Meanwhile, in the backyard...

We've spent so much time gardening in the front yard that it might seem like we're neglecting the back. But actually, it's in pretty decent shape. The lawn looks relatively healthy (though the ratios of weeds to grass is about 1:1).

Our back patio is more or less free of debris and inviting. We liked the little flowers poking out between the brick, so we didn't bother to use Round Up to kill them off. They are all over the grass too, but again, I guess "weed" is in the eye of the beholder and these are pretty cute, so we'll keep them around (who am I kidding? we're keeping the weeds around too, this year).

Last week, I even enjoyed an hour relaxing in the hammock, enjoying the lovely spring weather. I haven't actually "enjoyed" the outside (read: not forced myself out to garden and weed) in a long time. And I'm hoping that we might enjoy the outside even more this year. We splurged and decided to hire one of those monthly pesticide services. The repeated use of chemicals made me nervous, but they claim it's safe and non-toxic. And frankly, dousing myself in strong Deet-based mosquito repellants just to take out the trash or water the lawn didn't seem all that healthy either.

But no rest for the weary. While cleaning out the backyard to get ready for a big party we were hosting, we were reminded of a few other projects for later this spring.

Time to retreat the wood of our railing, which we just noticed was badly molded (we last treated it in March 2010, so I guess it's about time):

This sand box, inherited from the previous owners, has got to go:

Plus we have some more yard clean-up. The back fence line could make a really good area for shade plants, but is still overgrown, so we want to rip it up and turn the soil and actually make an effort there. And we want to maintain the controlled wild area in this back corner, so that it doesn't get completely unmanageable again.

Turning our attention back to the front garden again, I noticed that they already desperately need weeding. The problem is that I threw down a lot of mixed wild flower seed last month, in an attempt to fill in the bare patches. So now I can't really tell what is a weed and what is a growing wild flower. So I think the weeds will free reign for a while - I don't want to pull the wrong thing!

And it's a little off-topic, but check out our clematis!!!