Winter Musing

We haven't had much winter this year, though there have been some cold days. And plenty of nasty, dark, wet days - but not snow days. The past two weeks have been sunny. Last week unseasonably warm, this week seasonably cold and very windy.

I confess, I did not get all my fall clean-up projects done. I have been working slowly away at them, as weather and motivation dictate. I actually mowed the grass around New Year's, the long zoysia on the north side of my house. It will do better in the spring to be short, and it looks much better now than it did. There were some leaves on it, and they just crunched up with the grass and hopefully all will be decomposed by spring.

I've intermittently been cleaning up leaves. I bought a new blower/vac (electric), and it is great at sucking up the leaves from the window wells. I engaged my landscaper to cut down the apple tree that was too close to the house and wires. He stacked the wood on my firewood pile. I've done some tidying of both sheds, and had the brilliant idea of decluttering to the point of having only one shed. So I'm dreaming about a better, single, shed, built on the foundation of current one. I kind of like the idea of a vinyl one, or some synthetic, so it lasts longer and is maybe more resistant to rodents. This shed thing is possibly a multi-year project - first (like the basement) I have to get rid of more stuff. The single shed has to hold my lawnmower and my bicycle, plus other tools, and perhaps winter furniture. This mostly requires rationalizing my tools and furniture.

I need a better-looking compost heap. It's really just a leaf pile - I pile stuff in, and haven't harvested the leaf mold at the bottom for a few years. It doesn't get much green stuff, so it doesn't cook much, just slowly rots. Building one out of fencng and lumber has its appeal, but is one of many projects I want to tackle. I may get inspired and do it one weekend, or I may just think about it for another year.
There is some pruning I want to do, urgently, before the sap starts flowing. This is really limbing up the bottom tree branches. I have a ladder and a chainsaw, and I'm (mostly) not afraid to use them. I want to do it myself, because I've made a study of these trees and I know exactly where I want them cut.

Daffs, including the newest ones along the fence, are poking their heads up. I know they can withstand cold weather, but I was concerned to see some of last year's tulips well up. I left most perennial plants standing, and they look crummy, but provide shelter and still some food for the birds. I can see some basal foliage appearing. Old stuff will be cut down - target February.

Now is an ideal time for certain kinds of weeding, a lovely low key activity. When nothing else is growing, it's possible to spot onion grass sticking up all green everywhere. This is a great time to dig it out - but it does take slightly warmer soil than last night's hard frost has left us. There are other unseasonably green spreading weeds, easy to spot, that also should be controlled. So I'll get to some of it when I can.

I will be ordering plants, too. I need to set a budget, and plunge in. Now is the ideal time to do this, and it'll involve sitting inside in the warmth, but virtuously feeling I'm truly productive. I lost the spring planting season, mostly, last year by working longer. There's nothing like a big box of things to plant showing up on my doorstep to force me out there in the spring. The forecast is for warmer next week, after a wet weekend, so outside chores may be more possible then. Reason enough to spend money now.