Spring Time in Alaska
One of my favorite seasons has begun. Spring is always a reminder that from the deep darkness of winter comes life. Underneath the dry dead grass, are roots waiting to spring forth (see what I did there?!?! Spring!!!) and grow tall in the sunshine and rain. In the garden beds that look like boxes of dirt and dry leaves are bulbs awakening. After a long season of white, gray, brown, coldness, wetness and bulky clothes...I know why The Creator made so many colors for the rest of the year.
Today, the sun rose at about 4:30 am, and as I sit here at 8 pm, there is still daylight out. According to timeanddate.com the sun will set at 11:30. Plenty of time to go for a run, play in the garden or just lay on the hammock. As long as you don't mind the bugs. Yeah.....bug dope is wonderful.
The house we moved in to has had a lack of outside care for the last fiveish years. Part of our deal is to perform yard work and some house repair. Totally fine with me. I love puttering in the yard and gardens.
The front of the house has two beds. One on either side of the deck. Decent sized yard. Trees providing some privacy from roadside traffic. A driveway length hedge of Spiraea. Dandelions, lots.
At the end of April, I spent two weekends cleaning the hedge and boxes. For the beds, I cleaned out obvious weeds, dead plants and turned the soil in a couple places. For the hedge, things were a bit more drastic. I figured if the spiraea cane fell over with a touch of my gloved hand, the cane was probably dead. Removed quite a bit of those as well as leaves, garbage and other things from the undergrowth and trimmed the height down to about 3 feet.
When my DH saw how much I pruned from the hedge, his comment was "I hope you didn't kill it." I replied "Naw...it will be fine!" Meanwhile, I was wondering if I had trimmed more than I should have and put the hedge in shock! A month on, I now know that I may have created a spiraea monster that is slowly crawling across my lawn. Seriously, I have found many starts almost 15 feet away from the hedge. If anyone wants some...let me know. The hedge has lots of new growth in height and fullness. No flowers yet. The Landlord said there are two different types, one with pinkish purple flowers and the other white flowers.
In the beds are several different plants. Ferns, Tiger Lillys, Lilly of the Valleys, Alaskan Wild Roses, and three plants the LL does not remember the names of.
I have quite a few pictures of how the yard looks pre-bloom. Soon I hope to have pics of blossoms.
Till then, remember to be in the present. Enjoy the time you are spending with your loved ones.
Today, the sun rose at about 4:30 am, and as I sit here at 8 pm, there is still daylight out. According to timeanddate.com the sun will set at 11:30. Plenty of time to go for a run, play in the garden or just lay on the hammock. As long as you don't mind the bugs. Yeah.....bug dope is wonderful.
The house we moved in to has had a lack of outside care for the last fiveish years. Part of our deal is to perform yard work and some house repair. Totally fine with me. I love puttering in the yard and gardens.
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| View from the road. The electric company has since done some pruning. |
At the end of April, I spent two weekends cleaning the hedge and boxes. For the beds, I cleaned out obvious weeds, dead plants and turned the soil in a couple places. For the hedge, things were a bit more drastic. I figured if the spiraea cane fell over with a touch of my gloved hand, the cane was probably dead. Removed quite a bit of those as well as leaves, garbage and other things from the undergrowth and trimmed the height down to about 3 feet.
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| View with garage at my back.The Spiraea hedge is on the right side. Lawn garbage piles are running down the middle of the drive. |
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| Lilly of the Valley |
In the beds are several different plants. Ferns, Tiger Lillys, Lilly of the Valleys, Alaskan Wild Roses, and three plants the LL does not remember the names of.
I have quite a few pictures of how the yard looks pre-bloom. Soon I hope to have pics of blossoms.
Till then, remember to be in the present. Enjoy the time you are spending with your loved ones.
As a reminder, I am doing this blog for fun. I am by no means a professional blogger. I find my life to be interesting and think the world revolves around me. Thus, everyone wants to know. ;)
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