Friday, April 27, 2007

Opportunity calling

This is a great time of Spring. I love to see the new plants coming up, leaves on the trees coming out & seeing what made it & what did not. It's part of gardening. Seeing old friends arrive back after the winter & missing the ones who will not be returning. As I heard one day at a plant sale, this is called opportunity. I now have an opportunity to try some new plants & a new design in my back yard.
I'm taking out 2 of my 4 raised veggie beds. The bed with the asparagus is definitely gone. I'm bummed that my asparagus didn't make it. This would have been the 3RD year. The year to harvest. I think the bed, eventhough raised, collected water from a higher bed. I'll have to re-think an asparagus patch. This whole area does get alot of winter water. My yard is the lowest on a sloping street. I'm going to stop fighting the lay of the land.
I am going to put in a mini patio with a fire pit & containers.
I will re-position the remaining vegetable beds & landscape around them.
I will also take out a sickly looking miniature rose bush & a sickly looking Nandina (Heavenly bamboo).
I am getting my ideas down on paper. I will be shopping around for plant ideas while visiting Garden Time sponsors & other nurseries we discover.
I hope to keep you filled in on my progress. I also think I will keep on track because you will be looking over my shoulder. Let me know if you're working on new garden projects.
Take care.
Judy

Friday, April 20, 2007

Judy's Spring Day

Yeah! A dry & sunny day.
I’m getting a bit picky on the kind of day I will play in my garden.
I won’t go out if it’s a steady down pour anymore.
Today was a perfect garden weather day.
I had a To-Do list of just 5 tasks. I’m trying to work smarter in the garden & not over do at one kind of job.
Task 1 – I finally trimmed back a few winter damaged branches on the Silver Dollar Eucalyptus. It’s about 10 ft tall & helping to shade some Rhodies in the back yard.
While I had all the trimming tools out, I did shape the crown a little. It looks much better & I even brought in some stems for a flower arrangement.
Task 2 – I am still in the process of deadheading perennials. I cut back the old flowering stems of Asters, Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium) & Coreopsis ‘Moonbeam’.
These plants are just emerging so I didn’t damage any new foliage.
I had taken care of the earlier emerging perennials weeks ago so I’m still ahead of the game.
Task 3 – I am a bit late on stringing up my 4 Clematis that form a wall of foliage & flowers at my back deck.
They are Tall! 2 plants were already 3 ft. high.
I use fishing line strung from an eyehook at the top of the eave to a tent stake pushed in at the base of the Clematis.
The vine then travels up the line & flowers in June & July. I have a beautiful green screen all Summer.
Task 4 – Weeding, the Zen of my garden tasks. I know that sounds kind of strange, but that’s what it feels like.
I have a weedy patch to work on & my mind concentrates on that process. I don’t think of anything else but weeding. I used to get anxious about the weed issue. I’ve relaxed my stance on weeds, sometimes too much, but I do get to them before too long.
I work smarter by bending correctly & taking more breaks. And that leads to...
Task 5 – I took a walk around my garden. This wasn’t really a ‘task’,
I needed a break from weeding. I checked plants out, what was coming up and what was finished blooming. I saw the new little figs forming on the ‘Desert King’ Fig. I also saw the huge flower buds on my orange Oriental Poppy and I picked lettuce for dinner. I did made a few mental notes for the next ‘Task’ List.
Enjoy your task list too.
Judy