Relative Something

*this* John W. Hays' take on things and experiences

Posts Tagged ‘garden

Nascent Blossom

leave a comment »

It looks like we have some mixed success with our transplanting of last year. The maple sapling we hoped would be our 3rd-time’s-a-charm in the center of the labyrinth is not showing signs of life. For comparison, I check the trees of similar size back in the area from which we moved him, to see progress of buds and leaves. They already have a lot of buds.

Sad.

The good news is with our trillium. I’m not sure we have 100% success, but any is better than none, and we definitely have a couple groups of blossoms.

DSCN4727eIt’s a long way from the carpet of flowers we get in the woods up at the lake place, but it’s a great start! The next excitement to celebrate will be the day we see them spreading naturally and bringing up new shoots nearby. That’s what we are hoping for anyway.

Since we have success transplanting small plants, I am tempted to just transplant a little seedling of a maple tree to the labyrinth to increase my odds of success. If I would have done that a few years ago, we’d probably now have one about the size of what I keep trying to move.

It is just so tempting to see a nice crown of leaves overhead in that spot. I’ll probably try again next fall. First, we’ll find one that looks like a good candidate when it is fully leafed out this summer, and we’ll mark it. Then when it drops its leaves and goes dormant, we’ll dig it up and move it.

Hoping the 4th time will be the charm.

Place your bets on which we will achieve first: a naturally spreading carpet of trillium blossoms in our woods, or a surviving transplanted maple tree in the labyrinth garden.

I’m going to keep trying to accomplish both. Practice makes perfect.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Written by johnwhays

May 5, 2016 at 6:00 am

Garden Progress

with 2 comments

Cyndie’s new garden is progressing nicely. We received a wonderfully timed rain shower last night, after giving the plants a final serving of composted manure fertilizer. With the robust effort Cyndie put in to protect the new plantings from marauding animals, the garden should now have everything necessary to thrive.

IMG_iP1334e

After my last wheelbarrow load had been delivered to her, I headed into the paddock to do a little clean up in the narrow end closest to the garden. In no time, Legacy arrived to closely supervise. He always wants to nibble on the wooden handles of the wheelbarrow, which I strictly forbid.

IMG_iP3203eCHI repeatedly adjust the position so the handles point to where I am standing, meaning he would have to go through me to get to them. If I wander at all, he will step in for a bite. After he figured out I wasn’t going to let that happen, he turned his attention to Cyndie in the garden, on the other side of the driveway.

As I worked, the other three horses arrived to share in the excitement. Cayenne stood so close to me that we almost bumped noses a couple of times. I called over to Cyndie to show off my crew, hanging with me while I toiled away.

I didn’t know she was taking pictures until we got inside and she shared them.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Written by johnwhays

April 21, 2016 at 6:00 am

More Mowing

leave a comment »

DSCN3969eDoes it look like the labyrinth was in need of being mowed?

I can assure you, it definitely needed it. I worked long and hard to conquer the task, but remained cool and comfortable the whole time in the September sunshine.

I looked up at the world around me when I finished and discovered that the leaves of some of our trees had changed color in just the span of the day.

I expect it will take a couple of frosty nights to finally get the grass to take a break for the season, but trees have begun their shutdown. The autumnal equinox is just days away.

I’m lovin’ it.

DSCN3972e.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Written by johnwhays

September 21, 2015 at 6:00 am