The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

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As difficult as it is to stay focused on my big 2013 goal while there is snow on the ground, I am drinking mega amounts of coffee and taking extra ginseng to stay on track. There are always tasks to be completed this time of year and those tasks were typically ignored in the past out of pure laziness. No more. No job is too small or too insignificant. 
Case in point – tackling the removal of enormous amounts of unwanted seedlings in the spring. Talk about a time waster. Instead of prepping new garden beds or pruning my trees and shrubs, there I am on my hands and knees picking out each individual seedling. No thanks. This needs to change. 
I have two plants that overwhelmingly contribute to the unwanted seedling issue – Northern Sea Oats and Caryopteris ‘Sunshine Blue’. If I can address this problem now rather than in the spring, I can make much better use of my time, especially now that I’ve promised big things in the near future. 
I love Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium Latifolium) because they’re tough and the seedheads add a tremendous ornamental interest from mid summer into the winter:
                 

Luckily, I intelligently (and I use that term loosely) relocated all of these to a more “natural” area rather than in the garden beds surrounding my home. But the reseeding will still be an issue with the threat to completely take over if not addressed:  

So I vow to cut these down in the very near future to prevent the seeds from scattering and taking up residence where unwanted this spring. Winter interest be damned!

Caryopteris ‘Sunshine Blue’ is a tremendous small shrub with fantastic golden/chartreuse foliage:

And sweet purple/blue flower spikes in late summer:

But it has reseeded all over my property the past few years to the point of extreme annoyance:

Well no more. These bastards will be cut down pronto. No chance to drop their precious seed any more.
John is kicking ass and taking names from this point forward.

As we head full steam into winter, I vow to do whatever I can to make my big garden dreams become a reality. I am on a mission and you do not want to miss out. Even if I crash and burn it will be fun to watch the train wreck I become.

John      

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7 Responses

  3. Debbie – I’m trying like mad to stay enthused but it gets tough when the cold hits!

    Darla – the funny thing is that I am not all that wired in “real life”. For whatever reason, gardening gets me all fired up when it is supposed to have the opposite effect.

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