Wednesday, 19 September 2018
I wanted to begin to work our way through the new projects on the work board.
The Depot Restaurant
Chef Michael had requested that we prune a big rhododendron. I won’t just hack away at something to make it smaller. We started with the idea of just keeping it from touching the eaves of the house next to the Depot that has the restaurant office.
A look inside the branches showed lots of old trash on the ground underneath and much dead wood inside. While Allan pruned along the back and got the shrub off of the house, I started going in from the lower front and sides.
I debated at length about whether to remove the one big old branch that is coming forward, down low. Because I was so indecisive, it got left for now. Cutting it would have made a more tree-like shape with perhaps less character.
This is not the best time to prune rhododendrons. It should be done right after flowering before next year’s flowers have formed. We lost a lot of flower buds doing it now. I can see how after next year’s bloom, we can make the rhododendron smaller and still shapely.
With a trailer load heaped with a debris, we went to the local dump.
I had the intention of following the offload by working at the Red Barn and Diane’s, till a considerable rain began.
The rain increased. Instead of working in it, we headed north for an errand. On the way, we visited
The Cranberry Museum
on Pioneer Road. (You’d think the Cranberry Research Station would be on Cranberry Road, further north, but it is not.)
I was looking for a birthday present for Mary of KBC. It was something that the museum no longer had in its gift shop.
When I started gardening for a living here in 1994, one of my first jobs was pruning the huckleberry hedges at the Cranberry Research Station.
We continued on with our errand.
The Planter Box
Several bags of mulch were acquired, plants were admired, and a good talk was had with Planter Box owner Teresa.
This jungle bench is unusual.
With bags of mulch loaded, we put off Diane’s garden till tomorrow and headed south.
The Shelburne Hotel
I briefly checked the Cosmos ‘Xanthos’ that I had moved from an upstairs pot down into the garden yesterday.
Port of Ilwaco
The rain stopped and gave us a good evening to weed and mulch the Time Enough Books curbside garden. (All the rest of the photos are Allan’s.)
This bed originally came with the wild beach strawberry. I was heartily sick of the way it swamped everything else. And this bed does not thrive even though I have given it much attention for years. It was time for a do-over.
While Allan went off to dump the debris, I messed around with some rocks. I have the idea of making a crevice garden here if I can find enough long rocks.
I also messed around with some river rock. I have an idea of a diagonal crevice garden and another diagonal river rock garden. The river rock one started with the planting today of a Leptospermum rupestre that Evan Bean gave me. Xera Plants says “Stems follow contours as they grow, good surrounding rocks and down walls.” So I had found a big rock to plant it by and then just had to play with others. This garden bed used to be a tightly packed almost concrete-like river rock xeriscape so there are plenty of river rocks to be had.
It reminded me of playing with tiny round rocks under the gutter when I was a child, and the results look like a child did it. This did not help my chronic Imposter Syndrome.
But I had fun while I was doing it. After we cleaned up around the edges, it was almost dark.
At home, I erased two tasks from the work board.
When Allan got online, he checked his bank account and found that Medicare had cashed his big catch-up cheque. This has to be a good sign. They would not take his money for nothing, so we are sure he is reinstated. I think the woman from the local office DID make a phone call to help us. What an enormous relief. I slept better than I had in the past two weeks.
Rocks in a garden always look nice! I love your uncomplicated design. I think that rhododendron branch has character. Can you tell I’m a kind of minimalist?
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That is such good news about the Medicare payment! What a relief. I love what you did with the rhododendron. There would be more natural light getting to the window, too.
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Thank you. Huge relief re Medicare.
And Chef Michael was very pleased with the rhodie.
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I would cut the branch but what do I know?
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Thanks, Mr T!
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I think leave the rhodo branch. You both did a great job on the tidy. You can drive yourself crazy second guessing rock placement!
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I am getting much conflicting advice on that branch and every piece of advice i read, I agree with till I read the next piece. 😉
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I also say cut the branch but I always error on the side of over pruning. Glad to hear about the Medicare. Debbie and I had lunch today and discussed your situation. I had a similar situation that was never cleared up so I was happy to hear your’s was resolved. Sleep well.
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I appreciate hearing others had trouble, and it will make Allan feel less bad about messing up on the billing. I will probably go for that branch next year after the rhodie blooms!
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I usually error on the side of less pruning but I would take the curving branch off. I’ve been on an emotional rollercoaster with the Senate hearing. Such a let down yesterday and a rebound today.
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Me, too; it has been robbing me of sleep and peace. Today was a bit of a reprieve.
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I would only cut the curving branch of the rhododendron if it is in the way. I happen to like the big broad form of the mature specimen. However, there is nothing wrong with opening up access through the area. Have you looked at it from a distance, such as beyond the fence? Removing the curving branch would decrease the mass from the front and back, but not from the side. It is hard to determine from from the picture what the primary views of the specimen are. I mean, it is hard to say where it would be most visible from.
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