rootofnewt | oooof.

Approximately 1/3 of the green mound of death growing under the crape myrtle (and assorted unidentified shrubs) has now been eradicated. I had to stop when my heart started palpitating. Note to self: call doc and ask for a full iron work-up. Second note to self: STOP this stuff when you feel breathless, even if it doesn't count as "strenuous" by your standards.

Note to everyone else: If you live in my state and I EVER hear that you have put in winter creeper, I will personally come and plant it for you--right in your ass. This stuff is noxious and evil and shouldn't be sold. I don't care if you're attracted to the purple variant. It's only purple in winter. It greens back up come spring. And it's damn near impossible to eradicate, thanks to arm-thick roots growing about 6" below the surface of the soil, which branch off into a fractal hell of nodes and branches and smothering death.

Also, I can't compost this, so I will have to pay to throw it away. I'm not sure the city takes brush in bulk pick-up, so I may have to bag the huge pile I've got going (and I'm barely started). I'll either have to pay for a bulk pick-up or pay for bags and trash tags. *sigh*

So, be warned. Plant Euonymous fortunei and die.

brb--NAK break

Anyhow, I'll just have to stay on top of it as much as I can until the mosquitoes come. They should be present in numbers prohibitive to yardwork within the month. *sigh* I can't decide if I should plant some Allegheny pachysandra under the crape myrtle or keep it as a non-covered bed and plant native woodland perennials and biennials in there. A groundcover might choke out the winter creeper, but it might also allow it to sneakily thrive. So perhaps some more conspicuous and identifiable plantings would be better.