I gardened, before the rains and the wind came. I cut back the perennials on the edge: the hyssop, the calamintha, the catnip and the strawberries and I pruned the Abraham Darby (new, last year). Already plenty of dieback, but if my experience with its predecessor (now on the roof, having failed to die), is anything to go by, it will rally.
None of this is strictly necessary in January, but it was all looking very bedraggled. And I'm not usually here to look at, in January. So.
On the terrace floor I attacked the hollow tubes of the lily stalks, the anemones' sticks and the leftover bits of Abyssinian gladiolus, geranium and cimicifuga. I had forgotten I had cimicifuga. I hacked off the blond straw of the Japanese forest grass. I cut back the two clematis, Etoile Violette and the autumn one, which both had new shoots. Stupid weather. Hey...I have three clematis. What about Bee's Jubilee? I'd better go and look for it, tomorrow. It's in the foam flower pot. Or it was.
I'll hold off on the pruning of the fig. And I noted that there will be a lot of root pruning and dividing to do, early in the spring. Chives, strawberries (many). Maybe I should start fresh with new thyme - it gets woody after a few years.
My black furry friend helped me, and kept the Felcos warm.
Ha, this is the first year that I decided not to prune anything and to wait until spring comes to bring out the shears. I thought I would see if the birds would like to fill up on the dried grapes and berries. I even did not sweep up the brick path just to see if that might also make the birds happy. Apparently some have liked to hang out on the branches and hide in the brush. Two of my neighbors have feeders out so there are lots of little birds flying around using my backyard as a place to poke around, clean their beaks and generally take a break before they go back to feed.
ReplyDeleteI am trying to restrain any more pruning, but I did clean up the lilies, the gingers, and the asparagus ferns. I brought in my hanging baskets and have started cuttings of streptocarpella in them. I thought why not. Also saw the tuberous begonias were waking up and so I potted them. I feel like it should be spring now. Hopefully in a month I can put those things outside.
ReplyDeleteI know the post is about pruning, but my take away is "You still have your cat." I envy you that...such an excellent companion.
ReplyDeleteThere's something satisfying about getting a few of those clean-up jobs done now ... less to do when it's really spring and i want to move on to planting new things ... and it looks so nice! Glad you had a good helper.
ReplyDeleteAh, Felco's and a cat - gardening doesn't get any better : )
ReplyDeleteAww, your cat is adorable. I definitely think you've got a good plan going, and new thyme is often a good idea. Imo it loses its aesthetic appeal after 2-3 years.
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