Sometimes Less is More . . .

The glorious weather has sent me outside. I haven't planted anything yet -- feeling sure that more cold weather is yet to come --  but I have done some weeding and pruning.

John mentioned the other day that the Shore Junipers on the wall by the driveway had gotten out of hand and were covering too much of the beautiful rock wall that Justin and our friend Dr. Bob had worked so hard to build.

Too true. What you see above is an After picture. I reduced what was a solid mass dragging on the ground to three tasteful swags . . . 

. . .thus uncovering this fine chunk of orange quartz (?) and allowing for a bit of shadow play.

That was one of two big junipers treated to a trim. I also spent some time weeding, cutting away dead ferns, and shoving the dirt that had washed down from the top of the wall back into the bed.

The winter jasmine was long overdue for a trim -- it had completely eclipsed another fine big orange rock. No more!

 If past experience is any guide, pruning just encourages plants to put out more growth.

I'm sure there's a lesson of some sort there.

I Can See Clearly Now . ..

The flowering quince at the base of the birdfeeder had grown so tall that it was blocking my view of the garden beyond. So on Friday I attacked it with my trusty Felco pruners. The stuff is dense, thorny, interlaced with poison ivy vines, and, to make it more of a challenge, it grows on a steep slope.

It took all morning to beat it into submission, of sorts, but when I was done, once more I could see all the way down to the garden from the kitchen window.

On Saturday, I woke to find every muscle in my body aching from the battle, a huge blister on my thumb, and my right forearm itching with red weals from the poison ivy. I decided to give the pruners a rest ( I have my eye on a forsythia in sore need of radical pruning) but to continue on with improving the view.

As the day was forecast to be warm -- up to the eighties -- I spent my time washing windows and putting up screens.

It's a lovely Spring time thing to do and improves the view immensely.

Here're some more things I saw on this warm day.