Tag Archives: gardening

Nature’s Bounty

We’re about 80% of the way done with the extreme pruning project for the oleanders that ring our backyard.

Oleanders (Still Fighting)

We never did find a store that sells Ladybugs’n’Stuff, but we did find one that sells Aphid-Be-Dead in great quantities.

That only leaves one thing: the bees under the shed. They don’t want us messing with any of the oleander bushes on the east side of the property line. The good news is that a properly-treated bee sting hurts less than a scratch inflicted by an oleander bush. The bad news is that I have one sting and Mrs. Jones has two, so we’re knocking off…for the time bee-ing.

This Stinks

About half the houses in my neighborhood are empty. Well, it’s actually more like 20%, but it seems like half. So what could make owning a home in Yucca Valley even less appealing?

A zombie apocalypse? No, that’s so 2010.

Roving packs of bloodthirsty hyenas? Nah!

I know! How about a nice dose of Xylella fastidiosa? That’s the ticket!

You start with oleander shrubbery that looks like this:
Oleanders - Healthy

Then you give them the infection. That will give you bushes that look like this:
Oleanders - Sickly

Now repeat about 30 or 40 times, all around your backyard:
Oleanders - Looking Bad