Our yard is a mess - all 5+ acres of it. It has been cold and windy and we have been involved in other pursuits. We do not have yard waster pickup available to us. We either cut the waste in small enough pieces to bag and put into our bin, compost it, chop it up or burn it. We do a little of all four options. We have been under a burn ban since November, so the pile has grown, or the large pieces of yard debris have lain where they fell.
This is one pile behind the barn. It has yet to be touched.
Saturday dawned sunny, clear and most importantly, with no wind. I had a fire going by 9AM. I collected and raked debris from oak trees closest to the fire, so I could keep an eye on it. Then, the Mister began to bring in some larger branches that he had to cut to manageable sizes. I left him minding the fire so I could go further afield.
Our Pygmy Date Palm (Phoenix Roebelinii) took a strong hit this winter.
I had the opportunity to attend a presentation by a palm tree specialist this week.
He was very informative, and I'm so glad I heard him speak.
He explained that pygmy date palms are hardy to 29 degrees. We had two nights that dipped to 14 degrees,
in a span of two weeks where nighttime temperatures were below freezing. Apparently this was the coldest winter since 1980, and before that, in the 1800's! (So sayeth the palm tree expert.)
So, little wonder that our poor palms look like this:
It was time to trim the dead fronds off the trees.
Pygmy palms have their own brutal self defense system!
I can't tell you the number of times I've been stabbed by these nasty thorns.
The lower fronds of the palm always die back and need trimming.
And, thanks to the Mister's obsession with DeWalt tools....
I have a tool for that!
It took no time to cut off all of the dead fronds.
Their next stop? The fire pit!
The palms showed a touch of green...so maybe they will make it to annoy me another year!
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