Water chestnut (Trapa natans), often called “American water chestnut” in the U.S., is a highly invasive aquatic plant, not to be confused with the edible water chestnut used in Asian cuisine. Native to Eurasia, it was introduced to North America in the 19th century and has since become a major ecological threat in the northeastern United States. Jeanine joined other members of the community this morning to pull plants from the river in the ongoing battle to keep the spread at bay.

Yesterday, Jeanine and I planted 95 creeping thyme plants in the area between our patio and the clover lawn over a few hours. If they grow to their expected dimensions, we will have a lush, natural carpet covering the entire area that is robust enough to withstand foot traffic and will nearly double the usable size of our patio. Compared to similar work we did in the front yard, this project went three times faster, taking advantage of lessons learned. This time, we marked the hole locations for the entire area before excavating and then excavated all the holes before planting. Now for the hard part: wait 1 or 2 years for the creeping thyme to spread.