Robert Smaus on Weeding and Winter Light
January 10, 2019
Sue Martin
I even like weeding in winter. The weeds are not the persistent perennial types one battles all summer, but annuals for the most part, with shallow roots that are easy to pull out of the soft, moist soil. Weeding allows you to sit quietly and look at the garden without seeming too odd for doing so, discovering things like mushrooms popping up from under the litter of leaves, a plant you had forgotten or walnuts carefully hidden by the squirrels.
I also like winter simply because it is a change. When I step out the back door on a frosty morning, the garden looks and feels different. The low light is dramatic, and the warmth of the sun is more welcome on my back. On those sunny days between storms I'm more likely to say, "What a wonderful day" than I am in summer after months of sunny weather.
52 Weeks in the California Garden, page 64
The backyard garden of Robert Smaus.
Robert Smaus was the garden editor for the Los Angeles Times until his retirement and previously wrote about gardens for Sunset Magazine. The above excerpt is from his book 52 Weeks in the California Garden
See my previous post Robert Smaus on Winter.