Yard Work by Susan R. Hughes

After a long winter, there’s nothing like the first warm, sunny spring day. A week ago, I wore my heavy winter coat to go out and the cold wind froze my hands. Today I was overheating in my shorts. Spring has sprung quite suddenly, and wonderful as it is, the melted snow brings a multitude of chores that have to be done.

Little Helpers

Today we finally took down the Christmas lights off the gutters. Next, the girls and I raked the yard and pruned some dead plants, before heading to the park for some leisure time. We’ll get back to work next weekend. There’s a fence that needs mending, deck repairs that we put off last fall, edging in the garden that’s rotted and looks terrible, overgrown trees that need to be removed. The planting beds need to be cleaned up and mulched to make way for the perennials that have started to push out of the ground.

In the summer, when the grass starts to grow like crazy, along with the weeds, it’s harder to keep up—especially when the weather gets hot and you’d rather just sit in the shade with a cool drink. All the work is worth it when my purple irises bloom, then the hostas, the bright orange poppies, the pink hydrangeas, and finally the phlox. My favourites are the yellow flowers beside the deck—I planted them myself but I don’t remember what they’re called. They blooms for weeks and they are gorgeous.

My garden will never win any prizes. It’s always overgrown. But it’s the best I can manage, and I can’t wait to see my flowers return after a long winter sleep.