Oh my, what a mess. I didn't get leaf mulch on most of this garden last fall, so the clean-up is much more time consuming. Plus all the edging, and since this is in a labyrinth shape, I do like the edges to be fairly straight and concentric. Each year the grass from the pathways encroaches, so there is always a bit of sod removal to be done in the spring. After raining all week, we got a sun break this afternoon, and I got the back 'tall boy' bed done.
Also got the repellent section done. Looks like the tansy is hanging in, and perhaps one of the fleabanes. Need to beef up the plants in this section. Seems a lot of what I plant here are not hardy enough to over-winter.
I also lightly pruned the blueberries - snipped out dead wood and cut the tops down to about my chin level. These shrubs are starting to bud out which makes pruning easier, although I'm never quite sure how much to take off. I've read that heavier pruning will yield larger fruit, but I also think that regular watering contributes to fruit size. Hoping to run a soaker hose along both the blue and raspberries, maybe on a timer if I get fancy.
I'm puzzled by the rhubarb. For the past few years, it has been noticeably weak and puny. My approach this year is to give it lots of fertilizer and see if it has perhaps just depleted the soil over the years. I got this from Mom, and Dad was unsuccessful at killing it over the years despite his tendency to mow it wherever it dared to spread its arms past his strict Marine demarcation of the flower beds - straight and precise. I do have a backup plant down by the pond which I believe is doing well, it's sitting in a pretty damp spot and never really got dug in, I think I just set it on a mole hill several years ago.
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