I pruned back the hydrangeas a couple of weeks ago. It was a little early, maybe. And I’m no expert gardener. Just a reluctant beginner.
Several how-to articles were read. My husband did it last year and they survived. So how hard could it be?
I was pretty ruthless.
Fortunately, this one is doing great. But then, it was the healthiest one to begin with.
The other two… the two that get too much sun in the heat of summer, struggled to survive last year. One looks promising, but the other…
… it looks sad. It’s misshapen. The branches are gnarled and wrapped around each other. It was hard to prune evenly. It looks dead in the middle.
I didn’t have the heart to cut it any further, so it gets a reprieve for one more growing season. It seems a little mean to whack it down just because it had been ignored for so long. It deserves a shot.
Then I planted a few little color spots… just to brighten up the place until the big plants leaf out and bloom. They give me something pretty to look at while I breathe fresh air… while I gather my courage… while I contemplate the ruthless pruning to my soul.
Because long before I got to this place I did, after all, ask the master gardener to do just that. So I can’t complain.
Heart's Home 
One of my favorite verses, Luke 13:6-9. Won’t write the whole thing here, but look it up. “…[wait] until I dig around it and put on manure”…give it another chance while the gardener cares for it. Love that thought! He gives us many, many chances, doesn’t He. So, fertilize the plant, be sure it gets lots of water, talk sweet to it (I know, I know, but it does seem to help 🙂 ). Yes, it does deserve a shot at another chance to bloom. Good thoughts!
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Oh! I like that scripture. For some reason it never jumped out at me before. Very cool. It is speaking to me on many levels 🙂 Thanks, Maureen.
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Way to go gardener. Feels good to be outside and working in the soil.
K
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Yes, I guess I am learning a bit about gardening. It does feel good to be outside. I bet you’re itching to get out there for the summer 🙂
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I like Maureen’s reference… I usually think only of the vine and branches reference, but healthy growth in our lives really does require pruning and nurture.
I’m terrible about pruning in my garden! My hydrangeas aren’t lush, but part of their problem is that we’re on a well and I don’t water most things during the summer. The hydrangea then get stressed and then struggle to survive over the winters. I’ve left the dried flower heads on for the birds and have only just begun trimming them off this week. Some hydrangeas flower on the new growth, whereas mine flower on the older growth, so if I prune the entire plant there won’t be any flowers this summer. I think I’m going to cut back just one-third of the woodiest stems this spring and repeat the process over the next couple years. That way I hope there will be enough left to give me some colour each summer while the bushes rejuvenate. It sounds good in theory, anyway. 🙂
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