The humidity finally broke enough for me to venture outside for some yard work. I love being all woodsy but that means I don’t get the breezes until they’re almost gale force. The thermometer said 72 outside this morning but 93% humidity and no breeze makes it feel about 80. It felt good to be outside without being wrapped up like a beekeeper to keep mosquitoes at bay. I was going to simply take a walk, but I know me so I dressed to go into the deep woods and stuck hand pruners in my back pocket. In my yard, I can get quickly overwhelmed if I ask “where to start?” I’ve learned to have some basic tools at hand then just take a stroll and be ready for whatever unfolds before me. I try to do the same with life.

I turned toward the sunrise into the East garden and the first thing I do is begin pulling up the thumb sized loquat seedlings that begin growing on the path after every rain. I also begin re-routing the philodendron that begins crossing the path. I move it so it makes a nice natural border for the pathway. The rains make everything grow quickly, so I topped a couple dozen turks’ cap and arbicola bushes and stuck them in the ground to root in the bare spaces. I top them when they begin getting leggy, that encourages them to get thicker from the bottom up.

This practice reminds me to place things where they are most likely to thrive and remove them if they are blocking progress, keep pathways clear, and have boundaries clearly marked.

Today there was so much topping to do that I gave myself the behavior modification exercise of dropping the cuttings to the ground with no intention of trying to root them. I’d simply cut them and leave them where they fell, and in a few days I’ll go out and collect the cuttings and take them to the street. It’s a good exercise to practice letting go and being unattached. I’m usually so anal about rooting all cuttings, but my yard is now becoming seriously overgrown.

I made cuttings of the night blooming jasmine where it began to hang over the path. It blooms a few times a year and the smell is heavenly. I’ve now got it all over my yard, in the sunny patches and under the deep shade. I have to giggle when I think of it in the shade, since I know it needs more sun in order to bloom. I reason that in the shade is where it can root more quickly, then when friends want small plants of it, I already have them rooted in a manageable size to dig up.

I passed the gardenia bush outside the master suite which is one of two sunny spots in the yard. She’s only bloomed a few times, maybe because she doesn’t get much attention. I can dig it. We all do better with a little acknowledgement. She got a good drink of water and I topped a few inches for her.

In just an hour in the yard I pruned enough branches to clear the pathways, and I created another hour’s worth of work when I go to pick it all up. I like to cut one day and pick up the next. I can’t wait until the first really chilly day so I can seriously tackle this yard! If it’s anything like last winter, though, well, I won’t hold my breath for cool weather. No time like the present.