A new (ad)venture! We’re installing a bluebird nesting box in our backyard. Having spotted a frequent visitor at our feeder (a hungry female) we have reason for hope. Having bought a pole, a raccoon baffle, and a nesting box this morning, we are ready to welcome a crowd. Because I am not eager to deal with live mealworms, I bought a package of dried ones. We already had the nearby shelter, the splashing water, and the birdbath. Here’s the goal:
If this works, I”ll share results here.
I welcome daylight savings time, as it seems like one of the first signs of spring. I’ll be checking my gardens for snowdrops today and hopefully I will see early leaf buds on the spirea hedge I attacked last fall. Spirea is a flowering shrub that has been very popular for generations, including whichever generation planted our hedge between one hundred years ago, when our house was built, and almost forty years ago, when we moved in. It’s said to be very hardy, but requires more maintenance than we gave it. The branches had grown sideways and become entangled, and the plants hardly bloomed at all. So last year, in a burst of energy, I cut everything way back. I think the variety we have is Van Houtte. From what I’ve read, if we water and feed the hedge this year, it may fill in and eventually be beautiful again.
We also have red-twig dogwoods, which we planted to replace a crabapple in the front when it went down in a windstorm, several years ago. In order to encourage the red color, it’s necessary to periodically remove at least a third of the old branches. I did that last year, ignoring the dangers of scratched arms and occasional exposure to poison ivy. The effort paid off; I love the red shoots that replaced the old, brittle branches I cut off.
Is there a metaphor here?
Perhaps reluctantly influenced by Marie Kondo, I’m determined to prune my interiors, too. I don’t require that everything spark joy, but I’m hoping to remove enough clutter to encourage a bit more calm and relaxation in certain rooms.
Maybe not a third of the old stuff, though…