Today I wacked at a corner of the yard that was a tangled mess of mostly wild grapevines and wild blackberry canes. That area was neglected for years. I pulled, cut and pruned. I also shoveled 7 wheel barrel loads of compost and started spreading compost on the veggie beds. I will be planting peas, onions and potatoes in a day or two. Been checking on the wintersowen jugs. About 20 have sprouted!

I have my greenhouse up too!! Nothing in it yet but some shelves and a table. I winter sow my perennials and annuals and then I put the ws containers in the greenhouse after they sprout and are starting to get their first true leaves. I'm not sure if that messes up the winter sowing concept or not. But I mainly do it to keep things organized and makes less of a mess on my deck. Plus it gives me a place to go when the weather is rainy to do my transplanting, etc. I also use the greenhouse to harden off my inside seedlings (ie. impatiens, begonias, etc.).

Today was just gorgeous here! I was outside all day. I just loved it. I cleaned out all of my garden beds/borders which is quite unusual for me to get done this early. And I finally convinced my DH to allow me to extend the width of some of my borders so I worked on that too. Actually my darling DH is outside now finishing up one of the borders for me. :)

My goal this year is to redesign my perennial border that resides between my house and the neighbors. I've been messing with this border for a couple years so I finally set down and designed a new border and have come to terms that I will have to get rid of some plants (thank goodness Laurelin is hosting a plant swap for us). My new border will include more evergreens and flowering shrubs mixed with my favorite perennials. I think having the backbones of evergreens and shrubs will look much nicer between my house and the neighbors. It's hard to make it look good on both sides. :)

So that's what I've been up to. Happy Gardening!

I don't really have much to do this year to get ready to plant. The last two years I've beeen cleaning the beds out in the fall. I don't like looking at dead, rotting annuals all winter. It's depressing. I need to prune the roses and maybe add a layer of mulch.

Hello everyone,

I am so very glad it's finally spring! I did my spring pruning chores last week. My black currants need it every year to stay within bounds, and I pollarded my variegated dogwood (it was leggy and gawky, not attractive at all, so it needed a fresh start). I also pruned my Rose of Sharon bushes - my Mom and Dad gave them to me, and while I appreciate their thoughtfulness, the bushes are both double-flowered and tend to flop dreadfully after a rain when they're in full bloom. So I have to keep them well-pruned. (They WANT to be 10-12 feet tall, but I've decided that they can be as tall as I can reach to prune them, lol.) I really enjoyed being outside, and I could see so many things sprouting. I'm especially happy that so many of my daylily seedlings survived the winter and appear to be thriving. My various asiatic and oriental lilies are up, too.

Deb, it sounds like your yard will be gorgeous this year. Your DH is so nice to help you outside. My winter sowing is sprouting all over the place now, and I'd still like to "spring sow" some tender annuals in jugs (more zinnias, and impatiens and coleus). We'll see how they do, but I've already got lots to play with. If I have to buy a few for filler, that's okay.

The past couple days have been wonderful, and I did get to help a good friend edge her new perennial bed on Tuesday. I spent my time at home rearranging my living room - no small task, and quite a mess in-process, but it sure looks better now, and it feels like a new room entirely. I had to rearrange to make room for my new fish tank (75 gal.). I didn't get any time out in my own yard, but I can see that my first early tulips and daffodils are in bloom. I'll have to get my camera out there in a little while and take pics. My crocuses are lovely this year, too. I think I'll try to get outside today before the rain gets here.

Laurel