Yesterday’s 40 degree weather offered the perfect opportunity to bring out the flame weeder. We haven’t seen temperatures above freezing, let alone that warm for 2 months. So, it was a good time to be outside. And, as I promised the boys, when it was warm enough that we could actually make a snowman (because the snow has been too powdery to do so), I would fire up the flame weeder and melt it. So that’s what we did. I know I’ve shared how satisfying the flame weeder is taking care of tiny weeds in the garden… I highly recommend it for taking out snowbound frustrations.

It’s difficult to believe it’s the first week of March and there’s very little I can do in the garden. In past years crocus and snowbells bloomed by the end of February. Now they still sit underneath a solid foot (or more) of snow. But there is hope. With the flame weeder in action yesterday, I decided it’ll be a good time to start burning dead weeds. After my snowman annihilation, I discovered this is probably the safest time to take care of some of these issues without the risk of burning down the neighborhood. As soon as the snow melts enough to see what’s remaining in the garden, I’m going to torch the debris. This includes the pile of weeds and old plants from the first garden I dug up in the fall to transition to a native plant garden. I tossed everything in a pile, but never did anything with it. This is serendipity since it will bring me much more joy burning it than simply throwing it in the trash.

Projects for the Future

And now that there is hope, I’m looking around trying to figure out what I can do even if we have weeks before the snow is totally gone. Pruning fruit trees is always a good project in the winter. In reality, I often have them done by now simply because it’s a good outdoor activity during a winter warm up. I will sharpen the pruners, grab the Clorox wipes (to wipe the blades after each cut in an effort to prevent the spread of fire blight), and trim what the deer have left me because they “pruned” the trees heavily this year.

Another project I should do to take advantage of the 40 degree or above days is to apply a dormant oil spray to my fruit trees. Dormant oil spray smothers overwintering insects, such as scale. It prevents them from causing problems with the fruit later in the season. When using dormant oil spray, simply mix it in a sprayer. Use one that has never been used for herbicides. Then, saturate the entire tree to ensure you are covering the whole area where scale might hide.

It’s very difficult to be in the gardening mood when it feels like the middle of winter. But the sun has some serious heat to it. I’m anxious enough to see green to get out there – even if I have to wear my winter boots. I am excited to start working on the multitude of gardening tasks that await me beneath the snow.