Sit down with me for a minute and I'll tell you about a gardening adventure we had recently. One summer day, not that long ago, I was looking at our mugo pines and thought they needed a bit of a trim. Lovely as they are, they seemed to become almost too big overnight. So while my sweet hubby mowed the lawn, I studied the mugos. To my surprise, I discovered that while I thought there were three separate pines, there was in fact only one, with long sweeping branches that entangled other shrubs in its path.
After careful consideration, I realized that trimming was either "all or none" with the mugo pine: I had to either cut an entire sweeping branch, or abandon the project. Saw in hand, I forged ahead, and within a short time had a towering pile of mugo pine branches.
I wish you could have seen my hubby's astonished face as he came around the corner of the house! Not that I did all that much cutting, but what I did cut were big branches, some close to ten feet long, and they made a staggering pile! Two trips to the dump later, we were left with a big new flower bed where none had existed before.
There are two reasons for sharing this story: one, our plants need our attention or they can grow out of control for their space in no time. Careful pruning is essential from time to time. Number two: as gardens grow and evolve, we have to adapt as well and make new gardening plans. A gardener's work is never done! This new flower bed, which previously was buried under mugo pine, has new growing conditions unlike any other in our yard, so we will have to do some homework and seek advice about the best plant choices for that spot. As my Mom always said, we're always learning. How I miss her creative ideas, I'm sure she'd be able to suggest the perfect plants for that spot. But her loving gardening lessons over the years will guide us now. We grow with our gardens, don't we?
The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding their next meeting on Wednesday, September 21. This is the first meeting after our summer break, so it's time to get into that fun routine again. Our meeting on September 21 will feature our special guest, John Senkiw from Foam Lake, speaking about being a backyard birder. It's still a little ways away, and there is still lots of summer left for us to enjoy, so till then, let's savour our gardens! Take some photos to enjoy over the winter months, and Hort Club members, don't forget to take some pictures for the group photo album. We'll be doing that at our October meeting.
Have a good week, and be sure to protect yourself against mosquitoes!
