I recently paid an enterprising young man $250 to just come and make my biggest yard problems disappear. Our yard is a jungle and every week it kept getting worse and worse. Here are the big issues with the yard.
1) The compost is open almost every day, but most days it closes at 3pm and we are working adults. That means that if we do yardwork, the waste sits around in our garage for days and days until we can get it there, usually on a Saturday. The compost is not open at all on Sunday, which means that if we do yardwork on the weekends, it has to be Saturday morning/early Saturday afternoon or bust. Now, I don't know how things work in your world, but in my world, a lot of that Saturday morning time is spent sleeping in. The compost hours are a big problem.
2) When Dr. BB went into the hospital, we lost a weekend. And now he's on restricted activity and I have a full-time job and it turned into, hmmmm, a fucking nightmare. I was literally have nightmares about weeds killing me.
So, you know what? I decided that my innate frugality was going to lose the battle and I paid Trevor and he came THE NEXT DAY and now I am not having nightmares.
We were bumping into greenery with our cars trying to get in and out of the driveway. No, I'm not exaggerating that the church is right behind us.
He left the damn hostas, so I'm going to have go in there and remove them, but look! You can use the driveway. Next weekend we'll get some wood chips and we're going to roundup the plants we don't want to come back and we're just going to count this as a lost year. Sorry birds and insects.
But I don't want anyone feeling too bad for the birds and insects because there are at least four other beds just like the one we had taken down that just don't impede the driveway. Those are beds for another day.
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What chore have you recently given up on?
I can still mow but bending to weed is problematic. Sue can do it better, and we dragoon the grandkids on occasion.
ReplyDeleteWell, no grandkids here, so I have to use my community resources and pocketbook!
DeleteI love hostas! So cheap! So easy to grow! Yard is FOR SURE a problem to throw money at, especially for big clean ups.
ReplyDeleteSarah, please come to my yard and take all my hostas. You can have ALL OF THEM.
DeleteWow, that's a huge difference. I love hostas but don't have them now as they are not deer resistant, and that's a big issue. I had them in my old Calgary gardens, though. You know, sometimes you just have to hire out, it's a good use of money to make a big problem go away.
ReplyDeleteI was very happy with this use of money. I rarely splurge like that, but it was weighing on me so heavily that it was nice to see it just cleaned up and for us to be able to drive down the driveway without scratching the paint on our cars.
DeleteI think that was so smart! Definitely a simple problem in terms of money fixing it, and it's got to be a weight off your shoulders. Good for you!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I felt like a rockstar sending three Facebook messages and just having someone show up in a pickup truck. Is this the magic of having money? I'd like more money please!
DeleteI love hostas! If you dig them out and split them--or have Trevor do it--you can plant them someplace else in a nice, shady place and have tons of them next year and forever. They are so good at filling in or making borders.
ReplyDeleteI think you made a good decision with your money. You won't regret it, and look how much time you freed up, both in your schedule and in your head.
Oh, Nance. We have SO MANY HOSTAS and SO MANY PLANTS and SO MUCH GREENERY. I am going to dig those hostas up and put them on the curb for a day and then get rid of them entirely. There are DOZENS more in our yard if I decide someday that I want them exploding all over our driveway. (I will not decide that.)
DeleteI'm so glad you're feeling easier after having that handled. (And it's terrific that you and Dr. BB were on the same page about the greenery as it's the sort of thing A and I are likely to squabble over.)
ReplyDeleteThe greenery will just come back. Our yard is a jungle. We both agree that our yard is Too Much and needs to be dealt with, but it's been a struggle to figure out how to do that with our work schedules.
DeleteTank did so much yard work for us before Reg's grad party. It was amazing. Without that built in big kid (OK, so he's an adult), I don't know where we'd be. I am so glad you decided to pay the guy to help you out. I'm a frugal person too, and I'm paying a tutor A LOT OF MONEY to work with the girls this summer. They arrived academically behind - one of them, SO BEHIND. I was like, let's use this time to try to gain some ground. It's not cheap and who knows anymore if we will end up adopting them, but we are hoping that it helps.
ReplyDeleteYou can never spend too much on education!
DeleteGREAT choice. We used to do our own lawn (the mowing, the weed whacking, etc.) but it got to be too much and now we have a lawn service. BEST DECISION EVER. My husband is so happy not to be out there mowing in the heat on his days off, and the lawn actually looks way better than when we used to do it.
ReplyDeleteOh, man. That is the dream. I'll have to broach it with my husband. Even a service out once a month would be such a help. We'll see!
DeleteI love this for you! Here's the thing, if the thing is giving you nightmares, is it really throwing money at something or is it self-preservation?
ReplyDeleteIt is an investment in my mental health, I say!
DeleteThrowing money at annoying things and having them go away is wonderful! Congrats on treating yourself to a useable driveway and not having to spend your weekend getting to the compost place on time.
ReplyDeleteWhy is the compost open such dumb hours?! At least give us longer than 3pm!!!!!!
DeleteDefinitely a problem worth throwing money at! The bane of my existence was weeding and tossing them in the woods. The Husband decided to throw money at the yard by having someone come mow and, as a happy accident, this guy also deals with my weeds! Money well spent, I'd say.
ReplyDeleteYou and Jenny have me thinking that even if someone came out once a month it would help us out SO MUCH. Food for thought on this one.
DeleteI believe that a certain point in life it's insane to not throw money at some issues that are beyond tedious. To not do so, when you have the funds, is just depriving yourself of the kindness you deserve.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if we really "have the funds," but desperate times call for desperate measures, you know?
DeletePoison ivy is the current bane of my existence.
ReplyDeleteI hope you did not just type it into existence in our yard!
DeleteWow, the before and after picture is amazing! That is money well-spent! I love hostas but understand why you don't want/need plants in this area of your yard! But this post makes me thankful that yard waste is picked up by the city of Minneapolis! If we had to bring it somewhere that would be a massive PITA!
ReplyDeleteI WOULD KILL FOR YARD WASTE PICKUP. It is the bane of our existence. I think the assumption is that everyone here has a pickup or SUV, but we have two compact cars, so...
DeleteOkay, maybe I wouldn't KILL. I would definitely commit a non-violent felony for it, though.
DeleteI'd endorse the commitment of a non-violent felony in exchange for yard waste pick up!!
DeleteWe have yard waste pick up so we just place the clipping/branches on the side walk and they pick them up soon-ish. The area looks clean- glad to hear you don't have the scratch your cars anymore. :) Oh and, does the church have bells? Does it ring them at certain times of day? My yoga place is right by the church and every day, at 10AM sharp, the bells start. It's soothing :)
ReplyDeleteUGH. THE BELLS! I have ranted about the bells on this blog so many times before, but I will do so again because it was enraging! Until about six months or so ago, the bells rang EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES TWENTY-FOUR HOURS a day. Now it rings every fifteen minutes, but does turn off between 10pm and 7am, for which I am so grateful. I like sleeping through the night and a quiet walk with the dog in the morning. But it's still every fifteen minutes. It's not soothing, I assure you. It's INFURIATING.
DeleteSometimes it's so worth it to pay someone. Period.
ReplyDeleteExactly. I refuse to feel bad about any of it.
DeleteI'm with those who say to continue with the maintenance. Find out from Trevor how much 4 hrs/month would be. I bet you anything it would be a better use of your time and money than fretting about/dreading/hating the yard. Also? Does Trevor take the resulting yard waste for you? Because if so, game. changer. I guess my thought is, you're dealing with so much, and is this something that you really want to spend your valuable time and energy on?
ReplyDeleteNot sure where the Hosta Hate (TM) came from, but it seems to be related to the crazy driveway growth/encroaching on the pavement? If they don't work for you, get rid of them!!!