Other than the Burpee order, here's what I did today:
Got out the branch & leaf shredded, did some minor repair, and ground up all of the grape prunings. Also the wisteria prunings from yesterday, and about 1/2 of the rose prunings. These had a hay-like appearance when done. I made mulch-donuts around the 2 plum trees.
Yesterday I also dug out the rose that resulted from root stock of a tree rose a few years ago. The tree rose had died, but new canes kept growing from the old root stock, I replaced this with a Rose of Sharon, started as a volunteer seedling about 3 years ago, which last year had very nice white flowers with rose center. The parent is magenta with darker center. I pruned back the 3 ft Rose of Sharon shrub (basically a feathered whip) to 18 inches, to encourage branching.
Im glad somebody gets to enjoy being outside, I would be if it didn't feel like 2 below zero outside. How well do the grape clippings break down that you use? It sounds like a pretty good idea.
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteI agree. Even though winter is chilly and even an occasional freeze or snow, it's not nearly as "absolute" as the winters that I grew up with in the Midwest. I like the chance to clean up the yard in off-season and prepare for the upcoming year.
A couple of years back, I used grape clippings by just chopping them into short pieces with a pruning shears. I piled them around some trees. Chickens got loose in the yard and dug up the mulch, so I added a layer of compost to keep weeds down. The result was dozens of grape plants frowing from the clippings. The rest broke down in about 6 months. This year, I ran them through a shredder, and I doubt very much that any will grow.
p.s. I tried leaving a comment on your blog as well - havent been able to figure out how.