In the Garden of Gross
March 30, 2009
On Saturday mom and I went out and removed two dead/dying shrubs from the front yard. We knew they were bad - brown leaves, white moldy-like substance on them, etc., but we had no idea it was quite THIS bad:
The branches towards the bottom were black like they'd been burned in a fire and they were covered with weird alien-looking creatures that oozed pink slime when poked:
I was fascinated and grossed out at the same time. I took precautions - wore a mask and gloves and safety glasses - but I still felt disgusting and couldn't wait to get in the shower when we were finished! It actually went very fast - both shrubs were completely removed in two-and-a-half hours. They were so dry and brittle, they just snapped off! I was quite relieved as it was very warm and that sun was just beating down on my head!
Mom and I have decided to not bother planting anything out front at least for this year. We're thinkingg of just getting some nice bark and putting some pots with flowers out there. Something that looks nice, but doesn't require much maintenance!