Picnic Table Often the Center of Activity
Posted: Friday, February 05, 2010
by CedarStore
Cedarstore.com
Well, winter is at the point where it's just about halfway over; and millions of people are at the point where they can barely stand another minute of it. Undoubtedly, for those who live in colder climates, it seems like an eternity has passed since the days of barbecues, picnic tables, and patio furniture.
Naturally, most of us are looking forward to the time when we can get back to our outdoor activities. In fact, even the chores that we'll have to do outside are looking good to us now. The truth, however, is that there's a lot to do in the garden even before the warm weather arrives.
In most parts of the country, it's a good time to work on getting trees and shrubs into shape for the upcoming season. This can mean anything from planting, to pruning, to simply knocking snow and ice off branches (which, by the way, should be done from underneath, in an upward motion, to prevent tree limbs from breaking).
At the very least, with the dormant season coming to an end, you should be able to prune landscape plants and fruit trees. Just be careful with spring-blooming plants, such as lilacs, crabapples, and forsythias. Their buds were produced last fall, and you don't want to cut them off and lose flowers. You may also be better off waiting until next month to prune certain deciduous trees, such as birches, maples, and elms, which often leak sap as temperatures get warmer.
As long as the ground is thawed, you can lift and divide perennials this month. If you find any plants that have been pushed up out of the ground by the expanding and contracting of the soil, press them carefully back into place.
It's also important to remember that wildlife can have a difficult time finding food in the winter, especially in areas that are covered with snow. If you feed the birds on a regular basis, good for you; if you don't, this is a good time to start. You can also buy ear corn, which is very inexpensive, for deer, squirrels, and other critters.
On days when it's too cold to work outside, you can have some fun planning your garden. Draw a sketch of the layout, look through seed catalogs, choose your favorite flowers, shrubs, and trees, and determine what you'll put where. Of course, there's more to plan than just the vegetation. You'll also want to find the ideal picnic table, as it's likely to be the center of activity this summer.
AllPicnicTables.com features one of the largest selections of picnic tables and outdoor dining sets ever assembled in one place. Along with decay-resistant, cedar, pine, oak, teak, and cherry tables, you'll find maintenance-free, aluminum, polywood, and vinyl tables, available in sizes, shapes, and colors to complement any dcor. AllPicnicTables.com also has design consultants and customer service professionals who are always ready to assist you. To contact them, call 888-293-2339, or e-mail contact@allpicnictables.com.
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this subject. I am ready for warm weather.Well, it's here now! I hope you're out enjoying your picnic tables now!
Yes it will be nice when the weather gets nicer but where we live we need the rain, so I'll thank God for what is and enjoy the warm weather when it gets here.Awesome outlook, Linda! I always tell myself that I wouldn't appreciate the warm times if it wasn't for the cold time!
This author clearly expresses their point of you on picnic tables.That's true! I do love picnic tables!
Thank you for the inspiration. I have an area I want to make a ZEN garden...but I have been procrastinating!You can do it, Kimberly! You just have to get out there, dig your hands in the dirt, and create something wonderful!
since she won't let me do it in the house. I clean my small game and birds and butcher my deer on the picnic table tooSounds like a plan! Though, just remember to clean everything up thoroughly!
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