Traverse City Record-Eagle

Dee Blair: The View From Sunnybank

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May 22, 2011

View From Sunnybank: Sensible musings

By DEE BLAIR Local Columnist

I'm on familiar ground again, back from visiting Utah's world-class, half-mile deep canyons in arid, tree-sparce country. Here in Traverse City a moist breeze is teasing our street's avenue of maple trees. Their infant leaves, still curled, will unfold and grow at an astounding rate when rain soaks the land. Their rebirth every year is one of my favorite sights.

My plants have munched through nearly every mineral I'd added last spring. A fresh compost skim will fix that, mixed with two cups of Tomato Tone to lower the naturally alkaline soil. Roses, for example, enjoy a pH of around 6.0. But my garden meter -- available at any good nursery -- often registers higher than 7.5 in places, so this tweak will be greatly appreciated.

Weeding now, before foliage disguises the villains, is essential. Poison is quicker, but I won't use it, so I'm on my knees for hours, probing deeply for that last bit of dandelion root.

Sadly, my giant blue spruce in the front garden is balding. Its thinning branches are green on just their tips, giving the tree a ratty appearance. That huge body has blocked the sun, and nearly enveloped the July-blooming lilac tree living next to the porch. Quarter-inch-deep acid needles are overwhelming my struggling lawn. And finally, its hemorrhoidal roots, which absorb most of the water meant for the grass, make mowing impossible. It's necessary to hand-clip the greenery surrounding them. This year I rebelled, or, put more accurately, my knees have. The spruce must go.

This season we've applied fresh stain to the fence tops and big planter in the Ram's Head Garden, added a small sitting area to the Brick Walled Garden, and exchanged new pillars for the Folly's old, rotting ones. Everything looks wonderful.

I was banging around the Fairy Garden yesterday, oiling the door, hanging a plaque and clipping the fence's ivy, when a tiny movement caught my eye. On the fence top right in front of me, a frightened dove sat on her nearly invisible nest. I was perhaps a foot away. We stared at each other, dismayed! I immediately backed off, but she bravely stayed put, merely turning her gray satin head away as her protective mate rushed me, claws extended. I hastily moved farther away, and he shot me a triumphant look, flattened his feathers and offered her a tidbit.

Speaking of protecting, Joe and I can do better than claws: Fortunately it wasn't necessary. I woke abruptly in the deep night to a persistent, alien noise. Someone was probing our locked screen door, hoping to reach, and breach, the double-bolted front door. There were protracted jiggling sounds, then silence. By the time we got downstairs the frustrated invader had melted into the night. We saw nothing, but there was no doubt about what we'd heard.

Some years ago, on a lovely summer afternoon, I discovered a man rummaging through our bedroom. Since then I've kept the front door locked when I'm out back. In fact, it automatically locks when I pull it closed.

Invaders are opportunistic. They'll consider an unlocked home (or car door) an invitation to enter quietly and pinch whatever's appealing. It takes just seconds.

What if you appealed to them? What if they hid inside until nighttime?

Gardeners can be especially careless: We get dreamy and wander outside, anticipating the perfume and the colors ...

Remember: 300,000 visitors will flock here soon to enjoy Traverse City's hospitality. Don't let a few human "weeds" make you an involuntary wallet or computer donor, or worse.

A good lock is key to staying safe.

Dee Blair's Sunnybank Gardens in Traverse City should open to visitors soon. Visit her website, www.deeblair.com, for more information.

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