March
16
Dead Wood
I’m waiting for the water in the soil from the melted snow to percolate down into the water table so the weight of walking on it won’t compress the soil, which is bad for roots trying to grow. Once the soil has dried out a bit I will start cutting back the dead wood in the garden. The dried seed heads, the rose branches, the ornamental grasses, the broken branches from the heavy snow, the hydrangea heads all get cut back to encourage new growth. If you don’t cut back the dead wood, bugs and molds can take over and the plant wastes energy trying to support something that is dead. In trees there’s a thing called a branch collar. It’s the swollen looking base of every tree branch. It’s full of growth hormones that protects the tree if a limb is damaged and stimulates new growth if the pruning is done carefully. Once I’ve cut the dead wood off, the plant sometimes looks a little bare but I remember that it will fill out with new growth so quickly I’ll forget it once looked so bare.
What dead wood in your life will you be cutting back this spring to stimulate your growth?
yes. it's my real name. 
Over the last few years I’ve pared my life pretty substantially. Now most of what’s left is what I really want and what nourishes me. But there are always things to work on. I guess when it comes down to it, what I’m still working on is leaving some past behind. Though I could make the argument that as long as I’m still chewing on past events and relationships, I’m still learning from them, that’s might not be true. So yeah, what I’m working on for my growth is putting things appropriately in perspective. Closer all the time…
LikeLike
I was originally trained as an English major, so “cut out the deadwood” has been one of my primary editorial remarks when I reviewed student papers, and later in my law practice (especially applied to myself). it is such a powerful metaphor about all of life, and especially visible at this time of year. Here in Texas, even with our freezes, many plants survive the winter at the root level and once you cut out the dead brown leaves from 2014, there is new greenery ready to show. I have 3 chrysanthemums in my front bed that look all black from a distance, but I can see the new green leaves and buds underneath. I hope I can get my scissors out this weekend and trim out the dead stuff and let the promise of spring erupt. (Fortunately this cold winter was great for the daffodils, which are already in full bloom here, and so far lasting pretty well because it’s not too hot or windy yet).
I think cut out the deadwood can also be applied to quilting, at least mine, as some times I get a little too complicated and should just stop. Another famous quote: “no great work of art is every completed, merely abandoned.” It’s know when to abandon that is key.
LikeLike