Preparation Pandemonium

It's been an exciting week here at the A.M. Cuddy Gardens. The birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, and of course the dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) are popping up everywhere! Unfortunately dandelions do not happen to be part of our botanical collection here at the Cuddy Gardens and therefor must be promptly removed by student gardeners such as myself. Some other advantageous species which were subject to our early-spring purge include the Canada thistle, bitter-wort, and the lovely but opportunistic grape hyacinth.

grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum)
Photo Credit: Yujing Ma





Removal of undesirable species was not the only task required this week. Many other tasks were completed in order to prepare for our upcoming weekend event. This involved a full-out beautification and spring cleaning of the gardens. Many garden borders were tended to, and copious amounts of debris were added to the already large compost pile. by the middle of the week; things were really starting to come together in terms of tidiness.

Newly Cleaned Edge Near the House
Photo Credit: Yujing Ma

A View of the Tidy Lawn
Photo Credit Yujing Ma

On Wednesday morning, all nine student gardeners had a very educational experience participating in equipment training. It's important to make sure you and your crew are safety conscious on the job and equipment training is an important aspect of that. We wouldn't want anyone using a leaf blower inappropriately now; would we‽
On  the same afternoon, we began our planting endeavor which would require the remainder of the week to finish. We potted-up a variety of species mainly for the commercial greenhouse. This is excellent news for whomever may be reading this as now you (the reader) are aware that Cuddys is your next stop for hostas, peonys, anamones, echinacea and so very much more. 

 

Although the work needed to be completed in a timely manner (as all garden projects seem to require) this week went by much too fast. I look forward to my next week of work here at Cuddys, and I can not wait to see how the garden has transformed when I return in June.