The yard work gods have smiled upon me! Fourteen bags into my raking funfest, I ran out. Fortunately, I remembered some slightly smaller bags I had upstairs. There were four of those left, which turned out to be the exact number I needed to get everything bagged up and in the garage, pending pick up by my mother (she puts them in her compost). I managed to accomplish this over a leisurely three days, with no sign of an impending snow storm. Life is good.
I also moved all of the pots that are still showing signs of life a little closer to the garage. I figure as long as nature wouldn’t have them under a snowbank, I’ll give them the benefit of sun for as long as they still look like they’re using it. At this point, all of the annual pots and all of the perennials that have died back (hostas, I’m looking at you) are already stowed in the garage for the winter.
And here’s our poor, pollarded lilac bush. I really hope it comes back next year. It’s right outside our bedroom window (well, not so much anymore since our landlord took off all of the height), and I’d miss it in the spring. You’ll notice there are still leaves in this bed. I leave leaves on any garden bed where they fall. I figure any natural mulch is good mulch. I take them off in the spring.
The one thing I’m a little excited about since the lilac has been cut back so drastically is that I might actually be able to make more use of this bed next year. The part closest to the house is probably still to shady, but the section to the right make actually get slightly more than partial sun, which will be a vast improvement over prior conditions. So we’ll see if I decide to do anything with it in the spring.