Hard to believe that just ten days ago, it was 2 degrees below zero, and I was cutting apart pallets for firewood, and we had just invested in a new portable oil heater, it had been so durn cold for so durn long. Then yesterday it was 45 degrees. Today it's supposed to approach 60. So what did I do as soon as the schoolbus turned the corner with the kids? Pruned the lilacs of course! That took all of 45 minutes.
Then I went around to the side of the house, where the people before us had planted 4 "burning bushes" along the garage. What a waste of a good south-facing 40' long brick wall which gets sun all day. It's almost criminal, planting useless crap like that in such a prime location. There ought to be a law. Those have got to come out. And soon. I have visions of cucumbers and vining tomatos, perhaps a kiwi or three, even reaching as high as that second story window...
I got the shovel and tested the soil around one of them. Not frozen, but pretty much a solid mass of roots, even 3' from the trunk. Digging them out is definitely going to be one b*tch of a job. They're about 5' tall, so I'd like to salvage them and transplant them just inside the rear fence, which would screen the neighbor's patio from direct view of our patio. Until I can enlist my son and/or brother to help yank these out, I suppose I'll busy myself cleaning the garage. Yep, spring fever is coming early this year.
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3 comments:
Have fun with that. I dug out ONE last fall and it was a pain. The digging was easy, but there were indeed a lot of roots. That would be a great location for an espalier fruit tree too wouldn't it? Have a good time.
P~
Thanks P. Espalier, for sure. Or maybe such a large mass of sun-drenched brick would create a micro-climate say an entire zone higher (7a, fingers crossed), for an experiment with true bay laurel or pomegranite, or even a hardy palm.
It could also be a great spot to build a very simple little lean-to type greenhouse. perhaps one that you could collaps and put up in the summer but use to extend season in the fall and spring. (just thinking out loud here.) Good luck with whatever you decide!
P~
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