It's not easy being grown up
With one mature decision, my garden has lost a little bit of magic. It's not easy being grown up, at least for me, and reaching the mid century mark you'd think it wouldn't be so hard. I used to joke about how eventually the plants would provide the structure for my house. The walls might crumble but the dense wall of plant matter would replace them and I'd live inside of a plant. All well and good if you are a fairie but replacing brick and siding with out of control plants isn't great for home equity.
Seriously, I never intended the miniature fig vine, and carolina jasmine to do what they did. A couple of mild winters created the out of control situation. The main reason that I made the mature decision to deal with it is because I was afraid to build a fire last winter. The bird cover was the perfect spot for the vines to collect at the top. Not only were birds kept out of the chimney by the cover, the vines which collected there seemed likely to send the smoke back into my den/office. Therefore, I decided I either had to do something about the vines or forget about fires. I love having a fire in the winter so I did as much as I could, and hired someone to do the rest.
No worries. I may have given in to the lure of the winter fires I enjoy but nothing was killed. That's right, the process will start all over. The miniature fig is whacked off the siding and chimney. The carolina jasmine has been whack down to the lines which were supposed to contain them. However, both plants are alive and well and ready to grow again. I do feel like I've temporarily lost a bit of magic and after seeing what happened to the siding where the fig vine attached itself, I no longer believe that I can live inside of a plant.
With one mature decision, my garden has lost a little bit of magic. It's not easy being grown up, at least for me, and reaching the mid century mark you'd think it wouldn't be so hard. I used to joke about how eventually the plants would provide the structure for my house. The walls might crumble but the dense wall of plant matter would replace them and I'd live inside of a plant. All well and good if you are a fairie but replacing brick and siding with out of control plants isn't great for home equity.
Seriously, I never intended the miniature fig vine, and carolina jasmine to do what they did. A couple of mild winters created the out of control situation. The main reason that I made the mature decision to deal with it is because I was afraid to build a fire last winter. The bird cover was the perfect spot for the vines to collect at the top. Not only were birds kept out of the chimney by the cover, the vines which collected there seemed likely to send the smoke back into my den/office. Therefore, I decided I either had to do something about the vines or forget about fires. I love having a fire in the winter so I did as much as I could, and hired someone to do the rest.
No worries. I may have given in to the lure of the winter fires I enjoy but nothing was killed. That's right, the process will start all over. The miniature fig is whacked off the siding and chimney. The carolina jasmine has been whack down to the lines which were supposed to contain them. However, both plants are alive and well and ready to grow again. I do feel like I've temporarily lost a bit of magic and after seeing what happened to the siding where the fig vine attached itself, I no longer believe that I can live inside of a plant.
2 comments:
Well, Carv...you made the right decision. I bet the vines appreciate the pruning. And a little discipline, now and again.
Am I speaking of vines or children? : )
No way that garden of yours is ever gonna lose any of that 'ol green magic!
Love, K.
The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. That's the essence of it.
-Vince Lombardi
Hey Kim,
I'm not sure why but I find myself singing, "all the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray". . . Oh me oh my, I hope I'm not losing it. Just kidding, I know the vines will rise again and what a great quote you found, as usual. My garden can definitely stand a little discipline.
Love, Carver
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