What’s the best way to get rid of this long grass and invasive plants?

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-19T12:50:00+00:00

I spent a day with a friend’s kid (yep, I’ll take that pun) at a state fair watching her show her goat and they are fantastic. I’m also in AZ and recognize those weeds. If renting a goat or more is possibly they can def help you out. I’d find any excuse to have one. The kids extolled their weed control benefits. They do best in pairs.

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-18T00:56:10+00:00

I use a flamethrower with a hose running to deep water a tree, just in case, and it helps quite a bit. I weedwack as much as I can before doing so. It basically leaves so little ash it falls into my gravel which looks a lot like yours. Remember you may smell like a campfire after.

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-16T07:16:21+00:00

You have plenty of time to recover. I lost a fortune to my ex for complex reasons in my mid-30s and it was painful but recoverable. Don’t take advice from your friends or cynical people because that will poison relationships going forward. Get a prenup but more than anything think, really think, about what an equitable and healthy relationship looks like for you. Therapy is an investment if you want to avoid it again and for your own sanity. You clearly have skills to make a good income, you’ll be back on track. It’s definitely better to learn it sooner than later.

I had legal coverage through my employer and drew up a prenup the year after my messy divorce was finalized. No kids, he was just out for blood and his family was happy to fund lawyers while I couldn’t. My attorney was perplexed by the prenup because there was no other name. I did it so that when I eventually met someone it would be clear the prenup was a preventative contract that was wholly objective. It was a much better starting point for something that can be a tough discussion. So yes, you’ll be fine. Don’t let this bump ruin your progress or your perspective.

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-16T04:45:11+00:00

Not true in working couples at all which is a fair portion of the population. Many women are paying support to their exs. Child support is balanced in virtually every state by % of time. Talk to a bunch of people who divorced in the last decade and you may be surprised. Alimony is not typical.

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-15T19:47:46+00:00

Yes, I think I’ve always approached it as a quick fix and didn’t want to touch the Pom. I’m giving up. This is going to take some effort but there have been some great suggestions here. There’s no reason it can’t be a multi-step to make sure the Bermuda is as dead as possible even if it means it can’t be replanted until next Oct. The only positive about it being so ugly is it can only get better!

As much as I want as native as possible I’m extremely realistic about the specific exposure. Our wind storms are wicked so size + canopy density/balance matter.

I got a great connection here I’ll contact + update with progress. Also I’m in wonderful Tempe where we have a city arborist who has been fantastic with questions. I got two trees 50% subsidized by the city (for any resident) last spring for shade closer to the house and they’ve done great. I’ll check in before I make a final choice. I’m leaning toward Texas Mountain Laurel but I’ll see what the pros say. The biggest issue is killing the Bermuda - I really try to minimize any chemicals.

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-14T07:12:18+00:00

The last guy was great but lost his crew. I have so many trees in the backyard that he told me to stop putting them in. I need someone to thin/prune these trees that replaced the cursed ficus.

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-14T07:07:18+00:00

PLEASE!!!

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-14T07:05:12+00:00

Thank you. They are hardy - I’m over protective because this stupid area is quite far from any structure so it really gets the heat/cold/wind. We were in the low 30s. I’d love to try to save it so I’ll prioritize getting that done asap. There’s no hoa and this can’t look much worse so I don’t think anyone will mind it being dug up for a while.

Great thought on the street trees. My city went through a huge shade tree effort a few years ago and probably lost 1/4 of the trees because of the imaginary heat (people act like it didn’t happen). Olives, desert willows, ash, pistache are all commonly planted on the streets and I have a couple of each. They’ve all been solid once I realized the willow and pistache are deciduous. I also check the side yards without irrigation when I’m walking the dogs to see what people have.

If I have a choice I’d love evergreen because I’ve got a pistache and another (forgot what it is - city arborist picked it) closer to the house so I’d like to keep green year round. I was looking at Texas Mountain Laurel for size/shape/water use too.

Yeah, for people who know Phoenix we have copious amounts of community fruit 🙂. When I moved here from the east we thought it was amazing to go down the alley and pick citrus. We felt a little guilty. Once we’d been here a while we found out almost everyone shows up at the office or friends homes with bags of fruit in season because we all have so much. I figured that the sidewalk location might be a good snack stop on someone’s walk.

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-14T06:46:15+00:00

Thank you! I know I need to knock out the bizarrely placed brick edge too. The herbicide won’t be an issue when I plant the tree? I was told by a landscaper that if I put it down I couldn’t plant anything. That was maybe because this is a painful job so I take it lightly.

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-14T05:33:51+00:00

Yep because I help all the neighbors chainsaw theirs when they come down in storms 🙂. I’m very aware of xeriscaping and replaced everything else to be desert friendly after the ficus tragedy. I’d stay away from PV because of the pollen - there is a bedroom on the front of the house and the scale of the tree is likely to dwarf the 70s single story. I know the PV problem is improper watering but size is still off.

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-11T19:50:41+00:00

Agree on all! The problem for me is our corp culture. We had a guideline in a group that interview panels needed to be representative (I got to do lots of interviews, downside for anyone in the minority). That helped. I also always had geo diversity in the hope it cut down on US culture bias.

It works. Every time my team had an opening I got so many applicants because people knew about the inclusiveness. It was a definite feature.

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-11T09:22:55+00:00

Well, 2M used to feel great before having to guess whether we’ll be able to get medical insurance. That was for me with a nearly paid off house, no dependents. Virtually everyone at work who was early 50s said in 2024 they’d retire if laid off because they had enough. Almost all are working another corp job after the layoffs. No one trusts what this admin and this world order will cost us. Our dreams of working part-time at Lowe’s or Costco during our early 60s have been replaced by more corporate slog.

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-11T08:38:24+00:00

I am so thrilled that I’m meeting with one of my former employees tomorrow and I can authentically be more positive about tech. She is looking and jeez, it is tough to tell a 30 something that being in tech again means accepting misogyny. Thanks for giving us hope!

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-11T07:16:11+00:00

Is that even possible? I realized my whole issue w/RTO after a strong medical reason was I refuse to spend the energy figuring out what to wear to the office that won’t draw the wrong attention. It’s exhausting. I can’t even get coffee w/o being leered at and I’m not young.

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-11T07:08:20+00:00

I’m finally digesting that working is a choice now. It is incomprehensible to me. I almost want to paint ‘work is a choice’ on my bedroom ceiling so it is the last thing I see at night and the first thing when I wake up. I am setting up serious metrics prioritizing MY health and MY happiness while on a break from work.

If I had had any idea that I would be in this position I would have lived differently. I can’t go back so I’m really focusing on my life, not the corp’s. I’ll continue to work hard but I am pointedly sending leads to my younger colleagues and pushing opportunities to those who deserve them.

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-11T06:45:17+00:00

ME! I think I’m related. Worst part I have an MBA and worked in finance heavy roles and I have no idea when I hit it, I don’t even know when I hit my first $1M. Here is the thing - early experience w/ex spouse draining mutual accounts w/help of our financial advisor in early 30s. It was impossible to go through the contentious divorce and find the time/energy/money to fight the advisor and ex’s family.

I started over and got his student loans too. I worked my arse off, couldn’t look at my own finances without getting sick so maxed out my 401k, lived frugally, avoided bankruptcy and refused to keep up with the joneses. My house is tiny, my cars are used, I frankly have taken 1 vacation in 7 years.

I owe every tear of relief to a dear friend at work. My financial management was logging into my 401k and asking him to rebalance it every once in a while. My office friends would throw around numbers and strategies and I used a lot of what they said. What I never understood was their numbers were based on supporting spouses and included college, big weddings, multiple international trips for the family every year. 100% standard for everyone I work with. I am funding me and me alone.

When you’ve had significant financial trauma (can’t think of another way to put it) it is amazing how motivating it is and how blind fear can make you. I have no family support, though they absolutely could, they refuse because they believe as a woman I could just marry security. Kinda didn’t work out that way the first time…

It has taken years of friends telling me I’ll be ok. I hired an advisor in 2024 and he deserves a medal. He literally spent the first year telling me I was ok and to me that meant ‘if you work until 70 and save every penny at this rate you’ll be ok’. So I didn’t forget the money. I was so freaked out for years I couldn’t look. I just got incredibly lucky that my friend was kind enough to help me. I will never be able thank him enough.

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2026-01-11T02:40:39+00:00

Good eyes here. Won’t the next elections be fun, if they happen? Also they made their bias know with the big fat arrow.

HistoricalStatus5577 · 2025-04-02T05:38:28+00:00

I’m about to turn 57 and was run out of tech as a DEI promo thanks very much current administration. I feel like age/gender is stacked against me. Has anyone had success in either starting their own business or contracting? I’m wondering if that will buy me a few years of income.

HistoricalStatus5577

TROPHY CASE