running out

Depsite the cool evenings, I am probably at the end of the period where I can transplant perennials willy-nilly without much thought to heavy watering. The cool temps and weekly rains have covered a multitude of my switching plants around (which is why I like to do that work in the cool climes of spring and fall).

But the list continues. I look at the hostas and am getting a better handle on how they relate to each other -- some need more room, others need a different site. I've got monardia or bee balm that has come roaring back this year and its time to divide them. I've grown increasingly disatisfied with the linear placement of my taller perennials -- many were planted four years ago when the beds were smaller. Now that I've extended them, their siting no longer makes sense. And of course, in time, they just need thinning out, too.

My next series of work will center on adding soil amendments. I'd much rather put compost down than traditional mulch, particularly in the perennial borders.

And I have a couple of long, low tree limbs in both yard that need to come out. An excellent hosta gardener once told me that her rule was all limbs out as high as you can reach and then a little. I think in my case, she is right.