It is time to burn. The sun and has turned everything to
the “dry as a bone” state perfect for burning.
Burning needs to be done in a contained and reasonable
fashion. You need a perimeter of non-combustible
materials so things don’t get out of hand. You need a
water source, a nice long hose is perfect. And you need
to pay attention! Don’t let that fire get too big. Stay
with it. If you have to leave, water it down and make
sure it is completely out. No sense starting a forest
fire or even a lawn fire.
What are we going to burn? For us, it is all the
branches and tree trunks that ICE left along our side of
the road when they came through to trim under the power
lines. “We will be back with a chipper truck!” Yeah,
sure you will. Six months and the branches are still
there, choking everything out and just looking
unsightly.
Metric Man’s solution was to let them lie there and rot
away (thereby avoid any yard work). Interesting idea
except for one little problem. Habitat.
What kinds of things love huge piles of sticks, branches
and leaves? Mice and rats, that’s what. I was grabbing
an armload of leaves when I noticed my little dog
chasing something. Lizard, I thought, we have a lot of
lizards, but nope, it was a baby rat.
Okay, I like wildlife. I love the birds, the lizards, I
even like snakes, but rats? Rats, not so much. You may
not be so generous about snakes but if you have piles of
branches and leaves that are breeding grounds for mice
and rats, you are going to have snakes. So you need to
clean up those piles of detritus around the property.
Could I chip instead of burning? Sure. We bought a
chipper but it will only handle very fine stuff – leaves
mostly – and we have all that stuff that ICE left us; it
would take years for it to rot away. We have friends who
bought a big gas powered chipper and that may be a
possibility in the future, but they have a nice flat
yard so the chipper will be easy to move around and a
garage for storage. Hmm. If I had an ox to hitch to the
chipper so we could move it up and down hills…no, I
don’t think so.
Anyway, there you have it. It is time to burn – or chip
if you can. You really don’t want all those rats and
mice hanging around. Maybe you don’t even want the
snakes they will inevitably bring to the property.
Plant
for the Week
Oh the colors of cosmos. Mine are all a bright yellow,
this picture was taken at a friend’s restaurant. Here’s
the thing about cosmos. All you need to do is snag a few
seeds, put them in a pot and be nice to them. Cosmos are
sort of a no-fail plant. Mine have gone to seed all over
the property and are even coming up in the driveway. So,
next time you see a cosmos with seeds, grab some. You
won’t regret it.
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Editor's note: For more information on this article
of request for information about gardening, Ms
Victoria Torley, gardener columnist, can be reached
at victoriatorley1@gmail.com
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