On Thursday I was up at 4:45AM because some cat was scratching at the screen on the door. He’d ignored the door entirely the first night it was up. But the grille I had gotten to protect the screen was too small. He’d found the unprotected part so I got up, got a cookie sheet, a screwdriver and a longer screw and fixed his wagon! And just for that I went back to bed and didn’t get up until 6:15AM.
I got my post up and headed out to the gardens by 8:15AM.
This rosebed hadn’t been touched since May 2024. There was a lot of winterkill and the leaves pile up in this corner. I started on the driveway side and filled 2 sleds with leaves. Then I started cutting away the dead and filled 2 more sleds. I found that 2 of the 5 rugosa roses had died. I’ll have to find new roses to replace them.
There’s an old climbing rose that has been there for the best part of 40 years and never had trouble with winter. But this year some critters had chewed the stems and a lot of it died. There are still about 10 tiny canes under 18” high so I think it will come back.
On the end there’s a lilac tree that’s not doing well at all. The truck at the base is rotting. And in that area is a Damascus rose that appeared a few years back. It had been invaded by the climbing rose and the rugosa so I had to cut those out. There were also a lot of lilac sprouts that got cut out. There seemed to be little in the way of weeding besides a creeping plant. I guess the heavy leaf cover killed stuff, or maybe it will all come up now I’ve removed the leaves.
First dandelion
It took me nearly 4 hours to finish this bed. I tied up the canes so they don’t get me when I mow and put down FlowerTone and greensand. I got my photos and notes and cleaned up my mess. It was after noontime.
I went inside where it was a little cooler but no less humid and sat down in front of a fan.
I had planned to move seedlings to the cold frame but it was so hot and humid out, and the cold frame would be hot. We’d have to get inside to level each tray thanks to moles and I just couldn’t face it.
I had to clean out around the not working water heater in the cellar. When my #4 helper arrived at 1:30PM we opted to get that done first. But by the time we finished, I couldn’t stand up for much longer.
So even though it would be in the hotter upstairs, I opted to take down the snowflakes in the windows. It should have happened sooner, and would have if I had a window washer coming.
So we spent the best part of an hour peeling them off the windows and putting them back on their sheets to store away. This was mostly a sitting job for me as she peeled and brought them over.
She had also rinsed the dishes in the sink and when we’d finished the snowflakes, I got the dishwasher loaded.
Next we went down to the workshop in the cellar and spent 2 hours cleaning it up. I haven’t seen the top of that white bench since it was installed 6 years ago. We put stuff into plastic bins as we sorted. Then she swept and vacuumed the floor while I sorted out the mixed up boxes of nails and screws.
There’s still a lot to do down there, but we made a good start. She left at 5:45PM and I sat down to watch ‘Leave It To Beaver’ before I heated up some supper. I was in bed by 9PM after a much needed shower.
On Friday I hope to get a lot of the smaller gardens done: the comfrey under the MacIntosh tree, the east lilacs, the white lilac, and the spirea. It’s to be a bit cooler.
My #3 helper arrives at 12:30PM and we must move the seedlings to the cold frame as the seed starting is Saturday. I’m assuming that, and feeding the seedlings or watering them, will be all we get done.