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| Back a few months back, when things were growing. I started my clean up of my yard. I started trimming the dead wood of old perennials, but I work like 10 hours a day and have a kid, so things fallen on the way side. Later, I realized that the little low shrub like plant had leaves growing out of the old wood, so I probably shouldn't be trimming it. In fact, I still have no idea what kind of plant it is, but I assume it's not a weed because the neighbors have it, too.
Now I wonder what other things I could be more lazy about :-). Paul |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Well, leafing from old wood doesn't mean it wouldn't look better cut back, but you won't know until you ID it. Maybe you did avoid hurting something that should be left alone though! Laziness in gardening can be good sometimes..the years I'm late to mulch/weed I get far more self-sown plants. Cleome, sweet alyssum, and verbena galore..baby perennials too. This year I was on the ball though- it looks neat but probably will have fewer surprises. |
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| I don't know when lazy became such a bad word.... The lazy days of summer will never be bad in my book. I was a little offended when the roses and other shrubs in my parents yard grew and flowered much better after I moved away. I was doing everything by the book! Now I don't sweat all the details so much. I don't think of it as laziness, more like "efficiency" and "waiting for maximum returns". I do like the surprises of self sown seedlings but mulching is one of the best ways to avoid more work later. My lazy tip is to leave all the small annual weeds there and throw the mulch on top. Most will smother and die. Even foot tall crabgrass in your neglected veggie garden can be smothered if you mulch it with enough grass clippings... And the squash plants love it. Don't skimp on staking. Floppy plants will always come through and flop in the first wind storm. They never look good on the ground either. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sun, May 20, 12 at 12:43
| i never stake anything .... and if it cant hold itself up.. and it doenst look good laying on the ground .... i spray it with roundup ... who needs to fool around with staking ... what you will probably find.. is that the stuff on old wood.. will eventually lean.. and collapse to the ground.. and then you will prune it then ... and it will rebud lower.. its sorta like trimming a lilac at height.. instead of rejuvenation pruning at the ground.. the theory is the same ... except the lilac will take years to lean over. and an annual/perennial might do it in one season ... live and learn... life's to short to be a slave to your garden ... nothing will die.. from lack of early pruning ... ken |
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