First things first: Blog fail. I know. To sum up:
- Christmas: Excellent, and (mostly) chaos free.
- Got rid of dog~ good decision; great new home.
- Kids got a new kitten. Her name is Moira & she is feisty. And in heat.
- Hate snow~got stuck in the driveway & in the ROAD on more than one occasion, usually with the needle fluttering just above E.
- Started making WINE!!! with my bestie~ more to come on this because it is super exciting!
- Lucien was in the school play. Lots of practices~ did a GREAT job!
- Got a new van~ love it.
- Also got Netflix~ love that equally.
- Forsythia.
We have a giant, unruly forsythia in the front of our yard. It crowds the rhododendron and wild rose bush that grow on either side of it. I hate forsythia with the burning passion of 1000 fiery suns. The worst thing about them? They root themselves! This means that the long, whip-like branches, once long enough to reach the ground, root and grow new branches. It is infuriating, and it must be stopped. Plus, I just really don't think they are pretty at all. Today, I decided that I have had enough. It was time to trim it back. I spent an hour cutting, raking, pulling, and cursing William Forsyth.
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| Before |
Our land was originally part of Matt's great-aunt's farm. She is 91 and lives about 10 yards from the wretched bush, which has been there for 50 years or more. Although we now own the land, the bush really is hers. I talked to her about it in the fall, and we agreed that it needed to be cut back.
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| I found a cute patch of nasturtium underneath the mess! |
It turned out that what was likely originally one tree is now a complex series of intertwined branches, whips and trunks. Some of it still living, some not. I did my best to thin out the branches that were clearly dead, or looked like they might take root soon. My main objective was to get the thing away from the roses and rhodo, but felt myself getting very close to being out of control. If I could have my way, I would have cut the whole stinking thing down. Realizing that this might upset Matt's aunt, I refocused. I decided to tame and thin, but the real focus now is clearing enough room to put a lilac tree between the demon tree and the wild roses.
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| After (for now) |
Lilacs are my favorite, and we don't have one yet. Earlier this year, I talked to the guy at one of our local greenhouses, and he is looking for a yellow lilac. They are pretty hard to find, but super pretty. If we can't get the yellow, any other color will do, really. Literally ANYthing else would work for me.
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| The carnage (thus far) |
This will be the spring of The Great Landscape. Matt is a genius with stone and has been hard at work already. He also recently surprised me by planting a new pear tree. He also built a new fence and a neat-o trellis to head my garden. We celebrated Easter by working outside, and I planted some peas and string beans. We are giving a garden the old college-try this year. I am fully committed to making it work, but we'll see how it goes. I would be more than tickled if we could get a good harvest of organic produce.
Once I'm pleased with the results of Operation Forsythia Freedom, I'm going to try to build some Salad Boxes™ .
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| Photo credit: University of Maryland Ag Dept |
They are adorable, and I think they could work out really well.
Click on the picture caption if you want the directions to make your own!
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