Article July 11, 1970 Issue

Pruning the Wahoo

GERTRUDE E. VELGUTH

When the landscape gardener came to trim the shrubs and trees, I ventured one suggestion only: "Please don't trim the wahoo. Another year I'll probably have it taken out. It simply has no character. Its shape is no shape. As you see, its branches go every whichway."

Mr. Anderson is a courteous man and patient. Wouldn't I care to reconsider? The wahoo, he felt, had been neglected. "I think it's worth saving. If I'm not mistaken, you'll be agreeably surprised when we get right down to its framework." So I consented.

An hour later he invited me to see what he had done. It was amazing. The tangled maze of untrained branches and twigs had been skillfully removed. The wahoo stood proudly, a thing of beauty, harplike in contour, distinguished in appearance. In the hands of an understanding, intuitive, patient worker it had come into its own.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Lessons for the Recruit