S Jiang

The fragrance of lilacs. My mom would send me out to cut some from the large bush at the end of the barn. We would put them on the kitchen table. That was way up North in upstate NY. They don't do well in NC where I live now. Once in a while I come across one in bloom and it takes me back... decades!

We've tried to garden in our rather wooded backyard in NC, but the light was always too limited to have much yield of any sort except assorted greens in the late winter. After taking down some trees a few years ago our sunlight improved a little bit Japanese stilt grass has invaded. It's overwhelming to deal with and we don't even want yo go in the yard, let alone garden in it. Has anyone found a safe and sustainable method to get rid of the stuff besides picking it by hand? We live in town, so we can't take any drastic meadures.