Its Spring!

Well, March 1 is the start of meterological spring, and over the past few day the snow banks have receeded and my yard no longer looks like the set for filming "March Of The Penguins". On an exposed spot of soil I found this slightly bedraggled Galanthus beginning to bloom.

I know a woman who grew up in Orlando, Flordia and went to college at Flordia State in Tallahassee. She never could understand the poets always gushing verses extoling the glory of spring, then she spent a winter in Iowa. Winter is the dues we pay to truly appreciate what is unfolding outside. Enjoy!

Very nice and so true. I knew somebody from Wisconsin who was not very gushy but he said they all kind of gush over real nice spring weather when it gets to WI. I did spot a bud on my own snowdrops the other day, when they finally did emerge from the snow. Daffy nubs and crocus spikes coming every day from bare ground or under leaves I move.

I used to watch a kids nature show about ten years ago from Canada called Nature Nut. One episode showed his seasonal calendar and justification for why some seasons are longer or shorter than 'said,' by all the natural signals of season changes he could point out.

Explain meteorological spring please.

From Wikipedia:

"Meteorological seasons are reckoned by temperature, with summer being the hottest quarter of the year and winter the coldest quarter of the year.......So, in meteorology for the Northern hemisphere: spring begins on 1 March, summer on 1 June, autumn on 1 September, and winter on 1 December."

I don't see anything yet. I'll have to do a more thorough walk about tomorrow and see if I can find some sign of spring somewhere! Terri

I'm sure you can find some fat buds somewhere! My lilac leaf buds are green. Your daffs are probably kind of small or just buried in the leaves --didn't I tell you you'll have to get a few of them back out of the woods and closer to your house this summer? I cleaned up my Autmn Joy sedum and Lemon Balm today and found nice buds were hiding under the dry stems and brown leaves caught in them.

I was wondering how everyones gardens faired this winter with all the heavy snow that fell. I went outside yesterday and saw bulbs coming up an the hydrangis sprouting stems from thr ground. I am still a little worried about the small JM that i planted last fall from pots. So many of my shrubs were flattened with the snow. i am hoping all comes back with a vengence...lol.

We have tips up and a few crocus, the hellebore are the real troopers though, they flowered right through all that crushing snow. Ric

And another. Ric

We had quite a bit of snow damage, but even a little color helps remind us of things to come. Ric

Good job Sally, I wanted to start cleaning up the beds today but ended up at one of the local flower shows. I am hoping that it will be nice enough to get out there tomorrow. I have serious damage to the juniper hedge. Not entirely sure about some of the other areas. The Azaleas in front of the house are still buried. It is a shady area and the snow is melting very slowly.

i have the same problem in front of my house Holly. the snow is still on top of my one JM. May i ask what are you going to do with your shrubs that are damaged from the snow. let them go or replace.

sorry if i am noy typing too good. i have to type with left hand due to a shoulder operation on my right, which i am right handed...lol

Well--

Now that greenthumb started this thread--tomorrow, i will go out and see what's what--camera in hand.

My daffs. are all up about 4". Saw ONE blooming Crocus today...Ahhhh.......

My Wintersweet Shrub is perfuming my whole front of the house. SO sweet an aroma!!! it is in it's fullest bloom right now--even though many of the buds/blooms look a bit waterlogged. This shrub started budding out before the big snows came--so there was some damage for sure.

None of my Helebores are even showing signs of blooming yet. I have 3. No new growth as far as i can see.....
Just old winter-worn foliage....

My old, tall evergreens at the back of my yard are in sad shape. They were all bent over double with the two snows. Do you remember me posting that picture? None of them have really straightened out. They are ugly!
I have been wanting to cut these back for years--then changed my mind.

Upon someone's suggestion (not on DG)--I now have a long-term goal for this bed.
1--get rid of these old, bare, ugly evenrgreens. GONE!
2--find someone with a small back-hoe to dig up all the roots and fluff up this bed
3--Install 3 panels of fencing along the back property to hide all the junk my back-yard neighbor stores behind his garage. Out of sight for him--but i would see it all. Firewood--3 trash cans---dead shrubs, etc....
3--Use it as my new Tomato/Veggie bed. It gets good light. Oh, well. i can dream.....

This will not be an easy task. Besides these 40-year old evergreens--there are also roots from my 2 maples all intertwined there. Have to consider possible damage to the trees if I chop off all the roots in a certain area for them.
Any suggestions here???????????

I can't do much of anything yet for another 4 weeks. Had my surgery this past Tuesday--and now i cannot lift more than 10lbs for 4-5 more weeks. So--NO garden prep for a long while--and tomorrow will be near 60*...Bummer!
Maybe i will just rake and clean and prune a bit......Gotta do something!!!!! Also--gotta be good!!!! I want this "fix" to work!

Gita

Here are the evergreens--after both snows have melted off of them--trying to straighten up.
Hasn't happened yet.........

Marie, Shoulder surgery, rotator cuff? I had that a couple of years ago. PT was really hard but I have a good working shoulder now. Well my Juniper hedge is about 100ft long and 32 years old. Just huge. I will cut off the damage and and it will fill back in over time. The Azaleas are still covered so I don't know if they are broken or bent.
Gita, Hope you are feeling well make sure you follow all those Dr. directions and take care. Holly

Gita - What kind of evergreens do you have? I can't ID them with certainity from your photo, and it makes a difference in the root system that has to be dealt with in their removal. Last year I removed two much larger yews by hand with surprisingly little difficulty. As for the roots of your maples, I only see indications of one in your photo, so my response is based on only the area shown and what I can infer: The tree to the left is far enough from the strip to be dug up that the amount of root pruning should not harm it.

David,

I went out and took some pictures.
They are NOT Yews. Not Arbor Vitae, but similar. I planted them about 38 years ago to screen my back yard from neighbors. They were then, already, about 5'-6' tall. Maybe some sort of a Cypress???

Here's a pic of the foliage on the bush.

Here's some broken off branches.

Here's how the hedge looks today. My neighbor behind me nust have come and tied a long rope to the one on the right--and then tied it around the trunk of the Red Mple on the left--(not showing).

I have a Silver maple and a Red (Swamp) maple. Both are a good 20' away from this bed--but I do know the roots are there.....They are EVERYWHERE in my back yard!

edited to add that under these evergreens is where I keep my black trash-bags full of shredded leaves to compost. You might be able to see some of them. I have about 9 or 10 of them. In 2 years--ir is pretty good compost.

This message was edited Mar 7, 2010 11:24 AM

OK! Back on topic--Not that shrub damage is all that OFF topic this Spring.

Here's a clump of daffs and some buds showing.

Here's a clump of purple Crocus snug against the decaying remnants of my cut-down Birch. Full AM sun there!

More Daffs. coming up amid winter-killed Ferns. They re-grow new every year.

A Large-rooted Perennial Geranium that I just got last year at Holly's Swap. man! This one will be a biggie!!!!
Looking pretty good with all the snow damage on it!

My Wintersweet Shrub in full bloom--it's fragrance wafting my way......:o)

edited to add that the leaves will come much later.

This message was edited Mar 7, 2010 11:12 AM

Buds that have formed under all the dead leaves on my purple Hellebore. Figured they had to be there--somewhere.....

And the light green one---these both are on either side of my bird bath in my "YUK" bed.
Everything takes more time there......but they both make it every year.

Sadly--another Mourning Dove has been a meal for some creature. Might be the same hawk I photographed earlier in the snow. They are such easy pray--feeding on the ground.....
I always feel sad when one of these gets killed--as they mate for life.

Last picture---
Here is the remnants of the snow still on my front lawn. it faces kind of North--so things don't get much sun here.
Melting away by leaps and bounds! Today should finish it off.....

Might be a good day to go out and sprinkle some fertilizer on things.......YUP!

Gita

Too busy to do much of anything outside. There are lots of things greening up. My Italian Parsley outside came through the winter just fine. It's greening up very nicely. There are bulbs popping up everywhere, but the really early ones aren't showing as they are still under snow.

My outside activities were limited to cleaning up debris, and refilling the feeders, so I didn't really look for buds. Will try to do that tomorrow.

Gita,

The foliage in your close-up looks like Arbor Vitae, but you say its not. If the individual needles are very flat, its Arbor Vitae. If the needles have some plumpness to them then it is probably some type of cedar.

As to the roots of your maples, if the trees are 20 feet from your intended bed you should have no repercussions from cutting the roots. Their root systems are so extensive that it would be like pruning outer stems on the branches of a tree. You would even want to cut them back further than the edge of the bed. The pruning of the roots tends to stimulate side growth in the remaining root, much as pinching back your basil. You will probably get denser root development in the area where you prune, and you don't want that to be in your new bed!
David

Cleaned up the Lamppost bed yesterday. Everyone walks past it and it has the most spring bulbs. Wow everything is just popping. Crocus, Daffs and Tulips are all poking and some of the Crocus are blooming. I see all kinds of sedums, phlox is greening up, and tiny chrysanthemum leaves. Tiny buds on the Clematis, looks like some of the snapdragons overwintered. I cut them back so we will see if they are going to do anything but they had green growth left over from last year and I pulled one up and it had some white roots so I stuck it back in. Still have some snow covered beds and since they are in the shade I expect them to stay that way unless I do something about it.

David,

I will take a branch to a nursery and see if they can tell me for sure.
I used to have an Arbor Vitae in front--and I think there is a difference....Will look closer if I see one somewhere.
Check an evergreen book--I have plenty of books!

In my mind--I have formulated this plan for that bed.

--Cut the evergreens all the way down--flat! as close to the bed as possible.
--If needed (probably!), replace all the landscape edging with new ones--or PT 4x4's nailed together.
--Lay heavy duty weed fabric (the gray, dense one) over all and put 2"-3" of rock on top of that.
--Create a raised bed--maybe 14" deep and fill it with good top soil, my composted leaves and some manure,
if I can get some. Let it all "settle in" before I would use it.
--Put 3-6' privacy fence panels along the back (not sure what kind yet) and I will have a lovely bed and nice to look at
too. Might even grow a vine or something tall along the back. And--it will hide all the stuff my neighbor keeps
behind his garage.

In reality--I will have to hire someone to do all this. Am thinking my back-yard neighbor and his resident s.I.L might be the ones. Maybe a man that works in lumber at my HD? Maybe some muscular youngster that needs some cash?

No need to do this now--I have all summer.....but will have it ready for next year.
All this sounds good to me. And--all the roots can stay put!

What do YOU think????

Gita

It sounds like a good plan to me. I went down to the house this weekend to get some of my tools out of the shed and checked out the yard. I have a bunch of plants that did not get planted last year that look like they made it, I know the geraniums look good. I will have to take some of the plants for the backyard of the townhouse.

Gita,

You my experience annoying re-growth if you just cut the evergreens down. Here is my suggestion:
1) Cut them off at about 3 feet from the ground.
2) Dig around the roots to expose them a bit.
3) Use a reciprocating saw fitted with a blade that has very coarse teeth like a bow saw to cut the roots near the base of the trunk. (By the time its done the blade will be done too. Around $5.95 at HD)
4) The leverage provided by the 3 feet of trunk allows the person doing the job to rock the stump and break it free after cutting additional roots that show up in the process.
It is not as bad a job as you might imagine, and whom ever does it will hopefully become more skilled with each one removed.
If you dig the soil before you build the bed on top, the major parts of the roots will come free and can be cut out.

Gita, Home Depot also rents trenchers and stump grinders! LOL Ric

I already asked my back-yard neighbor and he was---well--you just buy the lumber and i will cut the shrubs down. I am thinking I may get all this done for a couple $100--material costs not included. Doug (the neighbor) is very helpful. He is in his late 40's and still full of power and energy...

David--i will c/p your suggestion, but, even though that sounds as the RIGHT thing to do--I doubt if my neighbor will go that far. I will try to be present when the final cuts are made and pour straight Roundup on the cuts as soon as they are made. I have NO idea what the surface looks like as I have always had the black trash bags full of leaves under these.
The Roundup Worked for me when I once cut down a cork-screw Willow sapling that had grown too big (12' or more) for the spot. Never saw even one root shoot coming up afterward.

WHEN I get going with this--I will take a lot of pictures to show you all--and ask a lot more advice.

I do have one question: What kind of wood is best for the sides of a raised bed? PT Boards? 4x4's?
Stacked, nailed together landscape timbers? Keep costs down in your suggestions, please.......:o)

Thanks, Gita

Gita - Your least expensive route is probably to use landscape timbers, rather than PT 2x boards or 4x4's, but it is easy enough to price out the lumber and hardware. Be sure to stagger your tiers of wood so the joins don't line up. What kind of veggies are you planning to grow?

Catbird, Those look like Nandina in the back. I picked one up last summer and it is looking a bit worse for wear right now but I think it will be fine. I'd like to get a few more for the back when I'm ready to do more permanent planting back there.
Nice tutorial Greenthumb. I might use that on the forsythia I need to remove. I believe Ric was talking about a chain and the Explorer hitch. LOL

DH used a roll-back tow truck and cable to attempt to pull out a large shrub stump. The stump broke the cable, just snapped it. Luckily noone was near so nobody got hit by the cable. Could have been bad.
Holly, yes they are Nandina, pic taken last year, they look a bit worn from the weather now but I hope they will live.

Ric has a trick he uses to pull fence posts you set a tire at the base of the post and run the chain around the bottom of th post and up over the tire. Changes the angle of the pull and gives some cushioning.

David--
I would grow my 5 tomatoes in this bed, but as it is much wider than the bed I use now for them, I could grow some smaller stuff in the front--like Dill, and I could plant all my basil and Italian Parsley in the bed instead of in dinky pots as I have been doing. Lets face it--the soil in pots and W-Boxes gets as hot as the air outside--so the roots really take a beating....
In the bed I use now--on the other side of my shed, I could grow, maybe, some onions and garlic and Leeks too. Maybe a couple peppers?....Getting all excited about this project--even if I have to wait another year.

I think I like the 4x4's better than the landscape timbers. They are so skinny nowadays! Used to be really fat. That's what this bed is surrounded by now. What a difference....

Gonna have to figure out just what kind of fencing and how to incorporate it into the raised portion of the back of the bed--as this bed runs EXACTLY on my property line. Nothing left to play with.

Thanks for all your advice. yes! I know to stagger them. I did a whole new edging at my present Tomato bed which is 12' long and I nailed down landscape timbers 3 deep only 3 years ago. I used 6" spike nails. That was hard to bang them in! I only have a 4lb. sledge hammer.

Have to concentrate om seeding all me seeds this week--then i can play around with plans for the bed....

Gita

Here's my Tomato bed on the east side of my shed facing my neighbor. It gets unfiltered, bright AM sun until about 2PM. Not too bad for veggies....

Here is my Tomato Jungle in 2008. On the left is my "Sun Gold"--YUMMMM!

I think I better learn to pinch out the suckers!