Cold Tears

Today is cold and windy, the kind of day where being outside makes your nose run and your eyes tear up. It was in the 20s overnight, and at midday in the 30s, with a bitter bite to the wind.

Chris from Bartlett came today. The problem with the funny crooked leader on the spruce in back is due to prior damage from white pine weevils. They affect the top branches of spruces, not just white pines. In fact, all of the spruces on the berm have top growth problems because of pine weevil damage.

He sprayed for it today, but the lingering effect is that the leader on these trees gets distorted and overtaken by side branches, which need to be pruned.

Jim and I can do some work with the pole pruner, but Chris carefully explained exactly how to subordinate all the side branches, and I think it is too much to try to do with a pole pruner. You need to be up on a ladder to see what needs doing. Not us.

So I e-mailed Mike to ask Bartlett to come out with their tall ladders and do the pruning.

Just walking around the yard with Chris my eyes were watering from the cold wind, and tears were running down my cheeks. Wow, it was cold out.

Too Early

It's too soon for this.

A tick, embedded on my upper stomach when I came in from working on the back hill today.

It has been in the 20s and 30s overnight, no higher, and the days have not often gotten into the high 50s. One of the advantages to scrabbling around in the underbrush in March and April is that you can work out there in the cold without worrying about ticks.

Right?

I had on socks, long sleeves, long pants, a tight fitting camisole under my shirt which was tucked into my pants. And yet the tick was on me, under the camisole. I found it in the shower. Of course I had to check everywhere, all over. This is way too early to be worrying about ticks.

I spent the morning weeding the Drive By Garden, hands and knees work, pulling by hand.  The globe onions I transplanted from the patio are peeking up.

Then I fertilized some of the trees on the back hill, especially the male American holly and the white pines, which were looking a little yellow.

Rain moved in this afternoon.

I put out the small glass hummingbird feeder to attract the early scouts. I got a larger one at Moscarillo's and will hang that as the season gets underway.

Much Has Been Done

Despite the cold drizzly start to Thursday, much has been accomplished in the past three days!

Thursday afternoon cleared off a little, and Friday and Saturday were cool, partly sunny days, in the 50s, perfect for work outside.

Jim helped prune the conifers that had too much growth up top, although we held off on the spruce with the crooked top branch, since it turned out that there are no other tall branches. That crooked one is the leader. I'll ask Bartlett about it.

I even turned the compost pile. Phew. Hard sweaty work, but the air was cool enough for it.

Perennials were cut back, carypopteris chopped back, lespedeza too. A lot of clean up, including the miscanthus grass at the corner of the garage and the three Northwind plumes at the back of Meadow's Edge.  Boy do I hate grass clean up in spring.

It all took the better part of two days to get most stuff cut back.

Then Jim and I assembled and put up the arbor at the entrance to the gravel garden, without any dispute. : )

I moved the dwarf spruce to the right side (it had been right next to the Star magnolia, not a good place as the magnolia gets bigger).

I will need to get another bluestone to make three steps into the gate area. I dug up all the thyme around the area, added more fill and raised the topmost stone up, and then replanted the thyme. I also used some of it to replace browning patches along the top of the driveway. Dying thyme has been a problem along there.

And I have a kiwi vine on order to put on the left side of the arbor, to climb over the arch.

The whole thing is horribly flimsy. It's just wobbly aluminum, inexpensive and lightweight. If I decide I like the look, and if the kiwi vine takes off and drapes well over the arch, I may consider getting a sturdy natural wood arbor and gate, and have it installed. For now, we'll see how this does.

Picture it all, if you will, in summer, in this very spot - - -

I dug out a lot of the edge on the back side of the border on the left to expand the width a little, and will put in a styrax there, just to the left of the first twig tuteur. That will shade (someday) the front part of the gravel sitting area.

Plans (and Conifers) Gone Awry

Despite the predictions of cool, clear weather for the next three days, and my plans to get so much clean-up and pruning and even digging done during that window of time, the weather has gone awry.

I woke up ready to go, put on some clean(ish) garden pants and waited for the temperature to get up out of the mid 30s.  By mid morning it had started to drizzle. Pffft.

Know what else seems awry? A couple conifers have odd growth up top.

The rightmost spruce on the berm needs a lop:

It's funny how it mirrors the slant of the ancient white birch across the street:

One of the Austrian pines needs some shaping on both the left and right sides toward the top:

This is the tree that I want to grow a clematis up this year.

The skies seem to be clearing, but it is still only 39 degrees now at lunch time. If the rain holds off after lunch I can still do some work out there, dressed for the chill.  Jim will need to help me with the extension lopper.

Get Ready for 3 Days in the Garden!

Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment and lunch with a friend, but after that, starting on Thursday the weather looks good for being out in the yard all day long getting stuff done. For three days!

Then Sunday is Easter, so I'll be sore and tired and ready to take a day off to visit family, eat, and rest.

The nights will be above freezing, and the days cool and breezy. Some drying out should start to occur, although there is still snow that needs to melt in places.  I'm ready for three solid days outside.

ThuMar 28

50^°

34^°

AM Clouds / PM Sun

CHANCE OF RAIN:

20%

 

WIND:

N at 11 mph

Details

FriMar 29

51^°

36^°

Partly Cloudy

CHANCE OF RAIN:

10%

 

WIND:

NW at 6 mph

Details

SatMar 30

52^°

35^°

Partly Cloudy

CHANCE OF RAIN:

10%

 

WIND:

NW at 7 mph

Details

Entanglements

Cold at night, in the low 20s, and the ground is frozen. But today there was sun, the afternoon got into the 40s, and there was only a moderate breeze. Some exposed areas were snow free. Where the top inches have melted it is incredibly squishy, though.

But I went out today and it felt good.

I took all the mesh and plastic trunk protectors off the trees on the back hill and in the yard. You'd think that would be a quick job, but it took quite a while.

I spent time on the back hill cutting down multiflora rose and bittersweet. So much of it. I wanted to brush each cut stem with Brush B Gone, but really it's impossible. In the tangle of woody vines and weeds and other debris up there, I can't get to the stems.

I just lopped off what I could, took the vines down from the upper branches and moved on to the next entanglement.

I cut my hands badly on some thorns, lost a glove on the hill, got hot and sweaty in the chill air, and wound up with burrs all over me.  A good day.

I saw that one of the black gums planted back there was incredibly root girdled. There were visible tightly coiled roots around the small stem, and I could see how distorted the trunk was becoming.

This is the tree, in fall 2011. It's nestled between some maples at the bottom of the hill, and it has not grown much.

I thought that was because Nyssa sylvatica is a slow grower, but this little tree is stunted, totally root strangled.

You wouldn't believe how girdled the top layer of roots was. I should have gotten a photo. I cut away what I could, lopping off quite a few tightly wrapped roots, at least the ones I could see at soil level. I hope I have saved it.

Even with all the entangled vines, the cold ground, and wet conditions, it felt good to be doing chores out in the chilly sun today.

Still

Still the cold persists.

It is still in the 20s at night and the ground remains frozen. Snow has melted in some areas, but still, it's wintry and white out there. And windy today.

Yet this little iris wants me to know there is hope.



Oh, and taxes got done today.

Winter Lingers

The first day of spring has come and gone, but winter stays with us. Every day when I wake in the morning the temperature is in the low 20s. During the day it gets up into the 30s, sometimes even the low 40s, but the air is sharp. Not in a crisp mid-winter way, but in a chilly gray way.

With snow still blanketing the ground from the storm earlier this week, everything is white, cold, and the ground is not only frozen but unseen.

I had hoped to get some early spring tasks done in the cool of March. There are 5 things on my To Do list that are still waiting.

Inside, the seeds I planted are up, even the zinnias that I just planted a few days ago. The only no shows so far are the morning glories, but they'll peek up soon.

And the Rex begonia that I brought into the bedroom is doing really well. It goes nicely with the silvery-teal color of the quilt I bought this winter.

No Chores Today

Gardening tasks for today have been cancelled.

All clean up and tidying for spring will be rescheduled for a later date.

We're staying inside today.

Pam came over and spent the night here last night so she could get a morning flight out to California. We are such an easy drive to the airport from our house.

There are several inches of snow and it is still coming down in a light snowy mist, but the airport was open and her flight is on time. The roads are okay, but anything else outside is going to be put on hold.

No chores in the garden today.

No Let Up

Sometimes March gives us a sunny, calm day, and you can feel spring coming. You can spend a day outside doing chores, and the ground starts to soften in exposed areas.

This year there has been no let up from the cold and the wind.

For days now it has been in the 20s at night, and only in the 30s in the daytime with a stiff breeze. The ground remains frozen in most places.

Next week looks to be the same, although snow is forecast for midweek.

There is just no warm break to encourage any outside work, it's too wet or frozen to do much, and it's wearing on me. I want to get some things started!

A few hopeful signs are the royal purple iris reticulatas just coming up, and snowdrops, which have been blooming for a while now.

And the pink Dawn viburnum wants to open, as the bright yellow Cornus mas does. Soon!

I know this is typical March weather, or at least freezing nights with days in the low 40s are. And of course last March was abnormally warm. But I would like just a little let up in the steady parade of cold temps.

Just a day or two to be outside comfortably and to make me feel spring is coming soon!