Spring Clean Up in the Garden

The garden after spring cleaning

With a pruner and pocket and rake in hand I made my way into the garden Sunday afternoon.  It was a beautiful day in Milwaukee!  It was warm (50's) and dry with a light breeze.  The first real day of spring weather.
I got out early enough this year to prune back some of my woody perennials.  The lavender and sage were both in need of some cleaning out and sheering back this year.  No new growth yet, so I gave them both a much needed pruning.  I also cleaned out some of the dead stems of the perennials in the rain garden as I raked through section by section.  I found lots of maple seeds and horse chestnuts had gotten in among the ground covers.  I would much rather rake out seeds than to pull out rooted seedlings one by one.
The ground is still frozen so the bulbs have not popped out yet with the exception of the snow drops.  I look forward to their bloom this year without all the debris to pick out around their tender stems.
The snow cover we got this winter seems to have done a good job of insulating some of the more tender plants.  I did some moving around last fall and these plants also seem to have come through well.  I hope it didn't protect the nasty bugs as well as the plants, but I bet they enjoyed the snow blanket also.
Get out there soon and clean out the garden beds before the thaw comes and the rains turn the soil to mud.  I know I am ready for spring!

Snowdrops

A little bit of gardening in the little bit of light after work

The time has come for cleaning up the yard a bit.  I made my first cuttings of the season so the coleus can make it into next year's garden.  I put a few other plants in the garage so they don't get hit by frost until I can cut them back and take them in.  I always soak them through to make sure I don't bring a mouse family into my house again.

The light is growing short after work so I have to get things done a little bit at a time.  With the remaining light I had after the other jobs I did tonight, I started cleaning out the flower garden.  There are still some everlastings that will take a bit of cold so they get to stay.  The zinnias were still blooming so I cut a large vase of the best flowers.  I have opted to purchase seeds next spring and get just the two varieties I liked the best,  Benary's giant and cactus flowered.  Both are multicolored varieties.  The benefit of pulling out the zinnias and cosmos that have gone to seed is now you can really see the flowering kale that I planted behind all the rest.  The plants have grown up to two feet tall and are really starting to color up with the cooler weather and shorter days.  The wedding flower garden has taken on a whole new look by pulling out the brown and mildewed stems and letting a fall crop take the limelight.  I will have to add a photo when it is light enough to take one!

Fair weather, time to catch up

I was really hoping to use a few days of vacation this spring to ease into gardening.  Snow and cold later into the spring followed by weeks of rain and soggy ground have thwarted that plan.  Now that the fair weather is here, work has me too busy to take the days I have.  Weekends are catch up time now.

My plan this morning was to clean up the gardens.  I wanted to get the evergreen boughs up from the sprouting beds and get the leaves out of the corners.  I also was ready with my pruning saw.  Before I knew it, I was up in the sugar maple doing a long awaited clean up, and training prune.  Next was the columnar maple in the backyard.  This one has surpassed the second floor of the house and had two large branches I wasn't liking.  Already tired from climbing the sugar maple, I reluctantly got out the extension ladder and went to work. Branches that are six inches plus in diameter do not come off easily.  To do a proper pruning cut, you have to reduce the weight on the end of the branch, under-cut then over-cut the branch about 18" from the trunk, and then complete the cut with a cut outside the branch bark ridge at about a 45 degree angle.  Essentially you cut it twice through the thickest part of the branch.  I was not using a chain saw.  I am feeling it now or is it my age?

I didn't stop there because I have three bushes to dig and transplant.  To make it easier later, I cut them down six inches from the ground using my long handled lopper.  Digging did not happen today for reasons stated above.  I plan on sleeping well tonight.

On the upside, the job is done and I spent some time puttering in my beds picking up small evergreen boughs for the remainder of the afternoon.  It is so encouraging to see the new life poking up through the mulch.  The color of the new shoots can be so different from the full grown leaves.  The Virginia blue bells are purple rolls of shiny leaves.  The blood root is just starting to send up flowers.  Tiny blue flowers from several spring bulbs are showing in all kinds of areas where they have been planted among the ground covers.  It was a beautiful day to be in the yard.

I think I will close here and take some ibuprofen.  Forgive me for not proof reading.

Fall is keeping me busy...

Fall is a busy time.  I haven't been on the computer much let alone writing about all the stuff I have been getting done out in the yard and kitchen.  Rather than try to document it all in separate postings, I decided I have to do it in one so I can keep track of my activities for next year.
TO CLEAN OR NOT TO CLEAN...
Different people have different ideas about whether or not you should clean out your gardens in fall.  I clean mine out for many reasons.  First, I collect seeds and it is easier to do if I collect as I go.  This way I can get down to the small stuff and collect that as well as the tall stuff.  I save seed from several annuals.  Asters, zinnias, marigolds, larkspur, love-in-the-mist, thunbergia, and nasturtiums are the usual suspects.  I collect them in envelopes and hang them in my basement with clothes pins on hangers.  I also shake out the plants to direct seed for next spring, allysum and love-in-the-mist are good for this as well as larkspur and cosmos.  You have to be patient next spring to give them time to bloom.  Another reason for cleaning out the garden is to take advantage of the city pick up of some of the vegetation like the old tomato vines and such.  They only do this in the fall so that is when you have to get it to the curb.  Leaves and such find their home at the municipal nursery.  I used to work there and it was always interesting to see what was going to pop out off the leaf covered fields the next year.  Several things still remain standing especially the flowering kale which still stops people in their tracks.
HARVEST, BUY, PRESERVE, AND DO IT AGAIN...
I was on a mission this fall to really take advantage of what I could from the local farm markets.  I share this with my daughters who are both out of the house.  I get some help from them in return with all the cutting, peeling, and canning to get it all done.  We also were able to get half a steer from a local farmer.  My husband and daughter were both successful in the Wisconsin deer season this year.  You have to make hay while the sun shines.
FALL CAMPING...
I have missed many years of fall camping because school and sport schedules didn't allow us the freedom to flee.  This year we got out of town on a regular basis to state parks, private campgrounds, and family cottages as the weather got colder and wetter.  Empty nesting has been very, very good for us.
CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE...
We went out and cut our tree in the next county this past weekend.  I also have been collecting trimmings and grapevines to hanging up and string lights.  Next on the list is cookie baking and eventually, I will have to shop...I hate shopping.  I want to get some cards out, if only I can find the stamps I bought last month.
DARKNESS HAS FALLEN...
The days have gotten so short that I feel like I am cramming several hours worth of work into the limited daylight hours.  After all that, I sit down and fall asleep.  My children love to tease me about my ability to zone out immediately.  I try to motivate myself, but it just ain't happening.

Merry Christmas to one and all!