I decided to head to the ridge top garden next door to begin the hedge clipper hand mowing of the dead dried sticks of the perennials. I had finished hand mowing the sunny utility meadow a few days before.
At this time of year it is almost hard to imagine the lush that takes over in the time of vegetation. By the end of the season, the last of the fall blooming perennial asters are four feet tall. The stems get woody and resist returning to the earth from where they came. I prefer to assist them in this endeavor for a fresh clean start in the spring.
The first hour was spent roaming the entire ridge top garden picking up sticks and branches that fall from the forest trees above in the howling winter winds. Then I got busy with the chop and drop of the dead dried sticks of the perennials. All those sticks are left in place to rot. All I am doing is speeding up nature's own processes.
Fine tune tidying can be done on an as needed basis. There isn't a whole lot of fine tuning needed in the wild cultivated garden. Or so we tell ourselves.
The furry assistants followed me over. They like to go on strolls. This behavior might be reminiscent of cattle egrets following cows and buffaloes waiting for the large lumbering mammal to stir up the smaller varmints. I also offer them a bit of safety from the other scary things out there.
Maybe I got a little more than a quarter of the ridge top garden hand mowed today. Every little bit of time working at it adds up. I should have it done in time for the Bulbapaloozathon.
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6 comments:
Well, that's a lot of work but it is getting cleaned up and looking good.
nellie
Much appreciate the photo of your furry assistants - I rather believe, however, they are inspecting your work. I suspect their concern is either to make sure you have not disrupted the potential for prey to inhabit this particular area, or they are getting familiar with the terrain for next summer when the growth might mask high and low spots.
Yes it is looking good Nellie. I only have a little more than an acre to go.
Cheryl that could very well be. They are acutely aware of their surroundings. If I move something out of place or bring in something new it spooks them a bit at first until they make sure it isn't moving and smells ok.
Looks good. Glad you had company. It won't take long for the rest to go down.
Stay warm with the kitties.
Lola it is supposed to warm up a notch and rain for about the next five days. I imagine I'll be mowing things between showers.
Seeing your cats following you around reminds me a cat I had years ago. She would follow me around too. Great company in the garden. This spring you are going to be so happy about all the work you are accomplishing this winter. You will be way ahead of the game.
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