So today was an interesting but productive day. I went outside to pick up sticks and dog doody before mowing the lawn with my neighbors simplicity tractor because I don't have mine running yet. It was the first lawn mowing of the season for me, and the lawn was long. I used the Kawasaki bayou and my new to me yard trailer to pick up both of those things. When I parked in the front lawn, by a dying ash, the next one I'll probably cut down, I saw something I've never seen before in my lawn. It wasn't sticks, or poop, because I've seen a lot of that. I saw this, right as I got off the ATV. Them I looked a bit more, and saw more, then even more. Here's the haul. I moved the ATV, and found another... Easiest morel hunt ever. No getting smacked in the face with twigs, no tripping on branches or rocks. We've been here almost 11 years, and I've never seen them here. So, better than chit, but I found that too, but not by stepping in it. Then I used the brush Grubber, and the lopping shears to cut and rip out the junipers that looked like crap in front of the house. Here's with most of the junipers gone.
Getting those junipers gone was a big thing my wife wanted for moms day. I told her that's funny because the dogs are her kids, and they certainly didn't do anything to help me get the junipers pulled and gone. I also got the lawn mowed. I managed to smoke the belt that went off of the clutch to the deck because the grass was so tall in spots. The belt was flipping around making the deck vibrate. We took the deck off, and checked it out. Aside from a smoked belt, there looked to be no harm. So I went into town, bought a good gates belt and we put it on. That was the original belt, so he wanted to pay for that. No. No, I can't have that. I don't care if it was due to be replaced. That's the least I can do. I think my neighbor was impressed that I was able to fix it that easily. Lol He's an accountant. But he changed the oil on the tractor while I went into town to get the new belt. I then got the lawn finished. I did have to slow down a bit as the grass was too tall, even with 28 hp with that 52" deck. I didn't want to smoke that new belt. I filled up his tractor's gas tank and have it a quick wash then drive it back to his house so he can mow tomorrow. I then hauled all of the juniper junk down to the burn pile and swept up all the junk off of the driveway and the walkway.
So, leaving the lawn mowing as long as you did must have encouraged the morels to show their stuff. You have your excuse for next spring to postpone the lawn mowing.
The good news is that the front of the lawn where the morels were grows much slower than the rest of the lawn. So I can let that front part go, and mow the rest.
I painted the front storm door orange last weekend. We wanted it to stand out. It was white before. We really like it.
The house looks great now. Junipers are nice when they are first put in but they can get overgrown and messy looking after they have been there awhile.
Thanks, new siding, gutters, bay window, front and back porch/ patio lights, and roof go a ways. We'll be planting boxwood shrubs, putting planter boxes below the windows on the garage, and doing some landscaping and planting on the left in front of the new bay window. Those junipers were in the not good looking category. They were probably there as long as the house. Since the mid 60s.
I have always liked bay windows. From the outside they add dimension to the flat face of a wall. Very nice upgrades to the house.
You're not alone on a long lawn. Between long hours at work and no time to get mower ready ours got long also. Had to hit it with the brush hog yesterday to knock it down. Prolly have to again before the lawn tractor can handle it. Nice score on the morels and nice house .
I tore out a long term juniper here a few years ago...it actually had some "trunk" with size enough to make firewood...it burns hot! Sounds like a productive day!
We had a bow window in the place where the bay window is now. It was an energy hog. It would constantly fog and even condensate and drip inside from the condensation. This bay window opens up on both side panes, which is great. We can get some more airflow in the front room. Now, another thing I need to do is stain and put polyurethane on the red oak that is all around on the inside of the bay window. We're liking the light color, so maybe just polyurethane to keep it super light.
I just picked up new belts for my mower. I knew they were rough for the past few summers, but I was shocked it still moved when I pulled the cover off and looked inside! 1-2" chunks of the V missing all over the drive belt.
Nice improvement. I think we are doing the same here. The local deer really ate the arborvitae and I think there were some junipers here. I'll look forward to your pictures.
Our ornamental cedars have an hourglass shape due to the deer eating the bottom branches. If we were to do it again, I would find something that would easily regrow the chewed bits.
Last 2 years the deer have been going after ours also. Spoke with DNR and they said if you have a a bunch of trees to take some saplings and cut them 3/4 of the way through then bend them in a L shape and the deer will feed on them.
Right now it's just got a bunch of new cypress mulch. The boxwood will go in there, thinking 7 boxwoods? Home Depot has stupid prices on them. So I passed and just bought the mulch. There's a local gardener that sells plants and he has boxwood shrubs for sale for less than a 1/3 of the price of HD. They may be a tad smaller, but they'll grow. They have a lot of other shrubs and flowers, as well as burr oak saplings.
