Warm at Last!

Yesterday I finally got outside to check the garden! There are still some little piles of snow around where the plows pushed it up, but generally, it's time to start looking for emerging bulbs! HURRAY!
I started by checking the flooded areas. They are covered with black soil. At first, from a distance, I thought it was some kind of awful, sooty stuff, but upon closer examination, it's wonderful looking dirt! The garden should love it.
I pulled out most of the stakes that kept the plows out of the garden areas. I did manage to get rid of SOME of the debris from the flooding, but there's still a lot of that left to deal with. I also removed the snow covers from the Mountain Laurel and the Rhodies.
Next on my list will be the blueberries which can stand some pruning, as can the lilacs. I'll get to that in a week or so, it's still a bit chilly to be about that yet. It just got up to about 42 yesterday.
I think my chores before then will be to prune off some injured branches on ALL of the shrubs. I always enjoy that task. It makes everything look so neat. But then, to me ALL gardening is so satisfying. At my age, it's also easier to prune because I don't need to get down on the ground. That becomes more and more difficult for me as I age. So, I use a lot of mulch to keep the weeds down, and let my perennials give me color and pleasure, rather than having to deal with planting and pulling annuals.
If you have any gardening questions, E-mail me here!