More about trees

We decided to go ahead and shape some of the remaining trees and bushes today. Instead of waiting to buy proper shears for the job, we just used our clippers to cut off individual branches. It worked really well; we were able to make the trees look neater. They've got approximately the right shape now but they look more natural and not really manicured, which is a look that we prefer.

I think those some of those trees might also be grafted. There were two of them that had stems and leaves growing out beside the main trunk of the tree that looked completely different from the stems and leaves at the top. I think these things were suckers coming out from the roots and so I cut them off as far below the soil level as I could. I read somewhere that this is how to deal with that kind of growth because if they're not cut off, they'll take over the plant.

In fact, one of our other trees looked like a Jekyll-and-Hyde plant; one side had berries and small leaves and the other side had large leaves and looked suspiciously like the suckers I cut off from the other plants. However, instead of being a bunch of suckers, the non-berry side was as large as the berry side! We ended up cutting off the non-berry side - I hope that the berry side will live.

We also trimmed down a few other trees while we were out there until we were both tired of working on them. I spent some time looking at other plants around the yard and I noticed that one of my lupins had aphids! It's been warm out so I guess the aphids thought it was spring or something.

Even though we've done so much work, there's still more to do. Since we had to be at home, it was a great way to spend our Thanksgiving weekend.

Oh, and yes, I'm feeling much, much better. I think I'm actually back to normal, thank goodness! Now, all I need to do is stay healthy so that I enjoy the rest of the month.