Winter is Very Over!

Signs of spring:
Lambs in the fields. Yup, got those. Daffodils in bloom. Check
First swallow sighted in Devon. Check
Bumble bees. Saw two of those yesterday.

The definitive sign that winter is over and spring has arrived . . . Wood tick on the dog!

(omitted disgusting photo of wood tick here)

I pulled a tick off Polly last night. I guess it's time to start the first round flea and tick treatments.

The weather was okay after work, dry and not too windy. After I clucked over the little plants and seedlings in the greenhouse, I started pruning. I have made a couple of very large piles of branches around our garden. These branches will need to be stacked and burned or hauled away.

I was very brutal with the pruning because I have not been very diligent with cutting things back over the past few years. Some things like the buddleia were just so out of hand that I knew I'd be killing it if I cut it back to a normal or near normal size so I only got a medium pruning. The two forsythia bushes have been looking quite pathetic in the last couple of years so I've hacked those right out. I'm going to start afresh with a new forsythia. I'll see if I can find a really pretty new hybrid.

I've got an overgrown weigela with very pretty dark red flowers. I think I'll wait until after that blooms before I whack it back.

There was a willow that self-set near the pond. I've taken out the largest of the branches. It was all I could handle with the loppers. The rest of the stump will require a saw.

I've got enough material for a small bonfire at the moment. If I've got time on my hands this weekend and the weather allows . . .