High Summer

It feels like high summer came a bit early. It's been hot and dry. Today, a little less hot (hooray!) but even drier. Yesterday morning, I watered for three hours, in front, inside and outside the fence. The birds loved it! I am thinking of a water feature for in the back, at least a bird bath. I've been watering the vegetables, and the pots, as well.

I did another substantial cutback / rootout of the sweetshrub yesterday, maybe a quarter of its mass. I think I've decided to remove it entirely from that location:  the best, sunshiny spot in front. It is too aggressive, and insufficiently interesting. In that front clump of bushes outside the fence but by the frontdoor and my bedroom window, I have the sweetshrub, several blueberries, a shadbush, a dogwood, an oakleaf hydrangea that is also way too big, an arrowwood and a cranberry viburnum. When the sweetshrub comes out, there will be more room for the better behaved blueberries. I may think about yet another shrub. The birds love the berries and they flit around inside the thicket.

I may transplant pieces of the sweetshrub to a a shadier site outside the fence, where it is not so likely to be aggressive. I had the shrub for nearly 20 years, and it's only been a problem recently. I was surprised to see the oakleaf hydrangea is also sprouting suckers. I'll transplant some of them to the shade outside the fence as well.

I've been studying the patterns of shade and light. After 8 in the morning, it's uncomfortable to work in the sun, so I have to plan my work carefully. Today, I mowed the side yard. It was mostly shady when I started, but the sun quickly came around and it was half sun before I was done. I was struck by how the grass is so different at the sunny end, sparse and scratchy, versus lush and green and soft at the shadier, driveway, end. The shade at that end is partially from the apple tree that I plan to get rid of (when the crop is done), so things will change.

I found both a dead mouse and a dead baby bunny in the yard today. I didn't examine the mouse, but the bunny had (minor from the outside) injuries, but hadn't been snacked on. Luckily, I got there before Rocky did!  It may have been the baby from the Great Bunny Rescue last week, but no way to tell.  The neighborhood is crawling (hopping) with bunnies - I see them on every walk, crossing roads. I wonder how big their territories are?