotten that he also needed to take out the stumps from the old Boxwood hedge that was parallel to the Eugenia hedge (it never made any sense to us, but that's how it was).  Those stumps are smaller and we're all hoping they won't be as difficult to remove as the monster Eugenia stump was.

Once the Boxwood stumps are out, Greg will build a retaining wall similar to the wall he built on the south side of the yard.  The new wall will help prevent erosion and will include some steps down toward the canyon for fire access.

Anyway, that's the plan.

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.