I spent yesterday morning doing Spring clean up on the patio. Although it was a little on the cool side, it felt so good to be outside working in the yard. It always amazes me how many leaves settle on the patio over the winter when I spend so much time picking them all up in the Fall.
Not too much damage considering the rough winter we had. The snow pushed up against the fence on the burm snapping a slat which I will have to replace, a minor fix. I’ve been looking for a place to transplant some of my Hosta and I know where the plants are going now. A line of Hosta on top the burm behind the fence will lend additional privacy and cut down on the ‘stuff’ that the wind blows against the fence. One problem solved.
Always a fun chore is cleaning out the fire pit. Ash, leaves and dirt settle in the basin and at this time of the year it’s still moist. I shoveled the mixture out and spread the wood ash around my gardens (over plants that prefer low acidity). As a kid I remember thinking how odd it was that my grandmother Pearl spread the ash from the wood stoves around the yard. I thought she used it as a repellant to keep me from playing in her gardens. And here I am, following in her footsteps. If you want to fertilize with wood ash, now is the time before the shoots
burst through the soil.
I’ll put the leaves in the compost and burn the sticks. I’m going to wait another week or so before I put the patio furniture out. I’ll give the patio another pass with the blower and direct the stragglers of leaves and tiny sticks right into the garden adding organic matter. It took me a few years before I learned to be patient and wait until the Maples finished raining their yellow Pollen over the yard to mulch. I was always super excited to freshen the gardens in the Spring and they looked great all cleaned and mulched for a few weeks … until everything turned yellow. Another problem solved.
And the Season begins …