Collaborating with Mother Nature

Apple tree beginning to grow

The apple trees are beginning to open their leaves, and it is a gratifying sight. Each year I prune them quite severely and then spend a month or two worrying that I went too far, they won’t come back this year, they are too old and I am stressing them out too much by pruning….my list goes on. But once again they have sprung back to life with exuberant glory!

Their form when pruned is very interesting – I sometime call them my Halloween trees or my Fairy trees because of their odd outlines and rambling, twisted branches. The silhouette of one of them reminds me of a woman taking a stride forward with both arms raised, and I have tried to capture this ghostly impression many times through various art techniques but the essence of it always eludes me ( and sadly, the arms fell off my clay sculpture of it; it’s become a Venus de Milo of apple trees!). I think that it’s because I can never artistically create something so full of life and energy, only the Earth can do that. 

When all is said and done, I am happy to be an observer of this beauty and to try to use it in my garden – I don’t have to create it, just place it and encourage it to develop and let Mother Nature do the rest. Collaborative creation at its finest

The Plant Lady

Berry Trellises

I spent some time on Sunday installing some cute little trellises for the raspberry and blackberry vines I put in last summer along the west side of the house. They need something to cling to or they are going to sprawl all over the sidewalk!  The trellises were easy work, all I had to do was set them against the wall behind the plants and then push down firmly.

The wee berry plants look fabulous this spring, all lush and thick with new growth. I found out after I planted them all that you are not to plant blackberries and raspberries so close together….so this spring`s growth is all the more welcome to see!  I can`t wait to see how they grow up the trellises!  And to eat some berries!