This is the first of the three clumps trimmed up. Leaves lower than (my) eye level are getting trimmed off. Then I'll take a swipe at pruning them for height just under the eaves. So far, so good.
Friday, May 29, 2009
First pass at pruning the bamboo
This is the first of the three clumps trimmed up. Leaves lower than (my) eye level are getting trimmed off. Then I'll take a swipe at pruning them for height just under the eaves. So far, so good.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Incongruity
In asian food aisle
Mick Jagger pleads, "I'll
nevvah be ya beast o' burden"
Isn't that song R-rated?
Do other shoppers notice?
Good selection of shoyu
Perhaps stir fry tonight --
pad thai, yes, that's it
April 9, 2009
Mick Jagger pleads, "I'll
nevvah be ya beast o' burden"
Isn't that song R-rated?
Do other shoppers notice?
Good selection of shoyu
Perhaps stir fry tonight --
pad thai, yes, that's it
April 9, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Bamboozled no more!
I have bamboo problem. But not in the way you might think.
Most bamboo problems stem from their vigorous roots running amok: undermining sidewalks, ruining foundations, toppling civilizations. I don't know what variety my bamboo is, but lucky for me, they are clumpers not runners. They are, however, planted close to the house so when the culms grow up to their full height of 15 feet or so, they hit the eaves and bend in zig-zaggy angles to grow up around the roof. When it's windy, they whack the gutters and scrape the side of the house. I continually pull young culms away the eaves to keep them from growing into the roof.
I considered moving them -- there's only three clumps, and I've moved plenty of plants in my day. But then I split a clump to give a division to a friend and discovered what a chore it would be to dig them up. My enthusiam waned, but I was encouraged by the offer of help from friends I continued to hold out hope of moving them to another location in the garden.
That is, until last night as I was re-reading Niwaki: Pruning, Training and Shaping Trees the Japanese Way, by Jake Hobson. (I'll go into detail about the book in another post.) I had read and re-read the chapters on pruning pines, camelias and azaleas, but somehow missed the chapter on bamboo. Glory be and halleluja! Bamboo can be pruned! Once the culms reach their full height, they stop growing and can be pruned to whatever height the gardener desires. Not only that, the leaves get bushier and denser with pruning. I think I can keep my little bamboo forest where it is, save our backs for other projects and keep the culms from scraping up the house.
Book review, photos and progress reports to follow.
Most bamboo problems stem from their vigorous roots running amok: undermining sidewalks, ruining foundations, toppling civilizations. I don't know what variety my bamboo is, but lucky for me, they are clumpers not runners. They are, however, planted close to the house so when the culms grow up to their full height of 15 feet or so, they hit the eaves and bend in zig-zaggy angles to grow up around the roof. When it's windy, they whack the gutters and scrape the side of the house. I continually pull young culms away the eaves to keep them from growing into the roof.
I considered moving them -- there's only three clumps, and I've moved plenty of plants in my day. But then I split a clump to give a division to a friend and discovered what a chore it would be to dig them up. My enthusiam waned, but I was encouraged by the offer of help from friends I continued to hold out hope of moving them to another location in the garden.
That is, until last night as I was re-reading Niwaki: Pruning, Training and Shaping Trees the Japanese Way, by Jake Hobson. (I'll go into detail about the book in another post.) I had read and re-read the chapters on pruning pines, camelias and azaleas, but somehow missed the chapter on bamboo. Glory be and halleluja! Bamboo can be pruned! Once the culms reach their full height, they stop growing and can be pruned to whatever height the gardener desires. Not only that, the leaves get bushier and denser with pruning. I think I can keep my little bamboo forest where it is, save our backs for other projects and keep the culms from scraping up the house.
Book review, photos and progress reports to follow.
Friday, May 15, 2009
A bloom day without photos
Is like a day without ... um, photos? Sort of like last month, only I could actually take photos last month.Our camera pooped out last week and we haven't replaced it yet. I didn't realize how much I'd come to rely on it. I reach for it to snap a picture. But it's lying there, useless, on the dining room table, waiting for us to replace it.
As I was working in the garden on Saturday I thought -- rather ambitiously -- that I could describe what's in bloom in a poem. Hmm, I thought to myself, haiku would be too brief, so maybe... a sonnet. I don't know that I've ever written a sonnet, perhaps in high school English class, that would be a great challenge.
Well the challenge was a bit more than my brain had batteries for, so no sonnet for May Bloom Day. I shall merely inventory the blooms and you'll have use your vivid imagination to see them in your mind's eye. I promise I'll work on my sonnetry.
Strawberries and violas, thyme and sage
Columbines, forget-me-nots, lavender and buttercups
Last of the Dutch irises is hanging on
California poppies are radiant (tiny native bees look darling dusted with their pollen)
Big red poppies just starting to open up
--
Holly
As I was working in the garden on Saturday I thought -- rather ambitiously -- that I could describe what's in bloom in a poem. Hmm, I thought to myself, haiku would be too brief, so maybe... a sonnet. I don't know that I've ever written a sonnet, perhaps in high school English class, that would be a great challenge.
Well the challenge was a bit more than my brain had batteries for, so no sonnet for May Bloom Day. I shall merely inventory the blooms and you'll have use your vivid imagination to see them in your mind's eye. I promise I'll work on my sonnetry.
Strawberries and violas, thyme and sage
Columbines, forget-me-nots, lavender and buttercups
Last of the Dutch irises is hanging on
California poppies are radiant (tiny native bees look darling dusted with their pollen)
Big red poppies just starting to open up
--
Holly
Friday, May 8, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
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