The flooding is over and Mother Nature is turning up the thermostat. We usually have months to gradually transition to the scorching temperatures that kick in come June and July. Not this year. While it was nice to have mild temperatures through our monsoon-like May, we lost that acclimation period we’re used to. Now that the mercury has climbed into the 90’s, many of us are suffering.
It’s not just the heat. There’s also the humidity. It’s always sticky around here with all the Gulf moisture that flows in from the south. That’s been exacerbated by all the water saturating the soil and high lake and river levels. When that heats up, moisture rises into the atmosphere and that means it’s not just hot. It’s hot and moist. It’s felt a lot like Houston around here lately.
I’ve worked up a sweat battling bamboo in my yard. I’ve decided that bamboo comes from a dark, evil place. It provides great privacy from my yard to the neighbors, but it invades everywhere. I don’t wish bamboo on anybody. It came with the house when we bought it and now it’s becoming my mission in life to rid our yard of it.
Bamboo spreads like wildfire. You can cut it and clear it out and it’s going to come back again and again. We have a great deck out back of our house and the bamboo is coming up under it, threatening to pry apart the wooden planks. Bamboo is strong enough to push the large sandstone rocks that we have making a large patio area in the yard. These stones weigh 30-40 pounds and a bamboo plant grows up and dislodges the stones with no problem, destroying the work to put them in.
Bulk trash collection day is coming up soon and the curb area at my house will be piled high with bamboo. I’ve been told the key to beating bamboo is simply to keep cutting it back. I think it’ll be something that will keep me busy for years to come.
That’s what I’m thinking.
Rick Hadley
24/7 News
