Sorry you have to keep diving in out of the rain and heat, Schoolhouse.

No rain here - dry as an old bone. DW came in from mowing part of the yard yesterday and had to take a shower to get all the dirt off that had settled on her. I have some roto-tilling to do, but I don't want to surround myself with a dust cloud like Pigpen.

Related Story:
Years ago we were driving through eastern Washington and there were huge bare fields of yellowish soil on both sides of the road. In one we saw a big cloud of yellow dust hugging the ground way out in the field, and it was moving roughly in the same direction we were.. I thought maybe it was some trick of the wind, but really couldn't figure it out. I kept looking at it as we drove along until we finally got far enough along so we could see the front of it. In the cloud I could just barely make out the features of a huge tractor, presumably towing a disc harrow or something. The driver was probably sitting in filtered air-conditioned comfort, but it looked awful. Later on we saw more dust clouds, no doubt with tractors somewhere inside them.

On the good side here, though, we have no heat wave either --- 70s and very low humidity. Absolutely beautiful weather, if you don't need rain.

ThinMan

I manage to spray and feed all the roses, but that is it for me. We are supposed to have rain the next five days, and it has rained most of the day. And when it isn't raining, the humidity is unbearable.
kay

For the month of June we had 14 inches of rain here! From Friday to Monday a week and half ago we had 9 inches. Flooding, mud slides, etc. not good.

Tomorrow I will be pruning the bittersweet on the fence in garden room. We bought an electric hedge trimmer, but I think I will have to do it with the hand trimmer as it is so wild and out of shape. Plus I have to be up an 8 foot ladder to get the top.

Roses did beautiful here this year, but now I need to deadhead those too. Maybe I could use the hedgetrimmer on them? :-)

Thinman- LOL! I don't know about the yellow soil, but we see those big combines all the time. The good thing is...when all that topsoil goes flying off the fields, I'm hoping some lands in my garden :)

Schoolhouse- Stay cool out there! We had lots of rain until this last week, then hot (100) temperatures. Now, it's supposed to cool off to lower 80s. Just right for early July...but I'm so glad we had all that rain before the high heat.

As much as the moisture is welcome, I would be happy to see just one week of dry weather. The salvia (perennial Meadow Sage) in the crescent bed prefers dry conditions so isn't really performing as well as I had anticipated. Maybe it will do better in its second year.

Shrubs and trees and loving it. So much trimming and pruning to do yet. I think I created a jungle along the property line instead of the nice hedge row I thought I planted.

That's "shrubs and trees ARE loving it..."

I know what you mean schoolhouse. I just pruned the bittersweet on the fence. Oh my, it was the first pruning for this year. With all the cold and rain, and DH's surgery, I did not get a spring pruning done. It was WAY out of control.
before

Oh my gosh mary lu! What a job. How long does it take to come back with a vengeance? It looks really nice, I think the clean up afterwards is about the worse part.

Yes, clean up is also a big job. I filled our trailer with the trimmings. I usually prune in spring, mid-summer and then fall. This time is was a spring/mid-summer all in one. Won't do that again if I can help it. I was so stiff this morning when I got up!

I only trim and prune the privet after it flowers, because if I wait too late then I trim off the growth on which blooms will appear next year; same with the spirea. So I know what you mean about trying to not skip the normal shearing time, but sometimes you can't help it.

I have the juniper hedge to shear next, hopefully tomorrow, it rained today. Then I'll do the privet that borders two sides of the courtyard garden. It's not too bad I only do the sides not the top, just alot to clean up afterwards because putting tarps down is impractical. Also give a second (or is it the third?) haircut to one more topiary.

I'll edge all the beds one more time before winter and lay down some mulch in the area between the edge and the hedge border or plants, keeps weeds down and looks nice.

Looks like you did alot reaching, no wonder you are stiff.

I think the worst part was up and down the 8 ft. step ladder and moving it every several feet. The fence is 8 foot tall and the bittersweet was 3-4 feet above that.

Sounds like you have a lot of shearing to do in your yard as well. This year is a year of "survival" for us, so the gardens are getting the bare minimum. Hopefully next year will be much better. I try not to let it bother me, but sometimes it does. I so enjoy seeing the gardens in good order.

Oh - the ladder thing. That IS awful. Plus please be careful.I used to use the tall step ladder to do the privet around the courtyard that I mentioned above. One time the ladder fell with me on it, it was like it was happening in slow motion. I stuck out my hand and my arm took the brunt of the impact. Didn't get hurt but shook me up.

Yep, got the juniper hedge done this morning and altho I lay tarp down it doesn't catch all the clippings; and those juniper clippings are prickly. So I got the blo/vac out and sucked them up then decided to "sweep" the rest of the stone areas of leaves and debris. Looks nice.

This old juniper hedge was the first hedge plants I put in when I began my garden. It has so much character, I love the natural shaggy way it grows but every other season I have to give its "bed head" look a trim. This time I couldn't resist leaving one stubborn upright branch near the center up front.