Time well spent

Even though I have enough of my own stuff to attend to on this glorious spare day, I took a few hours to trim bushes and help Klaus and Erika get their landscaping in order for the end of the year.

They have a lot of specimen plants in their front yard, edging the walk and leading to the front door. A demonic rose bush, a face-slapping Althea and an unruly Weeping Cherry, who has extended well beyond the sidewalk edge and had become part of an ecclectic obstacle course.

Klaus and I worked together to make a fair dent in the appearance, and aside from not getting to two small agenda items, we did manage to knock out quite a bit of the most needful items on the list. His overgrown shrubs are thinned out and trimmed back, the cherry is under control and ready to make a spectacular comeback next spring, and his cherished rose bush - though much shorter and really thinned out - is also primed and ready to become a well-shaped bush next year.

He became quite anxious with my insistance to continue trimming and thinning, until finally he pleaded to stop. Poor fellow. But, I reassured him there was more than enough of the sturdy rose bush left from which he would see new growth next spring. He will see that the harsh pruning not only eliminated a lot of unhealthy criss-cross limbs, but opened the entire plant to receive light and airflow to the interior, and would keep it from becoming an over-tangled mess next year.

It was with a heavy sigh and a tight chest that he allowed me to trim, trim, trim.

Erika came out about three hours after the cutting had begun to see the work, and approved wholeheartedly of the changes. I have to say it looked pretty good, and there was a lot of improvement overall.

Next year we will see the fruits of our labor!