Winterizing: More Than I Bargained For

For those that know me well know I love my flower beds that both surround the house and are free-standing. Over the twenty-some years we have been in this house I have switched from mostly annuals to a collection of perennials I'm proud of. From the practical (day lilies and sedums) to the unique (my Toad Lily is blooming now -- it is way cool. Look it up. Blooms in later fall and every stem is lined with a row of orchid-looking blooms. Amazing!).

Part of the annual cycle of care is getting the beds ready for the cold season. And this year I decided to do my sedum-oriental grass-hosta cut-back earlier than usual. By two weeks at least. Why? Because every other year I have waited until frost when by that time the grasses have shot up their feathery plumes and then turned to stiff, hard-to-cut straw-like stuff and the hollow stems of the sedum turn to bamboo'ish instruments of torture.

After 2 1/2 hours I was completely finished. So much easier. So much quicker. (I even used the electric hedge trimmers on the grass for the first time -- I went flyin' thru those wide stands! Woo-Hoo!!) How smart was I..... till I looked at my arms the following morning after I arrived at work. I felt this little twinge of some sort. I pulled up my left sleeve then my right to find both my forearms from my wrists to my elbows covered (let me repeat that...covered) with narrow yet long scabbed-over lacerations. I looked like I had been whipped repeatedly by some nasty uber-thin lash. I was so embarrassed!! I couldn't roll those cuffs down fast enough!!

So all of you neophyte gardeners out there -- LFME (learn from my experience): Yes, it makes perfect sense to be ahead of the calendar to prevent blisters and cut down on time...and Yes, cutting while still green makes it easier to shove those pliable stems into the yard trash bags....but No, do not allow bare arms to come in contact with those itty-bitty, teeny-weeny extremely sharp serrated edges of the grass blades while you do the stuffing. They're nasty, mean, adhere to "take no prisoners" warfare and show absolutely no favoritism. None whatsoever. Really. No joke. Nada. (ouch)