Category: Spring garden cleanup

8 buckets!

A few days ago I finished hand pulling all the tree seedlings for this spring. 8 buckets! That is a crazy amount of tree seedlings. It was literally a mat this year.

Mixed in were maple, pine and cherry seedlings. Were it not for the location, it would be fun to see what could become of all those seedlings – what would survive. Their contribution each year, however, is a fair amount of exercise. Under the shrubs and hostas and daylilies, not just on the edges, but way into the garden.

In the end, a few had been missed, but not many. There’s always another trip through the garden.

Bonus! Free nail filing!

Gardeners worldwide know that we don’t need a gym during the tending season.  But did you know that Amur Maples come complete with free spring nail filing?

Let me explain.  Our Amur Maple out front is delightful.  When it blooms it is heavenly.  No scent like it.  In the fall, the seed pods turn a lovely pink color, and the leaves form a multi-colored carpet.

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Then the seed pods fall and blow all over.  Helped by our squirrel friends, in the spring the seedlings can be found by the hundreds in the rock gardens and the lawn.  The pines have nothing on these guys.  Left to mature we could start a forest.

So every spring I get in garden shape, and also get a free nail filing, by going around and plucking out hundreds and hundreds of Amur Maple seedlings.  Bucketfuls.

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What the hey – may as well grab linden sticks and the occasional pine or cherry volunteer too.  But mostly Amur Maple seedlings.  Like these

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Is it a pain?  Yep.  If the Amur Maple had to be replaced, would I hope the replacement would be something less invasive?  Yep.  But I’m used to it.  I love the spring blooms, the fall color, watching the squirrels “harvest” the seeds, and the spring tradition of getting back in shape and getting a “plucking” nail filing!