How does your garden grow?

Hubby and I have been taking gardening classes on Monday nights this spring. We've learned a lot. For instance, we know (now) that we planted trees that have no business growing on this farm and we know (now) that successfully seeding two acres of pasture is nothing short of a miracle.

We know how long our grass blades should be after they are mowed (3 inches!).

We know how to prune, or at least, we were reminded how to prune. Pruning is one task at which we're actually pretty good.

We know when and how to divide perennials and we know not to waste money on big expensive tomato plants and big expensive trees. Our teacher told us a small, $80 tree and a large, $300 tree will be exactly the same size in five years. It's reassuring to learn we've done some things right! We also learned to never, EVER put weighty landscaping under a tree or bother the root zone of a tree we want to keep growing.

We also learned that wind can cut a garden's production by as much as 30 percent. Today, with gusts topping 37 miles per hour, I'm glad my seedlings are tucked safely in the garage. As for the grapevines, well, there's not much I can do for them except pray.

Finally, our education has done nothing to settle the disagreement hubby and I have over whether or not to prune up the mighty cedars. He says YES; I say the trees are holy and should be left alone. It's a good thing we've been married for so long because on some things it's okay to disagree.