Warriors on patrol in our yarden, banning bugs for more than 20 years (TJ photo)

Sun is shining, temperature’s rising, most of the tulips have faded and the hostas and other ground cover is well, covering the yarden. And it’s begging for attention.

Popping up with the desirable plants are the weeds, and there are old leaves, broken twigs and miscellaneous debris that collected in our yarden over the winter and need to be removed. Also on the To Do list: divide plants and rearrange some rocks and bowling balls (aka yard art).

Yard art ready to roll into place

We have no grass, just a variety of ground cover and perennials, so although our yard is fairly small it takes a lot of effort to get and keep the weeds under control.

One thing we won’t be doing: applying pesticides or herbicides. I rely on our Yarden Army to keep the bugs at bay.

It started when Graham was a toddler playing with plastic Army guys in the yarden. We lost track of some in all that ground cover, and decided they’d gone off to do battle with intruding pests.

Our Green Army has worked for over 20 years; we’ve yet to have anything really bug us.

On guard in the yarden (TJ photo)

I do need to see the General (Dollar General) to replenish the battalion. Each year some of the guys go AWOL or, as I prefer to think, they’re doing duty undercover (underground). I have no doubt they’ll return to their posts some day, when Mother Earth pushes them back into service.