Article March 19, 2007 Issue

TIME TO CLEAR OUT THE GUNK

BY MEG WELCH DENDLER

Just when it seemed as though it would never come, the first day that really felt like spring arrived in Michigan, where I used to live. With sunny skies and temperatures near 60 degrees, my daughters and I reveled in the promise of new flowers and melting snow.

After a couple of days of this beautiful weather, I noticed that sweet little purple crocuses were blooming by our back door. To help them along, I scrounged up my gardening gloves, determined to free them and other plants from the thick mat of dead leaves that had built up over the winter.

To my surprise, there was much more new growth than I had anticipated, but getting to it didn't come easily. Some section of the ground were very wet and required stirring up to remove the excess leaves. Two bags of mess later, our flowers were much happier and freer to grow and develop.