Wednesday, August 30, 2006

The Secret to a Weedless Flower Bed. As I have reported before, I am back into "gardening", which for me is cutting the grass, trimming the trees - really ordinary stuff. I enjoy this work, even in the summer when the heat and humidity are exhausting.

Among the things that I like to see in my yard are flower beds that do not have weeds. This also goes for the circular space that I create free of lawn grass around the trunks of trees and in and around bushes of various sorts. The enemy of these areas are the weeds. (The grass can take care of itself, if it is kept watered and well cut.)

I have for years admired the landscaping at the office building next door to our office building downtown. The name of that building is One Biscayne Tower and we officed there during our first five years with "our own firm". The building is about 23 years old, but it is still beautiful. One thing that makes it attractive was the decision of the developer not to build it out to the limit of the real estate parcel. He left a little space at ground level, around three sides of it, for some landscaping. It is not very deep, only about ten feet, I would say. There are some small palm trees, hedges, and even some grass in this area. Whoever does the gardening also plants flowers in part of the landscape area on a seasonal basis. I have often admired how well maintained the gardener kept it and how free of weeds are the flower beds and other areas not covered by grass. I have often wondered what the gardener's secret was about the weed-free flower beds.

My friend, Joe, is the building engineer at One Biscayne Tower, and I often talk to him via ham radio on my morning walks. I had the bright idea of asking Joe to let me in on the secret. He said, "Sure, I'll tell you the secret. A landscape crew shows up every Wednesday at 5 AM and works on the landscaping, including weed pulling, till 7:30 AM."

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