The opening of the garden.

March 4—so it has started again: The spring cleaning of the garden!  

A good sun, strong and warm, came out today and the earth warmed up to 42 degrees.  So, I was left with no more excuses not to go out and start working the grounds again.  And thus, the job has started.  The garden has been reopened!  From now on I won’t stop.

Two of the old pink Know-out roses were taken out today too—pathetic looking little things, long due for the trash. Finally, they’re out of the garden.  Why do I keep waiting and hoping and waiting for bad plants to improve, or do better when they never do?  Now, I have a lovely space under the lilac tree for planting something else… but what?

March 6—today, I planted a clematis and a peony.  The clematis was planted by the New Dawn climbing rose at the entrance of the garden, and the peony in one of the beds, right where another peony bush stands.  I will have to remove a mule pine around that same area soon, because I don't like how it looks there; taking away precious space for something prettier, or better.  But I will have to wait until I'm done with the cleaning of beds.   

March 7—I’ve continued working in the garden every day this week; little by little and section by section.  Cleaning and clearing off its floors of the usual thick layer of debris, dead leaves, branches and broken pots and things that our long winters tent to accumulate each winter.    

All that grass growing along the fence and in places where they are not supposed to grow, I'm pulling out by hand... and I am also removing the viola papilionacea o wild violet that in certain parts of the garden spreads out like a ground cover.  This is a good time to do this, as these annoying little things have not spread out too much yet, and because the ground is soft with snows and rain moisture, it is easier to pull.  

 It took me awhile to pull them all out, but the garden is freed of it now.

As a way of an experiment, I’m only doing a light pruning on the perennials this year.  Leaving shrubs and trees to recuperate from last spring’s abuse.  Leaving most everything just as they are, and only removing the dead leaves from the rose bushes and maybe cutting off some tips to give them some shape, but nothing much. 

It always amazes me how awfully emptied of life and unattractive the garden always looks around this time of the year… but at least it gives me a clear idea of what I need to do there.

After two big trash bins a few large trash bags more, everything is starting to look awesome.  If not lovely, at least clean. 

Remember the little pond I created last spring?  It is no more. This is now where the new fence will go, as soon as the Fisherman finds time to work on it. I still have to figure out what to do with all those rocks.  Where should I put them?

...and, this is the crooked fence that Reuben built. You can't really tell by looking at the photograph, but it is lop-sided. Plus, he only build that much of a fence.  Now, the Fisherman has to extend it on each end to make it a ‘normal’ side to side fence.  For this, we’re using part of the old fence. So, it’s going to be something sorts of like a Frankenstein of a fence!  Hehe.  Not only we will have a crooked fence, but also the wonkiest of all fences!

This year I’m planning of filling several empty spaces throughout the garden and cover fences on certain areas with either some tall shrubs or vines.  It is still too early to know if the tree I moved at the end of last summer survived, and if the new tree that Joe planted for me at the beginning of fall made it or not.  I'm hopeful and eager to start seeing some life in them...  

Have you started working in your garden yet?