Cathie Shaffer: Winning, 1 weed at a time: 8/31/10

Columns

Discussion

August 31, 2010

By Katie Brandenburg The Independent The Daily Independent Tue Aug 31, 2010, 12:00 AM EDT

South Point — I have faced the perils of the jungle and won.

OK, it wasn’t the Amazon, or any other rain forest. It was my back yard.

In particular, it was a stretch of overgrown, weedy lawn that was left unattended for a bit too long, and became the Little Strip of Horror, to be known hereafter as LSH.

The LSH had grown deep and bushy enough to completely engulf my mini-patio, some stray canopy poles, a wrought iron umbrella stand and some miscellaneous fencing that has been propped against the house since spring.

Complicating things were morning glory vines gone nuclear. Five or six years ago, I deliberately planted morning glory seeds to climb a trellis at the front of my house.

Those vines are gone. But their descendants pop up in many and varied places, winding and strangling everything in their way.

Like the garden house. The orange outdoor electrical cord that supplies power for the radio that fuels our backyard cookouts.

And the wild, waving weeds themselves.

My first line of attack was with a four-tined potato fork that has been passed down through several generations of the family. I don’t know how it works for digging potatoes, since I haven’t planted any for years, but it’s great for ripping out the roots of that spreading grass that overtakes everything in its path.

Or at loosening the roots. I discovered fairly quickly that the LSH was fighting for its life, and the battle was intense.

I yanked and pulled and forked the thatch until I uncovered the umbrella stand.

With the help of a handy pair of scissors, I freed it from its prison and would have waved it over my head in triumph if the stupid thing didn’t weigh 10 pounds.

My spirits lifted as my potato fork hit something that dinged. Out came the canopy poles, flushing a million mosquitoes, a few crickets and a bunch of yucky beetles from their hideaway.

I worked until my hands ached and the mosquitoes drove me inside and no, I’m not done yet. But the Little Strip of Horrors has been whittled down to something manageable — like the Tiny Patch of Vile Vines.

Text Only

Columns

Katie Brandenburg: Finding the explorer spirit: 2/10/11
I say I like to explore, but really I’ve never done anything of the sort.

February 9, 2012
Mark Maynard: Charles will be in charge: 2/9/12
It was at least mildly interesting a couple of weeks ago when the deadline for filing for local elected offices came and went without much fanfare.

February 8, 2012
John Cannon: After passion, love still grows: 2/8/12
While a naive student at Morehead State University more than 40 years ago, my then girlfriend made me an offer I could not refuse. It was only later that I learned I should have refused it.

February 7, 2012
Cathie Shaffer: All that’s old is new again: 02/07/12
Every night before I go to bed, I click on my electric blanket. There’s nothing I like better on a cold — OK, lately, it’s been coolish — night than a nice, warm bed.

February 7, 2012
Tim Preston: Art downtown, ‘hippie’ soap, Valentine’s and living-dead machines: 02/05/12
I’m not certain this is anything that could be classified as a trend, although I have noticed something in downtown Ashland I am compelled to encourage.

February 6, 2012
Freeways to freedom
Last week, while driving to South Shore, I glanced at the dealer placard on the car ahead of me on the Jesse Stuart Bridge.

February 6, 2012
Lee Ward: 02/05/2012 — Dieting is a man's world
A male coworker is dieting, apparently for the first time.

February 5, 2012
Katie Brandenburg: Finding a time machine: 2/3/12
My grandmother once told me a story about a boy she grew up with who built a time machine in his family’s shed.

February 2, 2012
John Cannon: Not a chore but a true labor of love: 2/1/12
It was a slow and tedious task, but it was anything but work.

January 31, 2012
Cathie Shaffer: A whiff of the past: 1/31/12
It occurred to me, as I listened to a conversation about today’s home medical treatments versus yesterday’s, that one big factor is the smell.

January 31, 2012
More Columns Headlines

Columns

Search Results

Discussion

Cathie Shaffer: Winning, 1 weed at a time: 8/31/10

Site Map

Contact Us