In the Garden Today - August 10, 2007
After cranking out today's edition of the Career Opportunities podcast and handling a memory install for a client, I was itching to get outside for a little while.
Well, that and I was becoming extremely annoyed with the petulant little squirrel who decided that he was smarter than I was and was hanging from the side of my birdfeeders. Grrr. I don't mind squirrels in the garden, but KEEP OUT OF MY DARN FEEDERS! They are little pigs and would quickly destroy my birdfeeding budget if left unchecked.
So, off to the garden with ladder, pruners and hand saw to remove the overhanging limbs that had granted him access. I have a really effective squirrel baffle on the pole of the feeder, so if I can keep them from jumping on the feeders I should be ok...at least for a little while. Anyone who has ever dealt with squirrels knows they are a crafty lot. Witness this YouTube video...
But enough about the squirrels. Like every good gardener, the moment I set foot in the garden, I notice a hundred things that need doing. First I dismantled our 10-year-old bent willow garden swing. It had finally succumbed to rot and termites and was positively unsafe, especially with our annual Summer Music Party coming up. Rather than put any of our friends at risk, I knocked it apart in about 30 minutes. We kept some of the long limbs for lining garden beds and then placed the seat against the back wall, where it will quickly be overun with the weeping fig that grows there and become a decorative element, even if you can't sit on it anymore.
Together with my wife, I cut up the pruned limbs, stacked the usable wood from the swing and contemplated what we would buy next to go in this spot in the garden. We might replace it with another bent willow swing or we might go with something that requires a bit less maintenance.
After writing up this entry, it will be time to start putting together some of my famous Welch's Red Sauce for dinner with friends tonight. Not a bad day after all.
Be well!
Technorati Tags: garden, gardener, gardening, outdoors, prune, squirrels
Well, that and I was becoming extremely annoyed with the petulant little squirrel who decided that he was smarter than I was and was hanging from the side of my birdfeeders. Grrr. I don't mind squirrels in the garden, but KEEP OUT OF MY DARN FEEDERS! They are little pigs and would quickly destroy my birdfeeding budget if left unchecked.
So, off to the garden with ladder, pruners and hand saw to remove the overhanging limbs that had granted him access. I have a really effective squirrel baffle on the pole of the feeder, so if I can keep them from jumping on the feeders I should be ok...at least for a little while. Anyone who has ever dealt with squirrels knows they are a crafty lot. Witness this YouTube video...
But enough about the squirrels. Like every good gardener, the moment I set foot in the garden, I notice a hundred things that need doing. First I dismantled our 10-year-old bent willow garden swing. It had finally succumbed to rot and termites and was positively unsafe, especially with our annual Summer Music Party coming up. Rather than put any of our friends at risk, I knocked it apart in about 30 minutes. We kept some of the long limbs for lining garden beds and then placed the seat against the back wall, where it will quickly be overun with the weeping fig that grows there and become a decorative element, even if you can't sit on it anymore.
Together with my wife, I cut up the pruned limbs, stacked the usable wood from the swing and contemplated what we would buy next to go in this spot in the garden. We might replace it with another bent willow swing or we might go with something that requires a bit less maintenance.
After writing up this entry, it will be time to start putting together some of my famous Welch's Red Sauce for dinner with friends tonight. Not a bad day after all.
Be well!
Technorati Tags: garden, gardener, gardening, outdoors, prune, squirrels
posted by Douglas at 4:24 PM
1 Comments:
I remember them actually showing that video on tv way back when and often wondered whether it would be on YouTube or not.Thanks for finding it.
Our squirrels and the crows tend to go through our birdfeed rapidly and the bluejays eat more of the corn than the squirrels do - oddly enough.
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