Good Friday, The Good, The Bad & The Ficus!
Thank god it's the weekend!
I am sure Good Friday has different meanings to different people, for me, it means the start of a four day weekend. Not any four day weekend but Easter weekend! So not only do we have time to be productive both on and offline but there is chocolate involved.
If you are a regular follower of mine you will know that last night we spent celebrating the matching of our adoptee son with my husband's friends, playing Foosball, drinking and chatting by the fire.
Apologies for the bad image, it was taken by firelight coming on midnight with more than a few intoxicated beings.
So I already knew that @shai-hulud my awesome husband would be out for the day. My drinking efforts these days are limited a glass of wine if I'm being excessive as I much prefer to celebrate without a hangover. In saying that all I need to do to get a hangover these days is stay up past midnight. So clearly the productivity was going to be left up to me for the day, tired hangover or not.
Bring in the good
I love the feeling of achieving something that at times seems impossible. These ficus stumps had been taunting my laziness ever since my boss dropped me home and told me I was brave for planting one so close to my house. Shocked I asked why as I was excited I hadn't killed them. I had two and they were both looking rather sad in their pot's so I put them in the ground to save them about a year or two earlier.
And The Bad...
He told me the root systems were invasive and they could not only damage our house but our neighbours. We set to cutting them down and poisoning the roots that weekend, I cried and couldn't do it so I left it up to my hubby, I hate killing anything and these trees I have loved and nurtured well before putting them into the garden.
All evergreen Ficus, or figs, have vigorous, invasive root systems and grow into large trees, making them unsuitable to plant in residential gardens.
Something I should have looked into before planting them in the ground...
Back to the good!
With our son arriving in two to three months, all the things that were on the back burner to do, have come to the forefront and the stumps were my first challenge of the weekend. It was hard sweaty work and I had to sit more than once mid shovelling, sawing and tugging but in just under an hour, I was victorious and the stump heeded to my efforts and released itself from my garden bed.
Victory!
One down and one to go! But that will be tomorrow or Sundays challenge depending on how I pull up from today as although I am fit, my back and core are still weak and I know my limits so some rest and relaxation this afternoon will leave me to fight another day.
What now?
I know what I am doing with the stump I have to remove from out the front but I am open to ideas on my triangle garden bed out the back. I was thinking a succulent garden potentially layered with varying heights.
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Foosball fun for a Good Friday eve!
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I think a raised multi-level triangular bed is a good Idea, I am not sure what grows well in your area, but a top plant that trails and makes like a waterfall effect through the layers with some of the layers having little flowers to offset the greenery, or different shades of green.
I like the flowing waterfall effect idea, it would have to be some sort of succulent as we have sand, sand and bit more sand, lol. it's quite dry and hot here, especially in summer.
There is those little green bean succulents that trail and have long parts, I don't know what they are called, some of them look like a string of beans and one type like a string of pearls.
Exciting, I will check those out. thank you.
Hooray!!! You're bringing your son home soon ;)...that's the awesome news, and everything else is manageable. But I too see plants as a living being, so I feel your pain in having to remove them:( It does feel good though, when you set your mind to it, to just get that kind of stuff done!
And considering your life is going to get a whole lot busier, perhaps think about a garden with plants that return yearly on their own. Maybe even choose one with your son and of course @shai-hulud, and you can watch both grow up together ;) It can be something that is sturdy, beautiful, and continues to spread to not only fill up your garden space, but to be symbolic of his growth and how your love for him will continue to spread as well. Maybe your son will become involved in all the gardening eventually too...considering there's a plant in his honour in your garden. <3
I have been thinking of something to represent him. We have some great friends that have a Thai inspired garden. I was thinking of enlisting her help and also getting some inspriation when in Thailand.
That sounds like a wonderful idea!! Good thinking ;)
omg that stump was huge! must have been really tired to remove it. I hope you can remove the other one with less efort :D
Sadly the other one is bigger but my hubby did start that one before saying it was too hard and giving up. So I have a base lol. I plan on doing it while hes at work so when he comes home he will be surprised it was possible lol.
You'll give him a surprise to show who really is the strongest in the house :D
I wish someone had warned us about the ficus and it's roots. We moved into our house and there were already two big ones in our front garden and now they are huge and have caused us endless issues. They are really beautiful but we will have to get them removed.
Looks like you all had fun and well done on tackling those stumps. Hope you have an awesome long weekend😀.
Thanks, @juliepassetti, I hope you have a great weekend too. I was surprised at how big they could grow, I had them in pots for years but as soon as they were in the ground they grew and loved it. I loved them too. Was so sad to cut them down but didn't want to damage anyone's house especially ours.
Congrats on matching for adoption!! I think your son will love the house even if you don't manage to work on all those projects. Have a great weekend!
Thank you. I'm sure he wouldn't have a clue but I would know. Either wayI'll do what I can and enjoy myself along the way. I love the feeling of yes I did it! Thanks for stopping by.
Awesome, glad to hear your son will be joining you soon, those few months will pass quickly I'm sure.
Also trying to use Good Friday as an excuse to get this done ;)!
I hope it does but then I also hope it slows down so I can get everything done lol. Good luck with getting everthing done..
You are fortunate you didn't have to learn through experience. Imagine noticing the cracks on the pavement/veranda, at or at the extreme on the walls!
These evergreens are a thing of beauty in the compound, but then, well. If only they didn't crawl beneath and risk the house.
I am not sure though, what might be the recommended distance from the house, just in case one really must plant them? Or must we really be separated from them by far?
When I was reading about them it said no where residual. They find the water pipes and crack them. I will be doing research before re planting. Don't want to have to cut anything down again.
True, most reads advice against planting in residential gardens. But apparently, if you must plant, you could try in pots, for containment purposes
To quote from somewhere i read,
But yes, more research should help.
You are so nesting :) I have never done a triangular garden and like you I kill most stuff that has to be grown indoors. I do better outside. So, I am will be of no help :( Arizona had really hot weather and was dry and the only plant I could grow there was cactus, well until I killed it :(
haha yes I remember you saying you killed the cactus lol. It will have to be a succulent garden as everything else would die lol
Lol yes, eroded and the kids didn't even bet how long it would take for me to kill it; because you are not suppose to be able to kill cactus lol
Can't wait to see pics :)
I had no idea about the fiscus and the roots fortunately we have none here but never the less something I need to research as I was planning on planting a few more trees in the garden. Thank you for your post.
Thanks for reading. I wish I found out pre putting them in the ground. Maybe could have saved their lives. We live and learn.
Sorry to hear that you felt the need to kill your trees. Hope you won't be too sad about it in the future.
Haha, that sounds so bad. It wasnt really that i felt the need to kill anything. It just had to happen so they wouldnt kill my neighbors and our house. They are that invasive. Thanks for stopping by.