Chores

When the Palo Alto Weekly ran an article about my garden 2 years ago, they referred to it as "informal". The article was actually very complimentary, but my husband chuckled when he read that.
Yet again, this time of year I'm just amazed how much time I spend cleaning up after my plants. This Sunday I didn't do much else.
  • Pruned all Zauschneria to 1 inch.
  • Pruned Albutilon from 8 feet to 10 feet.
  • Swept and composted leaves from walkways.
I also dug up and transplanted a few things, and watered all the Iris I had planted last weekend when I divided one very big Pacific Coast Iris clump.
What's funny is that all summer, when my fellow gardeners were mowing the grass and tending the vegetables, I really did not do anything in the garden. Well, maybe a little hand watering. But when fall came, things heated up, and now that the cool season is fully upon us I could easily spend 6 hours each weekend. I feel lucky, though, to be doing this work when it's nice and cool, and the birds sing, and the air smells fresh.
Now I'd just like a little rain to go with all that, please.

Comments

Unknown said…
well, this is fascinating as i also have a home in palo alto that was featured in a silicon valley magazine a number of years ago and i believe they referred to it as informal also. it seems so long ago given that i am now listening to the rain pound on my roof and my creek roaring here in the santa cruz mountains. the yard in palo alto has become tired, mostly because i no longer live there full time and also because for the last number of years i have been in transition with my thoughts about it. before i made the investment i wanted to be sure of what i wanted. the hard scape is all in place. i eliminated the front lawn in the late 80's and the back in the mid 90's. i've decided to go straight up native--except for those few plants i love dearly--a posting on the idora blog gave me this permission. i'm going to evolve a design and enjoy the plants that have become friends over the spring and summer and then begin the transition in the fall. the plants are mostly beneficial and native as it is now. probably more beneficial than native. do you have a bead on which natives are truly native to our area? happy new year. ls