this skirt takes up half my suitcase
Oct. 6th, 2011 09:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thanateYesterday and today nothing whatsoever happened here, and the construction next door was suddenly back in full swing. I mainly sat around and dithered about things (and did a few things) and on the whole have managed to be ridiculously miserable for no good reason. Tomorrow, we have the basement pour, the basement steps arriving, the front siding arriving, the electrician coming in to set some outlet boxes and get BGE out to double the size of the electric service to the house, and the HV/AC guy to map out where the ductwork goes. Then on Monday, when the inspector comes through & the rest of everything begins happening, I'll be in Martha's Vineyard & supposedly worrying about writing and *not* my house. I'm totally going to be "that weird girl from VPXV who couldn't shut up about her home addition." And they're going to do something stupid to our house while nobody's there to tell them not to. Also, worrying about any of this is completely a waste of my time. Anyway.
I've ordered a bunch of seed for various low-growing sedges to put down in the back yard, and we've asked the contractors not to seed when they're done. (They'll leave straw, but I'm ok with some more organic material to start off my topsoil with.) Of course, what I wanted was Carex pensylvanica, which is sometimes known as Common Oak Sedge (Happiest in the company of oaks, but who isn't?) but the only place I could find that wasn't sold out of seed for it was Prarie Moon, and they only have packets of it, rather than seed by weight. But I've ordered some of all the other sedges that are native in MD, ok with shade, not obligate wetland, and under 12" tall. With luck growing them from seed will help a little with the fact that they're all midwest ecotypes, but so far as I can tell all the semi-local growers either do non-native grasses, or don't sell seed to private individuals, or both. Most of them also don't sell grass plugs to private individuals, but I can't say I'm wild about planting my entire backyard by hand, either. Maybe later to fill in the empty spots.
In any case, native grasses & sedges mostly take a year or three to get established, and I'm kind of considering also ordering some of Outside Pride's Xeriscape mix, or maybe just some of the Blue Grama, since I've found that listed on at least one MD approved plant list; it's just one of the exceptions to everyone being happier in the company of oaks, because for some reason it wants sun. But part of the backyard gets a little light...
Anyway, I need to stop blathering about plants and clean up the living room. And then get some sleep and try to feel less dead.
I've ordered a bunch of seed for various low-growing sedges to put down in the back yard, and we've asked the contractors not to seed when they're done. (They'll leave straw, but I'm ok with some more organic material to start off my topsoil with.) Of course, what I wanted was Carex pensylvanica, which is sometimes known as Common Oak Sedge (Happiest in the company of oaks, but who isn't?) but the only place I could find that wasn't sold out of seed for it was Prarie Moon, and they only have packets of it, rather than seed by weight. But I've ordered some of all the other sedges that are native in MD, ok with shade, not obligate wetland, and under 12" tall. With luck growing them from seed will help a little with the fact that they're all midwest ecotypes, but so far as I can tell all the semi-local growers either do non-native grasses, or don't sell seed to private individuals, or both. Most of them also don't sell grass plugs to private individuals, but I can't say I'm wild about planting my entire backyard by hand, either. Maybe later to fill in the empty spots.
In any case, native grasses & sedges mostly take a year or three to get established, and I'm kind of considering also ordering some of Outside Pride's Xeriscape mix, or maybe just some of the Blue Grama, since I've found that listed on at least one MD approved plant list; it's just one of the exceptions to everyone being happier in the company of oaks, because for some reason it wants sun. But part of the backyard gets a little light...
Anyway, I need to stop blathering about plants and clean up the living room. And then get some sleep and try to feel less dead.