![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/10002011-04-20_0898.jpg\" "\\"10002011")
<\/a>Chainsawing today. \u00a0Cutting back aged amur maple branches, considering eliminating all of these fragile little trees and starting over with something new. \u00a0Kate raked out fallen leaves and I moved them to a place where they can rest. \u00a0Both Kate and I cut down perennial stalks and grasses left in place over the winter.<\/p>\nTulips and iris and crocus have all begun to push out of the ground. \u00a0None of these will be injured if a frost comes; they’re spring ephemerals or early risers. \u00a0Their strategy is to get up, bloom, go to seed and store food for next spring’s big push before the leaves come out and other plants get in their way. \u00a0It’s a smart plan and one that gives us beautiful blooms often as winter seems to have barely left the building.<\/p>\n
We’ll work away at it, an hour or two at a time and by the end of the week we’ll have those Our magnolia is in full bloom right now, a white torch in an otherwise brown world. \u00a0Kate wanted a magnolia and she got one. \u00a0If we don’t get the severe cold, say -30, it gives us an early spring pick me up.<\/p>\n It always feels to good to get outside, shake off the gardening rust and slowly get up to speed with the yard again. \u00a0When we bought this house 18 years, we spent a fair amount of cash upfront on landscaping, figuring that we wanted to enjoy while we lived here and that’s its maturation would swing into place just when we needed it. \u00a0We were right.<\/p>\n This year and the next couple we’ll focus on preparing our flower beds, vegetable beds and orchard for minimal maintenance, keeping active as far as planting and intensive tending only those areas we can manage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spring \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Bee Hiving Moon Seasonal craziness note: \u00a0both of the photographs here were taken in our garden on the same day, April 20th, 2011. Chainsawing today. \u00a0Cutting … Continue reading The Garden in Early June. No, Wait…<\/span> <\/a>we can reach without compacting soil spruced up and ready for the growing season.<\/p>\n