Fall yard work

There was poison ivy in my back yard.  Ick.

Poison ivy is the worst.

I have been spraying it all fall with brush killer, and last weekend decided it was time to clean out the poison ivy bed.  I suited up in plastic bags and elbow gloves and bandanas and dug it all out.  (I hope I dug it all out!)  I watered the whole area for about an hour with a sprinkler, hoping any remaining urushiol would soak deep enough into the ground to cease to be dangerous.

Before: dirt bed on left previously home to poison ivy.

Before: distorted panoramic, from a different angle

This weekend I decided to lay down packing paper (which I have been saving) and wood chips.  I bought the mulch a couple of weeks ago, in anticipation of this project.

After: testing the stepping stones

After spreading all the mulch I had on hand, I discovered I needed more.  I tried two different big-box home improvement stores, and neither of them had un-dyed mulch.  They were all out for the season.  Grrr.  I was forced to spread what I had thinner.

Panoramic of back and side yard

N was on the extension ladder in the side yard, installing a new storm window on the second story.