Weeds: 0. Dog peeps: 1,000,000

Today was the first Dog Owner's Invitational event at P. Garden. In other words, I leaned on a few regulars to come help me weed the dog area ;) And I have to say, it was a massive success! Pic below shows (from left) Rick and Alison (with Peekaboo, who didn't stay for the pics sadly), Matt, Maile and Eddy, and Gina (with Tank) who all cheerfully joined me in completely obliterating the weeds up in the dog area.

You can see from the pics that the area looks completely different now - and much larger! Many piles of poop were picked up, and probably 10 wheelbarrow loads of weeds, including the impressive pile of weeds Ron made in the last couple weeks (thanks Ron!) went onto the compost heap. Amazing job everyone!

We also discussed plans for that spot, including:

a) Fresh woodchips (I'll look into getting them delivered)
b) Additional biodegradable dog bags and signage.
c) A bench (to be built by Gary with funds raised by us all)
d) A fence for the dog area to allow off-leash playtime (paid with funds from a grant probably)

Everyone seemed into those things. Got comments? Send 'em in!

Also happening in the garden today included Emily's work on the area behind the bench: planting many Florist's Cineraria (Pericallis cruenta), a donation from Leah. She also planted a Trachelium caeruleum (Perennial Blue Lace Flower) "Hamer Pandora" and moved a Mexican Sage (Salvia leucantha) into a sunnier spot.


Matt also did a number of jobs today:

1. Smelled the Bladderpod (Isomeris arborea) - apparently it's pungent!
2. Moved an Aeonium "Sunburst" from the cactus wall to the Moby bed.
3. Pruned the outrageous cardoon
4. Moved a Mexican Feather Grass
5. Moved an Agave parryi out from under the Bladderpod

6. Pruned the Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri)
7. Corralled some naughty Vinca major into submission
8. Pruned a Euphorbia rigida


All this in only 2 hours. As Eddy pointed out, the weeding alone would have taken me 8 hours to complete on my own. This is quite possibly the exact reason why it hasn't been done til today! ;)