Trimming the Tree

Normally, tree trimming is one of my favorite activities of December - just around the corner!  It involves lights and ornaments and the magic of the season!

Every few years, however, it means something completely different.  The power company sends crews - sometimes goons - to clear vegetation back from various lines.  Unfortunately for us, the rules changed several years after we purchased the house and are now much stricter, so it is often a battle with the crew chief.  [If they keep good notes, then i am surely on their "watch list" because i have zealously guarded our trees - even when that means getting in the face of some young guy with a chain saw and no knowledge of trees!]

This neighborhood was originally farm land and there are many heritage trees - trees that are much more than 50 years old,  like the 80-foot tall water oak that I can see from the desk as i write this - and many of them are now in the way of the lines.  Methinks that the trees were there first!  We are lucky that none of ours spread into the protected area, but if one is not vigilant the crews will cut everything in sight.

I was lucky this year that there was an arborist on the crew, and he and i were able to come to an agreement on what would be trimmed and what left alone.  It seems strange to me that they routinely take out branches that are lower than the lines.  Do they really believe that limbs will fall up?  Nonetheless, my elm only had two small branches shortened a couple of feet. 

I hope to be able to trim a little and make the top of this crepe myrtle more rounded without pollarding too much.  There was no reason to touch this tree.

My next door neighbor was not so lucky.  They cut five feet off her crepe myrtle and left it with a flat top!  We all know how dangerous falling branches are from crepe myrtles ... not!

They did give me a gift, tho.  They cut back the boundary hedge behind me.

Before - You can barely see part of the roof of the house and some of a lovely oak above the hedge.

The ligustrum hedge that separates us from the rear neighbor has been a mess for years.  It is on their property, but I keep our side sheared as best i can.  They have not touched it in years, so it was about 16 feet high and at least 8 feet thick, with honeysuckle and creeping euonymous all thru it.  

It took three "passes" to cut down the top from about 16 feet to about 8 feet.  And, then they sheared the other side, too.

It was rather fun to watch them work, and it will be great once if flushes in the spring.  

I'll shear it back once in February before it starts its new growth and then a second time after it blooms and then it should be set for a year .... well, on this side.

After - what an improvement!

I love it that now I can see the oak behind it, and that my Emerald Arborvitae stands taller.  [It's nearly invisible in the "before" photo.] Still a great green backdrop to my garden, but things no longer 'get lost' in the hedge.  Now, if Santa would just give them someone to do it annually ....

Life on the Other Side of Retirement

It's been months since I last posted, and I really don't know why.  I do notice that many of my blog-friends are similarly posting less often.  Some are more involved with growing children ... I don't have that excuse.  Some are involved in new relationships .... nope.  Can't use that reason either.  Life just seems to intervene.

Dahlias and  hydrangeas still going strong the first week of October.

Like so many retirees i have known, i just find that my time is even more filled than it was when i was working.  The difference is that now i'm doing what i want, and when i want to do it. 

I have been reading your posts - nearly every day - and commenting a lot, and what i have missed is the "companionship" of the blog world.  Talking with you all makes me feel connected to a group, just as i enjoy knowing what's going on with you.  Am not sure what I have to say these days, now that i no longer have the angst of getting ready to retire, but hope to find more to tell you about both the old and new things in my life.    

The early morning sun makes this the perfect place for breakfast - just enjoying the birds and flowers. 

You know that the garden goes on.  I worked a few hours nearly every day all summer and now into the fall.  You already saw me fill in the pond and make a new sitting area.  That's settled in now and i often carry my breakfast out there and spend a few minutes with the birds.

The heat and drought of August pretty much finished off the herbs, so I pulled them out early and moved the iris to this raised bed.

In early September i pulled out the herbs and moved all the iris to that spot.  It has full-day sun and excellent drainage, so should be a great place for the iris.  Don't really have any plans for the space vacated by the iris, but am sure that something will strike my fancy by spring. 

Now I have two projects.  The small one is half done already.  We moved a large frame that was designed to hold a swinging chair [chair long since dry-rotted!] to the end of the walk that leads to the rear of the property, ["the rear of the property" - sounds like we have acres, in stead of square feet!.  so pretentious.  sorry. ] and in the spring i will attempt to train clematis to climb it.  I plan to wrap it in mesh to provide support, and have already planted a clematis on each side.  [One is already proving tasty to the rabbits, so may have some problems there.]

The "old" veggie patch.  The new one will incorporate nearly off of this space.  More to come on this later. 

The big project is putting in a "formal" kitchen garden.  The above mentioned rabbits wreaked havoc on my veggies this summer, so i am taking decisive action and fencing in a large - by my standards - plot in the last remaining sunny and mostly flat spot in the yard.  It will give me about 20% more growing space for veggies and will provide a little bit of additional space for annual flowers. 

The dahlias have been pretty and plentiful - still blooming on November 1st.  The first frost will be soon and they will be gone.

I'll get the prep work done this fall and then plant new stuff in the spring.  This is a two-fer.  

Obviously, i'll end up with a new garden plot, but also... i am taking a couple of horticulture classes and can use this for a class assignment.  The need to finish "on time" will keep me focused.  I'll save telling you about "school" for another post.

The 'Strawberries and Cream' hydrangea is pretty, but it flops!
The product information did not include that!

So, i'm going to try to post weekly again and hope to hear from you.  Hope your summers went well, and the first half of your fall.

A Quiet Sunday Morning ... You Know Where

After 10 days of blistering mid-90's with high humidity (good weather to stay inside and curl up with a book), it was in the 60's this morning and the garden was the perfect place to be. 

I love to get out there before the first direct rays of the sun hit the garden.

I'm lucky that a line of very tall trees two yards over give me an extra 20 minutes of shade before the sun crests them. 

In the shady parts of the garden, there was still lots of dew on leaves and flowers. 

Blueberries were ready for harvesting.  This is actually my second harvest, and I think I will get a third.  It was enough to put on my cereal. They are tiny but quite flavorful.  Hope that future crops will be both greater in quantity and larger berries.

Some of the clematis are reblooming.  My favorite is this one that climbs the mailbox post.

Tomatoes are growing like Topsy.  We are almost at the point of breaking into neighbors' homes and leaving them on the counters ... but not quite.   Soon the Romas will be ripening enough to start the roasting process for winter sauce. 

Apparently the critters - we think this was the ground hog - are liking them, too.   I'm leaving it out there for a couple of days in the hope that he will continue to dine on this one and not help himself to others.   It's starting to get dry, so he may be looking for water. 

The first dahlias bloomed this week ... not the colors I remember planting, but lovely none the less. 

And, I painted my nails. 

Hope you have a great week!

Retirement - Month One

I had a bit of trepidation on June 1st when i got up with absolutely nothing to do .... well, at least nothing that was dictated by someone else. 

It's taken some time to stop planning every night for what needed to be done the next day.  But, going with the flow has turned out to be ok. 

    

 

 

 

 

 

Thirty days and i have a new music/sitting room, new floors, a much "cleaner" garden, a cutting garden that's ready to plant, a "new" deck, and the June bounty of flowers all over the garden. 

Life Retirement is good.  Bring on July!