I know, I know Aklinda. That WSing enthusiasm can sure take a discouraging dive when there is so much to "fix" in the beds before you can plant out. Even though I have battled bindweed, nutsedge, crabgrass, seemingly every weed plight known to man, I can say with certainty that it does get a little bit better each year. But I've got pretty easy, naturally fertile soil with lots of sand and drainage. I can't even imagine trying to do the hard digging that clay soils must require to get to the bottom of a wild onion. You must be exhausted.

This year my biggest "weed" is rudbeckia goldstrum. Love it for late color but it multiples and seeds ridiculously fast. I am bringing old flats full of it into work and giving it away to colleagues who are just starting gardens almost every day for the past week. I remember Karen talking about Verbena Bon becoming an invasive weed and thinking - "oh I love that, it's not too bad here.." Wellllllllll,, now it is. Everywhere.

But after 6? 7? years of WSing, the glorious thing is the places where weeds DO NOT FIT. Where I've got perennials back to back to side to side - tons of square footage that is densely covered. While I look with great admiration at gardens (here and in person) that have nicely spaced plants and room for MULCH in between to set them off, I'll never have that. Too much expensive for all the mulch I'd need, and I do think the weeds would somehow get in.

I wish you access to a hot bath and a nice glass of vino Aklinda! Keep on keeping on.

Nancy

Phew - I got half of it done today. I soaked it good yesterday so the weeds would be easier to pull. That's my goal too - flowers so thick the weeds won't grow. The nearly 300 plants I winter sowed will go a long way towards accomplishing that. My neighbor gardens too so I planted extra for her - she'll probably get 100 out of the 300 that I started. Half of her garden is from winter sowed plants that I gave her over the last few years. Going to get up early to do the second half as we are supposed to have 50 mph winds tomorrow. My bicep in my right arm - the arm I use for my mini-pick axe - is all cramped up. It's going to hurt tomorrow for sure.

"My goal is to cram so many flowers in there they choke out the weeds."

You GO girl!!! That's how we do it!!! :O)

Aklinda - - if you can take it (not everyone can or should) the 12 hour Aleve works wonders for my garden weary muscles. I take it when I first get in from the garden (6-8pm), gives me a little relief for the next few awake hours and then I go to sleep and wake up and it's kept working, so I am reasonably healed to go out and do it again!

But the nurses in my life have put the fear of god in me about OTC anti- inflamatories being not so good for your liver/kidneys/etc. so I limit myself to the two weekend nights - two pills a week. If I garden after work it's not for very long (the sun goes down..), so I am not really too achy from that and just take a bath.