Never mind all this quiet contemplation. I have one more thing to do with the ficus. She has to come indoors late September or thereabouts, weather depending. But the fence people may be here sooner. And she needs to be out of harm's way.
The main thing about moving her back in, and why she does so well year after year, is that she busts through the drainage holes in the pot, all of them. Her roots are in earth all summer, the secret of her longevity.
So in order to bring her back in, I cut through them. No mean feat, as they say.
Usually I do it all in one strenuous session. But this year it dawned on me that I don't have to do it all at once. Today I cut the roots. I retied the string to the fence not wanting wind to topple her with the retaining roots cut.
Put back her personal watering system. I'll probably take her out of the pot, root prune, add in fresh potting soil before she finally comes in. I've rootpruned several times, and she's done well.
Then later it will be easy, well, easier, to bring her in. She does fine all winter, then starts to fade in spring, then goes outside to summer camp.
This two-part bringing in idea is like the dawning realization I had, when I started cutting my own hair, decades ago, after too many lousy cuts by stylists only trained on straight hair, which seems to be all of them.
To wit: I can just cut the bit that needs to be done now. My hair grows at different speeds in different places anyway. Not cut all at once, as at the hair salon.
And it's exactly as good as those expensive ladies did it. No tipping required. No appointments. No going mad with upset during lockdown because I can't get it cut.
As for hair, so for trees. Prune the immediate need.
One of my granddaughters has curly hair. Great idea about the cut.
ReplyDeleteHow do you cut the back part of your hair? I've never understood.
ReplyDeleteFrom the top and the sides. Using two mirrors.
DeleteI have hairdresser scissors for sticky out bits, a razor comb, and a battery operated thing you put a guard on to determine the length. If you take the guard off and expose the blade you can clean up the scruffy hair on your neck.
when it's time to bring in the plumerias to the garage for the winter I usually wait until a day or two before the first freeze, dig the three up in the ground, yank up the pots that the roots have gone through and hack them loose and throw the lot in the garage. they go dormant in the winter anyway. of course our winters are shorter and less severe than yours so it works.
ReplyDeleteThe only plant we move in and out with the seasons is a lemon tree. Poor thing objects strenuously to the process and sheds leaves and generally throws a hissy fit until she gets acclimatized. Every spring she goes outside and gets told that it's live or die and once she quits sulking she does really well. Alas no lemons though!
ReplyDeleteYes, there will be a tantrum of leaves when she comes in. But she always looks much healthier after a season out in the rain and wind and sun.
Delete