Autumn Gardening

One thing that I miss here in London in the Autumn is picking Macintosh apples. Having a crisp apple straight from the tree is amazing--especially my favorite macs. So this year I planted an apple tree in my garden. Not macs but if it grows I should be able to get some cooking apples from it each autumn. Today I went out to give my sapling some attention and remove the brambles and other intruders from its immediate area. It took awhile as I tried to avoid the dozen spiders and their webs. Spiders in London are much fatter and more numerous than in Massachusetts (hence the smaller amount of mosquitoes-a fair trade).

Clippers in hand I looked from the pile of clippings which needed bagging to the clippers and decided the bagging could wait a bit longer. I'd rather clip than bag.

My garden is lovely but it is the last owners' garden. They set out a 3 foot perimeter around the square of green grass filled with an assortment of bushes and trees each flowering at a different time so there is always colour in the garden. The first summer we moved here I was in awe of the blossoms and variety. I just removed the brambles and removed some rubbish from the corners and got to know it. The following year we made a few additions like a grapevine and the apple tree. My dog Dude deleted a few items to suit his tastes and created a few bald patches on the grass to make things homey. I can't bring myself to cut anything down so started giving a bush at the corner a trim as the kids have had to duck beneath it to get their bikes. As I clipped I realized there was a whole lot of space under that tree so I kept clipping. This branch seemed interconnected with that branch so if one went the other had to. I found an old birds nest and thought I better keep clipping now rather than in the spring when I would disturb a new nursery. I did find a lot of space under that tree and it does still have a few leaves left at the top.

I looked at the clippings again. This is always fatal as who wants to pick up clippings. As long as I am making a pile of clippings I might as well clip the pine tree branches away from the shed door. So I got my heavy duty clippers out. The ones that have expandable handles and whose blades can take down a small tree.