Tuesday 17 June 2014

Trifolium attacks!



It’s a trifolium attack!


Am I talking about a three pronged sword? Not quite, but it is a three pronged attack that I need to focus on. The downside to having a three week break away from home is coming back to an overgrown lawn and rampant weeds around the garden.

My holiday break is certainly over. I tackled the mountains of holiday clothes washing on Sunday, cut the grass on Monday, and will now tackle more of the tidy around the garden tasks today (Tuesday).

And my trifolium? Well, let’s say I’m not as happy ‘in the clover’ as some might be. I think I have both white and Dutch clover growing on my ‘lawns’, and more than a carpet of lesser yellow trefoil, which in turn is a bit euphemistic since there is actually more moss and weeds than real grass blades.

Trifolium - a three leaved plant which is a herbacious perennial and don't I know it! It's an excelllent, abundant,  forage plant for animals but since I don't have any then it's not actually of much use to me for fodder. Clover can be used in salads, though they're a bit hard on the digestion of humans. A process of boiling makes this easier and the leaves can be used to make herbal teas but I've not tried this.Dedicated vegetarians can probably name other uses for clover in bread and soups etc.

 (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trifolium_repens_Leaves_2009December13_DehesaBoyaldePuertollano.jpg?uselang=en-gb)

Wikimedia Commons



I did the ‘lawn feed weed and mosskill’ thing some weeks ago, but it clearly needs to be treated again. This is no surprise as it’s a constant battle. Whether I do a short cut on the grass, or a long cut as was needed yesterday, since it was so long, the clover continues to thrive. So what is it about this plant that makes it tenacious?

It’s a hardy little plant which is too widespread in my garden to be lifted out with a hand fork. If I did that, I’d be on my knees all day long and I don’t really fancy that. Trifolium Repens- Dutch clover - is particularly resistant to weed killers, but I have sometimes managed to keep it under control by strengthening the grass using sulphate of ammonia. When I know that my granddaughter is not going to be running around the area (which happens most days since she lives here) I’ll get out my handy lawn spreader and treat it again.
Wikimedia Commons

My resident child isn’t the only issue to consider when I make the treatments- It’s also very weather-driven. I’m not supposed to use the lawn weeding product till 3 days after a grass cut, but I can’t always time it so neatly since it has to be applied on a dry day i.e. when the grass is dry. Applying the lawn feed weed and mosskill product needs the ground to be watered within a 24 hour period after the spreading. In Scotland, that’s not often a problem but just sometimes sod’s law prevails and I have to get out the hose to water it in!

So, a dry day to apply - at least 3 days after mowing- and watering within 24 hours after the applying. Check!

It’s dull today but it has rained overnight which means the grass is not dry. I guess I’ll be checking the weather again tomorrow, but by then I’ll be involved in other garden tasks and will need to make a note to remind me.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trifolium_repens_flower.JPG?uselang=en-gb

Another constant battle I have presently is finding enough time to do my writing. I haven’t managed any new writing for some time, family ties too pressing, but during my holiday I did start on my re-write of ‘Take Me Now’ the task being to restore it to the pre- publication version by The Wild Rose Press. Like Monogamy Twist, my contemporary mystery novel- Take Me Now – was a lot less sensuous when I wrote it. It’s now going back to an earlier and non-sensual version.  My problem, of course, is that I don’t have a saved early version, but that’s good because it is honing my editing skills and that has to be a good thing. 

Clove is a three leaved plant so where's the third editing task? My time-travel novel for early teens is still simmering. Oh, dear.

See you later… 
Slainthe!

Read samples of my published writing - my Celtic Fervour Series of historical romantic adventures, and my dynasty based mystery thriller Topaz Eyes- available from  AMAZON

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