Weeding around the yellow mystery flowers and the coral bells, preparing to mulch, I noticed several dead-looking branches on the little ornamental tree in that corner of the yard. The tree has been there since we bought the house; it is a corkscrew hazelnut (Corylus avellana). I spent all Friday morning cutting off the dead branches and clearing the weeds from around the base of the tree.
The experience led me to realize that I don't really like this little tree all that well; I would never have chosen to plant it in the first place. It's just ... odd looking. Like something out of a Tim Burton movie. Twisty, curled branches (hence the name) and misshapen heart-shaped leaves. But as long as it is healthy, I see no good reason to cut it down and replace it with something else. Maybe it's just that we've neglected it ... that area of the garden has always seemed to take care of itself with minimal attention.
The area looks better now, not so overgrown. But working back there led me to notice another problem that has to be dealt with. (One thing leads to another.) The east-side next-door neighbor's worthless wisteria (the thing has never bloomed, in the 10 years we've lived here) has wrapped around some branches of my lilac. More on that story in the next post.
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