Cutting it close

... to the ground, that is.

I hadn't planned on doing any cleanup when I went out yesterday, but one thing led to another.   I trimmed all the suckers out of the magnolia tree that is already starting to bloom!  Then I picked up a few of the zillions of little branches strewn all over the lawns.

All the sedum plants have been cut back (all of them well sprouted, same as some hostas!). I also cut back all the dead branches on the asters, tall boneset, the Johnson's blue geranium and the many Walker's Low catmint.  Same with the phlox.  And EVERYTHING is sprouting.  Should I worry about winter's return?  What good would that do? *sigh*   I'm just going with the flow.  Nothing tender, however, will be put out.  And nothing heavy enough not to haul into the sunroom when temps tank.

I also raked back all the leaf mulch on the veg bed so the soil can warm up and dry out.  I'd like to get it tilled this week.

Meanwhile I'm finding that it's harder to navigate the gardens this spring as my ankle has degraded to the point I'm bone-on-bone in that foot.  *sheesh*  In my wildest imagination as to how my later years would be, at no time did I ever think I'd go lame.  Crap.  Still I put off any surgery that would only fuse all the bones together so the ankle/foot would never bend again.  It's my RIGHT foot after all.  Try driving with what could only be described as a rock at the end of your leg.

As for the greens I put out a week ago they've gone bonkers!
Click the pic for an update.