Crafting My Bliss

My backyard is a mess! As much as I have tried to organize and pace myself I have managed to go on a full-blown landscaping tangent. The warm and sunnydays are getting me into trouble.

The fluctuating weather gave me reason to go outside and do something. I decided it was time to prune some trees. I prune branches from time to time with my pole pruner or as my kids like to call it my 6-foot knife. The weather was nice, so I went outside and started pruning some branches. I have a cherry blossom in my front yard with some low hanging branches overhanging our walkway. I also have another tree on the other side of my driveway with branches hanging too close to the cars. Then there’s the lone tree in my backyard that I am constantly pruning because it’s really gotten too big for the space and the branches provide too much shade for grass to grow, and sometimes they hang too low. I had a go at these three trees and cut off some of the biggest branches I have ever pruned. I felt very accomplished when I was done.

Since I have new raised beds, I decided to break the branches into smaller pieces and use them to fill my bed, like the Christmas tree I still have in my yard. In doing so, I ran into a few problems.

The first problem was that, after I had cut all the branches, it was already late and I had to start dinner. I took a break to cook and then went back to continue chopping them after dinner until the sun went down. The next few days were then filled with cold weather, rain and other plans. I also cut a lot of branches, more than I could handle, and more than I needed for my beds.

Eventually I went back outside to chop up more, and filled my wheelbarrow with even more branches. I bit off more than I could chew. As much as I love the outdoors, I have a fear of animals and was worried that some little critter would make a home in the branches. Now that the weather is getting warmer, the animals are coming out of hiding. The overwhelm from all the sticks and twigs was starting to take over. I was stuck for a few days not knowing what to do.

Finally, I decided to reserve some branches for my beds and make mulch from the rest. I figured I needed mulch, so I might as well use what I had. The only problem is that I do not own a wood chipper. I thought about buying one years ago, but it did not seem worth the investment since I would not use it very often. I asked around to see if any of my gardening friends had one, and they did not. Then I remembered that I could rent one from Home Depot. I found a store that had one, but it was unavailable for the day. Since then, the weather has been cold and rainy, and my kids have spring break next week.

The goals are to get the wood chipper the next day that is not cold or rainy, and to try not to give my husband a heart attack by bringing home more equipmentthat he thinks I can hurt myself with. I am honestly not sure how economical it is to rent a mulcher or buy mulch. I will let you know when I do the math on that. Either way, I need to get rid of the branches and I might as well make good mulch out of them instead of putting them on the corner for the county to collect and turn into mulch. There’s never a dull moment in my yard or in my head. I think thatkeeps me young.

I’m looking forward to trying out the wood chipper and making my own mulch. This unplanned pruning was an experience. I should probably stick to my plan next time. Chances are I won’t.