A nice spring day is the perfect opportunity to clean up the garden. Fall cleaning is least preferred to provide habitat for overwintering bumble bees and other insects. Plus, a foot of snow at the end of September dampened any motivation!

Waiting for the perfect day

This winter hasn’t been nearly as brutal as the past two, but we’ve had a fair amount of wind. Three weeks ago gusts topped 80 mph here sending trampolines flying and toppling trees. It didn’t simmer down a whole lot from there. It seems that every day was windy making our otherwise pleasant conditions a challenge.

But on Sunday it was eerily calm. Despite a tall stack of deadlines waiting for me, I grabbed my matches and headed for the garden. 

Red Dragon Flame Weeder

Although snowbells are blooming in town, where we live, spring flowers are still dormant. This gave me the opportunity to burn the debris from my big flower bed without risking damaging new growth.

Bring on the dragon to clean up garden debris

Firing up the trusty flame weeder, the hops vines still clinging to the fence were the first to go. They are so difficult to cut back with the clippers. This was way easier!

The beauty of weeding with fire is it significantly reduces the amount of debris. While I’ll still go through and dig out the root systems of the weeds, I don’t have the tops to take up space in the pile. And while the browned tops do provide good carbon material for a compost pile, there’s just so much of it. After weeding the garden last year, I knew I had to do something differently. 

It worked beautifully. Concentrating on a few of the runaway roses and raspberries that are out of place, I doubt if burning them will actually kill them, but at least they’re easier to handle. I was a little cautious flaming around the grape. While there is nothing growing on it, yet, I didn’t want to hamper its development. We’ll see how it does. 

Cleaning up garden debris from last year’s winter kill

A few days prior to burning the flower garden, I tackled the food forest area that was hit so hard after last winter. Between time constraints and clinging to the brief thread of hope the previous spring that the Nanking cherries, American plums, and elderberries would bounce back after the worst winter in my recollection, it was time to face the reality. It was all dead. By the time I finished cutting, I had 2 huge piles. Thankfully, I was able to burn them all during the one calm day. 

Creating goals for the year

There’s still a fair amount of work to do in the gardens. My youngest son cut down the raspberries for me, so those are ready to burn when we have another calm day, plus I’m weeding neglected areas as soon as possible. My goal this year is to gain a better handle on the quack grass in some of the beds, expand my native plant area, and plant the vegetables closer to the house, hopefully out of reach of the deer. 

Ready, set, start over!

Even though nothing is growing yet, the thing I love most about this time of the year is it is a blank slate. The possibilities for the garden are practically endless, and like every good farmer, regardless of the size, the hope of next year burns eternal.