Last weekend I finally cleaned up an old mess. I'm talking, of course, about the aborted attempt to prune my lilac: the one that looked like some giant creature had come and taken a chomp out of it, the one that served as an object lesson for my fellow new-to-gardening friends on how not to do something.
I'll admit, I was dreading it. I'm afraid of pruning. I don't like cutting up trees and shrubs (but better that than cutting them down). I don't know what I'm doing, and what looks so clean and simple in how-to books is a lot more confusing and daunting in real life. But clearly the poor shrub couldn't go on looking like the victim of a wayward brontosaurus,* and besides, NoNick was having Yeti take down his maple tree, so I had access to a wood chipper.
So I grabbed my pruning saw, gritted my teeth and went to work. (I had, as my mantra, a quote from Macbeth. Fifty of the imaginary currency of your choice if you can figure out what it was.)
It's done. It's shorter, which was the plan. It no longer looks like something large took a bite out of it. It does, however, sort of look like something large decided to sit on it. I'm hoping that new growth will fix that.
I'm also hoping I don't have to prune anything else around here for a good long time.
*Yeah, yeah, I'm spreading bad science. I hardly think the name matters when we're talking about one chomping on my lilacs.
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6 comments:
Out, out, damn spot?
It would seem to be the time for pruning things. I hate it. I'm from your school of gardening, and it nearly lost me my tomatoes.
Bad brontosaurus! Don't sit on the lilacs! :)
Yay for you for gritting your teeth & getting it done!
Good guess, Syl, but not the one I was chanting.
"untimely ripped?" for a while I thought maybe it was somethung about birnim wood, but none ogf that made sense...
Since Kate asked at dinner, the quote was "If it were done when 'tis done, 'twere well it were done quickly."
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