I've tried various ways to track what I'm doing (or not doing) in my gardens. I thought I'd give this blog another whirl, after leaving it pretty vacant for quite some time. My intent is not to use this as any sort of literary expression, and perhaps use or not use photos. Just really looking for a quick and easy way to keep track of progress (and ideas) for my own use. For those who may be 'following' me, I won't be at all offended if you opt out. Boring is boring...
Since losing many of my computer files during a Dell melt-down shortly before Xmas, I may also use this blog as a spot to keep track of my various lotions, potions, and preserving recipes. I was tracking that all in OneNote but lost all those files.
Progress 2016: Winter has settled in with wet and cold weather. We had a bit of a freeze in late December and early January, which was pretty (hoar frost and sunshine), but lately we've been in our normal 40-50s range. I work in the yard when it's not too wet out, although the soil is a bit too cold to really dig into.
Last week we hired a local yard service (who we have since renamed El Chapo) to prune all of our fruit trees and shrubs. He was a short Hispanic fellow and it appears he pruned everything to his eye level. Quite a drastic difference, but I am confident everything will survive. The shrubs will likely not bloom very heavily this year (especially the lilac and forsythia) but there is always the next season. I was a bit disappointed with the Sam cherry pruning - that is one of the trees I felt really needed some help. He did neaten up the general shape, but I plan to get into it and clean out more of the crossed branches and eliminate some of the lower head-poking ones. He also did a nice job on the storm damaged Montmorency cherry. Fortunately, El Chapo left all my Japanese maples and younger trees alone. I cleaned out the front bed while he was working to kind of keep an eye on him, but tried to keep my head mostly averted. It looks much cleaner now, and he and his helper did a great job of cleaning up after themselves. I'll try to remember to take and add a photo or two. Per El Chapo, the best time to prune for me is December -- almost all of the trees were full of buds
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