Branches and trees removed from the garden

Last night, for the first time ever, I experienced a gardening insight.  It was after 9 pm and I was standing near the dogwood tree, observing how the branches of the tree were growing and weaving into the azaleas and how they, in turn, were crowding out the gentian. Suddenly I realized: I need to cut some of those dogwood branches away.

That part of the garden is a “blind spot” for me, and I have been ignoring the overgrown trees, shrubs, invasive species and weeds, because I just haven’t known what to do.

Today I went in with clippers and a saw. I first trimmed all the dogwood branches that were touching the azaleas, and after that, removed all the holly and oak trees, weeds and dead azalea branches. The whole area looks much cleaner and more spacious, and I can get in behind the plants to weed, and under the plants to cut away some of the dead stuff.

As I was dragging the branches to “the pile” at the side of the yard, I noticed another problem area that will require hard decisions and urban logging. Lots of self-seeded trees have started to come up in area just east of the vegetable garden and if those trees continue to grow, they will block out the light. So, my mission in the next few days/weeks is to look at that part of the garden and decide which trees need to be removed.

In the meantime, I am going to have to start to cut down “the pile” so that it fits into the compost bins…