When it comes to cutting down weeds in small spaces , sometimes a lawn lawn mower is not the right pecker . I have an unusual space where even a string trimmer could be the wrong tool . Last drop , in my overhasty determination to plant perennial herbs I ’d been give , I designed a garden based on triangles . Rather than replete the triangular beds , I planted along the lines while leaving the middle open for next plants . I did this without really recognise how big the plants would get , whether they would circulate and which ones I ’d want to propagate . I thought I was leave my alternative open . But what I really leave loose were several small spaces with unknown godforsaken residents . Karen Lanier
Perennials Poppin’
Much to my surprise , the recurrent herbs I implant last declivity survived the wintertime and sprung back to life . I find them in the concealment harvest of white clover and skinny Volunteer — blowball , thistle , loading dock , wild onions and hairy vetch . While the disorderly cluster might be acceptable within the privacy of a insert - away back railyard , this garden is on a admirer ’s belongings , where I enjoy gardening with my buddies . In our shared space , I need to be respectful of the overall criterion and expectation . This awkwardly impractical soma for a lawn mower is surrounded by other area that have to be mowed as well as gardens that are analog and neat .
For my small , curiously shaped garden bed , I borrowed aweed cutterand check how to sweep it . I tried this new - to - me tool to strike hard back the weeds , keep them shorter than the set herbs and to preclude the population explosion of their seed - heads . The weed cutter is double - bladed with a mostly serrated edge . My first lesson in using it included making sure my feet were out of the way of life at all times . It would really , really smart if I missed and bump off my shin . The tool is angle in a way that remind me of a golf game putter . I seek to keep my back straight while my arms are relaxed but controlled as I wave it across the area near my foot .
Get Into the Rhythm
After I started cutting , I find it to be a lilliputian snatch addictive . When I use it , I get into a repetitious , meditative , whole - dead body rhythm . I shape up a stew , and I dispute my hands , forearms and the muscles along my sides . The most difficult aspect is controlling the momentum of the swinging blade . When I sense that I ’m starting to get sloppy , I stop before I hurt myself . Karen Lanier
A Preferred Tool
understanding I like the double - bladed weed cutter cock :
A Natural Solution
The sens cutter realise sight weeding a more mindful experience , and the swish - classy - classy sound go with birdsong and breeze quite nicely . My visceral garden pattern disregards machines . It is an intentional blank space made for me and my plants , not for mowers , tiller , trimmers or irrigation . No , none of those were precedence when I thought of a garden outer space where I ’ll leisurely explore new herbaceous plant such as agrimony , helmetflower , wormwood and all - heal . I wanted to take my time and learn how to harvest them , get to know their growth pattern and how the plants already there would pretend them . This is a infinite for someone who loves to notice all the bantam thing , such as spiders skating midair from fleabane to dandelion , honeybee forage on flowers and the break of day dew adding highlights to the weedy , wild mantrap .
Karen Lanier
Karen Lanier
Karen Lanier
