Monday, December 10, 2012

What a Mess...



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For over a week now I’ve been itching to get out in the garden and get some cleaning done. It was just an absolute disaster with all the leaves that have fallen. I knew if I didn’t get them up this weekend it was only going to get worse. Just look at this mess!

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I did manage to get a few of them raked up in the dark Friday night…

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Almost seven hours later things are looking a lot better. After raking all the leaves up I had to shred them, there were just too many. I started bagging them to save them for mulch, but it just became more work than I wanted to deal with for now. Normally I would just spread them back in the beds, unfortunately there is just still too much clean up to do in them at this point. Not to mention the beds are full of leaves as well and I’ve always heard it’s not good to just leave the whole leafs laying there. It makes a tight mat of them over the winter and they don’t decompose as well. I’ll clean up the beds in a couple of weeks and rake again and I will still have plenty of leaves for mulch. I have 19 understory trees planted in the garden and a Curly Willow and they are starting to get some good size on them. Throw in the trees from the neighbors and it is a lot of leaves. I just couldn’t wait any longer I had to do something.

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While I was walking around and cleaning up I couldn’t help but notice there were a fair amount of blooms. Even if they are tattered and weathered they're still present. Here’s my Grandmothers camellia I planted only as a little 6 inch cutting.

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The roses are still hanging on…

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Italian Jasmine is still blooming…

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The last of the coneflowers are fading among the wire ring that helps supports them when they are in full bloom…

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Mid December and there is still plenty of interest in the garden…

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The Lions stand sentinel at the entrance of the garden wall…

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I’m going to do some work on this area, but I’m undecided at the minute just what it is. I have a few ideas. The grass just refuses to grow lately and it looks unattractive to me.

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The next project is clean up all the beds and gets the feeders ready for the birds. I didn’t get a single Goldfinch last year. I hope this year is not a repeat of the same.

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27 comments:

  1. Doesn't it feel good to at least get your paths cleared?? Love that exfoliating bark and all of your blooms. I don't think I have a bloom now. WHINE...

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    1. Yes it does, Lisa! I also got the rest of the yard cleaned up too. I started on the clearing some of the debris and leaves out of the beds when I realized I was really pushing my luck with my back. But, as hard as it was I walked away. :0)

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  2. Randy,
    I you have just made up my mind as to what to do around here. I’m going to print out the pictures you posted here and every time I go out I am going to clip them to the sun visor of my cap. Then just walk around going, “Oh that’s pretty”, “my, is that looking nice today”, “oh simply beautiful”. Let’s just hope that while I am out there the wind does not blow and lift the pictures, oh that would be a fright!!! To see the real landscape :) - gary

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    1. Gary,
      You're funny! Are you all caught up cleaning from the storm?

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    2. I fear there are still tree trunks lying about and stubs remain standing. Such a tell of woe. On the plus side, when I do get the time to work with it, they all will be much lighter because the sap has dried out ;)

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  3. Yes much better!! I love your statuary!!!

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    1. Thank you Sharon! There are one or two more pieces I would like to have, a specific dragon and a statue of Flora. :0)

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  4. Looks fantastic! All that hard work was worth it.

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    1. Felecia,
      I'm just glad to get it all done. I want to be ready by the time spring comes around so I don't have to do all that cleaning!

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  5. Wow, Randy, your leaf-raking made a HUGE difference. Don't you love it when your hard works nets instant gratification? I love it. I love your statuary too. So pretty.

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    1. Yes Grace,
      It gives a great feeling of accomplishment. I was looking at the old blog that I closed and I see I had the garden completely cleaned up by the 27th of December last year. I hope I'll do it again this year. :0)

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  6. Hi Randy, Your garden looks lovely to me. Of course you remember I live in the woods so fallen leaves are not ugly to me. We eventually shred most of them and put them back in the flower beds or on the compost pile.

    Doesn't it make a plant really special when you grow it from a seedling or a cutting. And even more special when it was your grandmother's. It does to me. You ever read the book, "Passalong Plants"?

    Do you know the name of the single flowered red rose? The one I have would be almost identical to it, just on the surface anyway. I bought it more than 14 years ago from "Petals From the Past". I've lost the tag, that's why I'm curious.

    Happy Gardening.

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    1. Barbara,
      I've gotten a good start, but I still have a ways to go. I want to get all of it done before I have my surgery. I'm shooting for January sometime on that.

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  7. Your garden is lovely-leaves and all. Your grandmother's camellia took my breath away. So beautiful and what a way to remember her. Happy Holidays to you.

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    1. Tina,
      I have a Camellia, a rose and a English Dogwood from her garden that I took before the house was sold. :0)

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  8. Wow, what awesome statuary you have. I would love to hear how you found it. And I really like the layout of your beds, the shape and flow--lovely.

    It's so neat that you've got your grandmother's camellia growing in your garden. Do you know its name? Is it a Rubra? Anyway, you've really inspired me to do some major raking! Your yard looks beautiful!

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    1. Leslie,
      The statuary could make a good post, hmmmmm... Thanks for planting that seed. :0)And thank you for the compliments on the garden. I've been told the Camellia might be Mathotiana, but I'm not 100% sure about that.

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  9. So nice is to see leaves that cover all the ground! In my garden there was similar view in the middle of October. Now my garden is under thick snowblanket (about 18-20 cm). Every winter I think I need jeep because in the countryside there are big problems after hard snowing. My Seat Cordoba is not high enough and driving between home and work is complicated.

    And the biggest surprise for me is your last photo! Do you really feed birds? Can´t they themselves find any food? Is it sometimes snowing in your region? Feeding birds is our duty in such cold place like here because there is snow and temperatures are - 8-18 degrees already.

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    1. Ha ha! Mare I have four bird feeders. :0) I'm sure they could feed themselves but I like to watch them and that brings more of them to my garden. You can see some of the birds in this post from my old blog.

      http://www.jandrgardenblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/we-finally-got-it.html

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  10. You whipped it into shape! Your garden always looks lovely to me. Such interest and great "bones" are visible this time of year.

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    1. Thank you Cameron! Every year that passes I'm starting to notice the "bones" more and more. It could use some tweeking , but I think it's growing in nicely.

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  11. I only rake once, and I am waiting for my neighbor's tree to finish. It will be something I get done after the holidays are over.

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    1. Les I had to get on it! LOL There were just too many, now I'll wait until the rest of them fall.

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  12. I had to pop by this post and say how wonderful to find these plant treasures still blooming .. I would have a huge goofy smile plastered on my face Randy .. I bet you did too!
    You did a fantastic job with the clean up .. I would be embarrassed for you to see my gardens LOL!
    Joy

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  13. You just impress me no end! You are my kind of gardener when it comes to statuary. Unfortunatley I'm not so good at clean-up these days. Marvelous job!

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    1. LR,
      I do have some pieces that I really like. Leslie mentioned it too so I will probably do a post on it later. :0)

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