Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Yew got to be kiddin' me?


What do you do with a yew that has winter burn?

I tried to reshape it, trim its brown branches and now I have what looks like a Charlie Brown shrub - misshapen and forlorn. Ugh!!!!

Anybody have a remedy for this sad shrub? You know it just wouldn't be Beth's garden if something didn't go down the toilet at some point or another ...

Speaking of going down the toilet, I did my morning walk around and noticed the rabbits chewed four marigolds plants and a monarda which left a mangled mess. They've eaten my marigolds before - but monarda! Bee balm was supposed to be indestructible!

On a happier note, I finally did what I've been reading about for the last few years - I brought in compost and I can honestly say the perennials in the front of my house have never looked better. The city was offering free compost to those brave souls ready to get blisters and backaches from shoveling it into empty containers. So one Saturday morning, I grabbed Mommy's little helper and headed to the landfill. We filled four recycling tubs full of beautiful black compost. I liberally spread it around all my flowers and worked it into the soil and have watched my perennials take off. Recent rains have helped even more.

Why didn't I do this years ago?


5 comments:

Melanie Chopay said...

Hi Beth, I'm here :-)

That yew sure isn't looking very happy right now. Mine look awful too but that's because I had my husband cut them like crazy. Does this happen all the time to your yew?

Lots of people around here cover them in burlap to protect them over the winter. It might work for you.

Connie said...

Compost is a gardener's best friend. :-) I make my own, but never have enough to go around. Wish our city made it, but I have to settle for buying the bagged.

Beth said...

This yew is on the southside of the house. I have 3 very large yews that are beautifully shaped on the northside - and with these North Dakota winters - you'd think the north ones would be the ones in jeopardy.
I've been daydreaming today of ripping that yew out and planting something else - but I'm trying to be patient. Maybe it'll bounce back.

garden girl said...

We have overgrown yews in our foundation landscape. They take hours to prune twice a year in the blazing heat. I have come to dislike yews quite a bit. I'd rip ours out in a heartbeat if I could get DH to agree.

Beth said...

I gave up on it - and dug it out! Now what to plant?