Winterizing Yardwork Renovations

Every year since we have lived in this house and it has been TWENTY, there have been outside renovations to accomplish every Fall which usually takes place over the THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY weekend...  but, since we are both retired, those renovations can take place at any time, providing we have taken a notion to get them done.

Today...  is a case in point...  where in the yard we will be but only after NOON when it warms up a TAD and makes it more accommodating for folks like me who have a reluctant tendency to suffer from old age that seems to be getting worse rather than better...   lol

Once the weather finds it way solidly in the 50's, we will venture outside and move bags of mulch around to various strategic positions in the yard some of which we will open, pour out, and spread while others we will simply lay on top of the plants as they lay upon the ground...   like our Elephant Ears that come back each Spring very spectacularly and we think it is because of the bags of mulch we put on top of them to keep their roots warm during our brief winter season.

Once this is done, we will rest a spell, but there is more to be accomplished.  And, this task is one that only I can do but because of my weak back, I must wear a reinforcing brace...  and this is about a 60-90 minute task of weed eating around the perimeter and house and various garden sites... and, the time varies because of the number of times, I have to stop and pull out more line.

Our last and final task to complete our winterizing yardwork renovations will be to cut back (trim as it were) all the shrubs and bushes that over the years we have planted...  and, when I say we...  I mean my wife and I as we do not pay anyone to take care of any of our yardwork unless it is something that we do not have the technical knowledge and/or skills to perform ourselves.

There are 10-12 bushes and shrubs that will once again be trimmed this year, along with a stand of Nandina's that have gotten to big for their britches but instead of trimming they will be topped.  And finally, there is a Japanese Maple that was severely damaged by the cold a decade or more ago, and when we cut off all the dead wood, expecting it to die for sure, the damn tree grew back more beautiful than before and branched out wider than expected blocking our view when leaving the driveway...  so, this Fall I will trim her back again, but not as severely as before only about two thirds as much maybe three fourths to see if, in the following Spring, she will return again.

If not...  I will simply dig her up and plant grass seed.

This year, twenty twenty, we will have our winterizing yardwork renovations done before THANKSGIVING and when we sit down to the table and thanks we will give, I will be most appreciative of the physical gift I have been given to do all this yardwork myself and not have to pay anyone for the service.

AND...  I will continue these activities in the Fall, Spring, and Summer until my body is physically incapable of executing these duties or that my wife and I decide to see our house and move into an apartment where there is no winterizing yardwork renovations to be performed at all.