August 01, 2005

Gratuitous Domestic Posting (TM) - Outdoor Division

I believe I have officially hit that tipping point in the season where I lose control of the yard and garden. It's too bloody hot most of the time to put in much work, the number of things that are sprouting where they shouldn't increases exponentially and the number of things that need to be done to keep what should be there healthy just gets overwhelming. To hell with the whitefly and Japanese beetles! Stuff the false-strawberry invading the lawn! Bugger all the dead branches that need to be pruned! If I can just keep the lawn routinely cut for the next five weeks or so, that'll be good enough for now.

I am also paying for earlier lapses. Pruning has always been my weak spot as a gardener. For most of the perennials, this isn't really that much of a problem, and I have always liked the rather dishevelled look it produces. But in some cases, my slacking has had detrimental results. This year, I neglected to cut back the Joe Pye Weed in late spring as I had ought to have done, and now the damned stuff is 9 feet tall instead of 5 and is far too big for my little plot.

But there's always a silver lining - as I was brooding on this matter yesterday, staring out at the garden, I had a sudden epiphany about how I could transplant the JPW and thereby improve the balance of the beds out of all knowledge. It's going to involve an awful lot of moving things about this fall, but I think the results will be terrific.

Posted by Robert at August 1, 2005 01:21 PM | TrackBack
Comments

It just reminds me of Blandings Castle, and the controversy over how much greenery without flowers would balance the flowers, and the Scottish gardener.

Posted by: Aunt Connie at August 1, 2005 04:08 PM

Ah, old Angus McAllister. I believe that he and Lord Emsworth were squabbling over hollyhocks in the first Blandings novel, Something Fresh. And in Leave It To Psmith, I think the controversy was over the mossy path in the yew walk.

I think Plum eventually introduced the Empress of Blandings because he realized that a prize pig has much more comic punch potential than do prize roses. I mean, how funny would Ronnie Fish's bouncing tennis balls in the perennial borders be?

Posted by: Robert the LB at August 1, 2005 04:35 PM

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Posted by: Bill from INDC at August 1, 2005 06:13 PM

FYI - we cut our Joe Pye to the ground around April Fools' Day, and it's about 8 feet tall now...so site selection probably trumps fidelity to the spring cleanup to-do list. Keep us posted on your garden re-designs (INDC Bill could use the beauty sleep, yes?). Cheers.

Posted by: Chan S. at August 2, 2005 10:10 AM

Ouch.

Posted by: Robert the LB at August 2, 2005 03:34 PM

We demand photos and a site plan. How do we know that anything you say about your garden is true... braggard.

Posted by: babs at August 3, 2005 10:04 AM

Well, if people actually started hitting the tip jar, I might actually be able to buy a digital camera. Otherwise, I'll have to wait for Santa.

Posted by: Robert the LB at August 3, 2005 10:13 AM
Post a comment









Remember personal info?