The new fence and mulch mentioned in my Fresh Start post a few weeks ago have finally been installed. Thanks to Hurricane Helene, the wait for the fence ended up being closer to six weeks than the two promised by the contractor. The old fence still worked, so no harm done.
My decision to focus on soil improvement rather than planting fall vegetables worked out better than expected. Athens hasn’t had a drop of rain since Helene–more than 23 days ago. The forecast is equally dry.
My flower beds are empty. I ripped out the summer annuals and pulled all the weeds to prepare beds for compost and a layer of mulch. The delay provided an opportunity to move a few things, re-do edges and deal with other little things I’d been putting off.



A three-man crew completed the top-dressing and mulching in less than three hours. My record for the same task is several weeks. They did a much better job than I ever did too. Best of all, I didn’t haul a single bag or lift a shovel.



For the first time in twelve years, my yard is practically perfect. The lawn and flower beds are free of weeds. Keeping everything nice is much easier without any plants to work around.



I’d hoped to have cold-hardy annuals in the ground by the middle of October. The delay likely saved me a fortune on my water bill. The absence of rain means I should wait a few more weeks to plant anything.
Maybe.
Holding off won’t be easy. Empty flower beds disagree with me. I’m chomping at the bit to fill them with pansies, violas, dianthus, snapdragons and other winter annuals.
Wish me luck. As always, I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for stopping by.