i wanted to write my first entry last week but got distracted playing with coding and figuring out how i wanted everything to look. the more i garden the more i wish i had insights to what i did last year, i feel like if i dont document things i do every season i will keep making the same possible mistakes. yesterday i trimmed back the hydrangeas as per my 'pruning bible' book i got a couple years ago. i removed the dead branches and stalks still connected to the base (very satisfying), and trimmed back all branches to the next nearest bud on the branch. some of that included removing bigger and more developed leaves growing...i'm not sure how that will impact growth. i will have to wait and see. the book said to trim back 1/3 of the plant so i guessed it would be alright to trim pretty heavily. the book also recommended to trim in early spring. it is the end of first week of march and we still had an overnight frost friday morning so i think i am on the money with that one.

there are some plants i'm not sure what they are but i trimmed back unsighly dead branches without really knowing what i was doing. i have an obsessive disorder so i'm hoping keeping records of this will ease my mind and help me compare what i will do in the future. it is kind of fun being scientific, and it also is kind of meditative. the mistakes i make by trimming back branches will have concequences in the coming months, but they are plants and i can learn to be patient while i learn from my mistakes and get better in the future. it is hard to not compare my 'work' to those who lived at my house before me. when we first saw the house the whole yard was flowering, it was lush and gorgeous and it smelled so wonderful. as we were moving in to the house a few months later in july i did not water anything as we were too busy getting settled in to focus on anything else. nothing died, everything here is very strong. i was nervous things were going to wither away but they were patient with me. the people we bought the house from had lived here around 40 years, they planted everything here and by the time they were ready to move on they were retired with grown children and they had the time to be meticulous with each and every plant. i work 40 hours a week, i dont have time to give it the attention it needs and i am doing everything on my own, i'm very glad things are as established as they are so i can learn as i go and not necessarily have to worry about everything dying at once.

anyway. there are so many damn roses in this yard, and they are so hardy... last year i slashed away at them so much they dont really resemble bushes anymore. i need to figure out what i need to do in order to get them back to what they were before i thinned them so aggressively as this impacted the number of flowers they produce a.k.a the only thing you want rose bushes for. there are 6 separate rose plants on the inside of the fence, there are an additional 3 on the outside. there are three extremely old and sharp rose bushes in the back (these ones are my favorites), and there are at least 5 or 6 different mini rose bushes in the memorial garden in the back yard and another climbing rose bush over a bench. that is so. many. roses.

one of the things i want to do this year is hopefully get some automatic watering system put in so i dont have to manually water every single plant. this is insane and so overwhelming, especially when you consider watering is best done in the early mornings. there wasn't even any irrigation system when we moved in, these people would stand outside every morning and water eveything. i have savings, and this is what i want to use my savings for LOL i dont want to have to worry about watering plants, i feel very strongly about this.

i am also building a little food garden behind my house that i think i am almost finished with! i'm very proud and excited about this. i built the biggest planter myself, by hand, and the other ones were stained for waterproofing and grew tomatoes and potatoes sucessfully last year! (the deer ate everything else). yesterday i finished filling the last and largest planter box myself, it is about 88 inches/223 cm on all sides. its big. i was laying in bed one night and realized i should have really split it into two different boxes 88x44 or whatever so i wouldn't have to stand in the middle of the box to plant stuff, but i had already installed the wire fabric, plastic, and lined it with boxes. plus, sawing boards by hand is EXHAUSTING. if i wanted to i still could split it down the line... i would just have to remove the dirt, cut the wire fabric and plastic, cut the perimeter to split them, nail the boards back together and refill them. it theoretically can be done, i will try it this year as a full box and see how much i hate it first haha.

the very last thing have to do is install the fencing to keep the deer out of the garden. i have to go to my sister's in-law's house to get the fencing and for some reason i haven't been able to get myself over there to get it. i also have to figure out how i'm going to make myself a door to get in and out of the area, which i am kind of stuck on. maybe that is the reason i haven't gotten the fencing yet, i am addicted to planning ahead and knowing what i'm going to do (but then being impulsive anyway and doing something completely different. i am an enigma.) there are some things i am still concerned about with regards to this fencing: will actually keep the deer out or will they jump over? also, should i be worried about birds, squirrels, and other little guys getting at my plants? that's some things i will have to learn the hard way, i suppose. i will have to find some of those reflective things to scare away birds and squirrels. i also want to install some kind of trellis for peas and beans and stuff, but i have to think of one thing at a time. hopefully next week i will have the fence installed.....