STOVESAND STYLE

When we were still living in Ojai,

January was spent pruning back much of our one acre garden.

Beginning at the entrance gates,

right up to the front door,

around the back,

and amongst the patios.

The wisteria on the pergola needed to be pruned hard to yield these beautiful blooms.

Grapes on either side of the pergola needed to be reigned in each winter.

Roses to prune in order to keep the pathways clear.

English roses to keep in check lest they become climbers.

So many roses to tend to.

All manner of lavender to harvest for arranging.

An orchard to shape each year.

Pepper trees threatening to overtake the yard at every corner.

Even my pots required shearing to keep them looking tidy.

I had salvia and butterfly bushes which needed to be severely cut back each year.

For the first time in many years there isn’t much pruning to be done as the planting at the Shack are very different.  The odd assortment of fruit trees could be trimmed now that I know what they are.  The boxwood, lavender and roses planted this year are too young to require  much tending.  We have a hedge bordering our property which does require regular attention, but is far too big for me to tackle.  Most of the tropical plants that I have added don’t require much more than water.  It seems odd to not have the hours of pruning weighing on me, but do I miss the chore?  Not sure, yet.  What I will undoubtedly miss is my Ojai garden when it was in full bloom each spring.

Donna

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 24th, 2013 at 9:45 am and is filed under Gardening, Thacher Road. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.