Lawn And Order: Special Seeds Unit 😂

Did more manual labor earlier in the week, UGH!

We raked all the old straw from the entire knoll; top to bottom and from left to right and carted it all off.

We then spread pelletized lime and grass seed over the entire area, and then covered using 100'x6' straw seed blankets, 17 rolls!

Before, with old straw -

After, with straw seed blankets laid and stapled in place -

Fingers crossed that our hard work pays off and the grass takes off and starts growing!

Of course, it will depend greatly on making sure it's kept watered and doesn't dry out but that'll be the challenge, as that area sits and bakes in the hot sun all day AND it's a super large area that requires the sprinklers to be moved constantly to ensure the entire area is getting plenty of water.

“Seed, Water, Pray: The Holy Trinity of Lawn Care”

Making A Splash!

More Frye Brothers work on display!

A fresh coat of brown paint after a good power washing and scrapping  -

Before -

After -

Sure does look SO much better!

It will look even better once the algae green water in the cement pond is taken care of.

Mulch Mulch Baby

Edging and mulching has been completed! The place looks great!

The Frye Brothers do phenomenal work, if I may be so bold 😉!

The devil is in the details really -

We also pruned a bunch of spruce tree limbs today that were hanging low over the driveway. Loaded them into the trailer, drove them to Sunnydew Circle, where we unloaded them curbside to be picked up by the town.

Hard work never hurt anybody...😤

Like A Glove

I help out an elderly old family friend with miscellaneous things around her house.  Primarily, I clean her gutters in the fall and then again in the spring, but also rake her yard and prune back the overgrowth in her yard.  

Her house is nestled among a canopy of oak and pine trees, which cover her house in shadows and dampness most of the time.  They also make a BIG mess with ALOT of clean up to do...

Her porch storm door was damaged and needed to be replaced. Reluctantly, I agreed to take this project on back in the fall. Being there was no rush and that I really didn't want to do it, I procrastinated some (Duh, I'm a Frye, so of course I did...).

Logistically, this was a challenge, as I had no way of picking up a new replacement storm door and getting it to her house.  In the end I had to call in a favor from my neighbor who has a truck.  He went with me to purchase the door, then to drop the door off and in the end, he also helped me get the door installed.  I would have been able to eventually get the door installed alone but having a second set of hands was super helpful!  

The porch is really in terrible condition, being in the shade and dampness all the time, but the new door looks great and fits in quite nicely -

 

Old porch door -

Replacement Andersen door, outside view - 

Replacement inside view - 

Roof Moss Removal

I've been helping a friend of my parents for a number of years now do odds and ends around her house.

During my last visit a couple weekends ago she asked me to tackle the moss problem that has begun growing on her garage and porch roofs.

The first two pictures you can see that I sprayed the garage roof with a mixture of bleach and water.  I would have preferred more bleach but had to work with what I had.

Her porch roof is really a mossy mess, as you can see.  This is on the list for my next visit.  I instructed her to pick up four gallons of bleach, which I'll use to his this spot and revisit the garage roof with again.

I've not heard from her since apply so not sure how successful this exercise was.  Time will tell.  I also cut back a number of branches that were blocking the sunlight from getting through. Hoping this will help too.

Fall Gutter Cleaning Fun

A tad nippy this morning, registering in the mid-forties but what an absolute beautiful day today!

A perfect day to be up on a roof and cleaning gutters.

When I arrived there was no doubt the gutters needed cleaning.

The gutters packed and over flowing with Oak leaves !

Ah, but they're no match for my leaf blower and I.

TA DA!  Clean as a whistle.

What A Difference!!

I did a little side work this past Saturday for a family friend.

She had some old and very overgrown shrubs along the front of her house.  I suspect they were some forty-plus years old and not tended to or pruned in that same time.  They were blocking the windows on either side of the front door and growing out into the walkway making access to the door a challenge.

I made the recommendation that something should be done with them and I told her I knew just who to call too.  I was very surprised when she said "Okay"!  So, I jumped at the opportunity and with loppers and chainsaw in hand I went to work

Before -

After -

I cut the evergreen shrubs back, leaving just the stump and some short branches.  The plan is to pull these dudes, four in all, right out of the ground with a friends truck and some chains.  This is a future task.  The two rhododendrons I cut back drastically. New growth should begin all over and it'll fill in before you know it.  Same with the azalea.

The homeowner can now see out her front windows without obstruction, more sunlight will come into the house, especially the basement windows on the far side.  The pachysandra too will now get more light, as will the rest of the beds.

I'll pull the stumps this fall, then come Spring we'll reassess and look to plant new shrubs and annuals.

Side Work

Before - 

Together -

After -

So, I helped an acquaintance, from the old neighborhood, with a handful of repair projects the other day.

The large of the projects is pictured above; a new mailbox and all the fix'ns.  I think it came out pretty good, if I do say so myself.  The homeowner was pleased and that's all that matters.

Manual Labor Equals Soreness!

Before -

 

After -

 

The pea stone mulch fairy was no where to be found this past Saturday, so I was called into action to cart, dump and spread 1-yard of pea stone in an 14' x 8' area.

 

Of course I needed to rake back the older, larger stones first.  It took 20 wheelbarrow loads, each with 20 heaping shovels full, to move from the driveway to the back of the house.  The wheelbarrow, along with myself, were squeaking and tuckered out in short order; that's some heavy stuff!