Husband and I were laid of early this month. Amazing how long I stretch out gardening chores now. I want to properly savor them. My first sampling? Chopping back the frost bite victims. Other people just call it pruning, but this was more dramatic. If I held back, I'd be stuck with leggy plants all year. I went out knowing what I had to do. Show no mercy.
Seeing the setbacks, the years of growth that had been lost in a week or two of cold weather, it gets you philosophical. So does seeing the cable guy coming by at your request to turn off the cable as a cost savings measure post-layoff.
The plants had had quite the boom year in 2008. Lots of growth. Too much, really, they had started to look a little wild.
Then the frost came. Whole branches were no longer viable. Plants that were 4 feet high had burns 3 feet down. Now they were being cut back. Getting back to fundamentals.
They'd be stronger plants for it. Their roots are still hardy. Compared to a young plant with their new smaller stature, my burn victims are way hardier, established. They'll grow fast and complain about water shortages less than newbies.
In a year, you won't know they ever had this setback. They'll be all bushy growth and glossy leaves. But we'll both be less fearful during the next tough February, because we'll know what to do and how to handle the crisis. We can pull though all that no sweat. "Been there, done that," we'll say.
Cutting back is never easy.
Seeing the setbacks, the years of growth that had been lost in a week or two of cold weather, it gets you philosophical. So does seeing the cable guy coming by at your request to turn off the cable as a cost savings measure post-layoff.
The plants had had quite the boom year in 2008. Lots of growth. Too much, really, they had started to look a little wild.
Then the frost came. Whole branches were no longer viable. Plants that were 4 feet high had burns 3 feet down. Now they were being cut back. Getting back to fundamentals.
They'd be stronger plants for it. Their roots are still hardy. Compared to a young plant with their new smaller stature, my burn victims are way hardier, established. They'll grow fast and complain about water shortages less than newbies.
In a year, you won't know they ever had this setback. They'll be all bushy growth and glossy leaves. But we'll both be less fearful during the next tough February, because we'll know what to do and how to handle the crisis. We can pull though all that no sweat. "Been there, done that," we'll say.
Cutting back is never easy.
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