Weed Control

 Beside the pool are we have a problem with couch grass coming underneath the fence and in between the pavers and all around the base of the jujube tree. So I collected cardboard and paper and decided to lift two rows of pavers and pull out the weeds then cover them.

  I needed to do this in the early morning and the evenings as the area gets really hot, when digging out the weeds the sand beneath the pavers was hot about a foot down. That reminded me how unhelpful pavers are for keeping an area cool or letting water through to the soil. I used very thick layers of paper, my intention is not to plant here, but to give the two trees here a better chance of survival by suppressing the couch grass.

We still had plenty of mulch from our recent delivery so once I had put all the paper down and cardboard I put a thick layer of mulch on.

Here is the finished product, the jujube is on the right, still covered in thorns, but looking healthier already!

Pavers to Gardens

 The back of the house faces east so last summer we put up an awning and shade sails to reduce the direct sunlight on the window and to shade the pavers around the pool as they trap and emit a lot of heat.

In an effort to further improve the heat sink/trap I dug up three rows of pavers under the window and placed cardboard, newspaper and dead leaves on, leaving the ferns that were already growing there.

 Then I got some wheelbarrows of sand from Danny's hole and placed that on top to weigh it all down. I have now transplanted some daisies and hope that they will like this dry and sunny area. They look terrible at the moment as we had some hot days, once they start to thrive i will add another image.