Welcome to the 2018 edition of my Annual Yard Adventure. Yard work season typically arrives in February around here and always begins the same way. My yard is full of pine trees that drop needles, cones, and even large branches everywhere.

Until last fall, I had been using the same basic design I stumbled upon in 2015 that featured several clusters of plants highlighted with three different colors of mulch. Lowe's has always been happy to supply me with bags of red and black mulch that I used to highlight the individual plant clusters within the design. My lawnmower and a few afternoons of elbow grease produced the brown "homemade" mulch I use to surround everything and tie the design together. I've been very happy with the results.

But by the time winter ends, those three colors all seem to blend together. What was once an alternating pattern of red/black/brown eventually becomes one large pile of pine needles and leaves.

That means every yard work season begins the same way – with an intense round of cleanup. This year was no different. The biggest difference this year involved the large area in the center of the design that still sported its bright red color.

That area actually got a fresh layer of red mulch at the end of last season. Digging up and dividing the irises removed all of the old mulch in the center of the design. I added a fresh layer after I finished the project not only to replenish what I removed, but also to give me an idea of what the new design, which represented a significant change from the years prior, would look like. More on that later.

The cleanup process primarily involves running the lawnmower over everything with the bag attached which produces the previously mentioned homemade mulch that I use as a border throughout the design. It's pretty obvious from the pictures above and below that I had a lot of work to do this year, especially in the center of the yard.

It also looks like I've got some dead strands of pampas grass to trim. According to what I read, pampas grass needs to be cut back and thinned periodically. I didn't do it last year because my plants aren't that large yet. But I'll have to think about that in the near future. In the meantime, I should cut/pull some of the dead strands out of the way.

The arrival of yard work season in February brings with it the first signs of color for the year. Cold weather arrived as the calendar was turned to January 2018, as in more-than-10-degrees-below-average cold. But temperatures had moderated by the middle of the month and stayed that way into February. This means the plants I have in the yard that flower early in the season, such as daffodils, crocus bulbs, and the Japanese Camellia, awoke this year to agreeable temperatures.

The daffodils in particular seemed to be happy with this.

Even though I was waiting for a deep freeze to appear out of nowhere, the weather actually cooperated.

My impression is that crocus flowers don't last very long. Once they bloom, they only hang around for a short time. This means I better enjoy them while I can.

I've learned in recent years that the Star Magnolia is also an early bloomer. The only reason I didn't realize this before is because it never really bloomed other than a flower or two here and there. Seeing what appeared to be a whole host of blooms in waiting made me wonder if I might be surprised this year.

The backyard looked the same way it does every year, which isn't too bad.

I typically don't worry about the backyard too much only because I've never really had a direction for it. I've had ideas in the past. But all have been altered or cancelled altogether because I can't seem to get anything to grow back there thanks to all the shade. So I've been leaving the backyard to its own devices and using the abundance of leaves as a source of homemade mulch for the front yard. That plan has worked quite well in the past which is why I've left it alone, and this year will be no different, (although I may have to address the thin looking bush on the right side of the photo above that appears to be dying).

Also in the plus column is the fact that everything appears to have survived the winter. It's still too early to be sure. But I don't see anything obvious at this moment.