Today was a day for long-postponed garden chores: cutting back stalks of bearded and Dutch iris, deadheading roses and peonies, pruning back boxwoods. I am halfway through the boxwood hedge, reducing each plant by a third and thinning them to provide better air circulation. Removed some twiggy branches off a hickory and a droopy elm branch that had started to interfere with foot traffic through the garden. Pinched back Viburnum tinus and the camellias in the white garden.

Over the weekend, a neighbor was rumored to have found a copperhead in her garden. This reminded me that they often nest in piles of leaves, of which I have more than one or two lying around. Pulled on the long pants and rubber boots; got to work shredding the pile closest to the kids’ play area; hope to get to them all before the weekend. Sunny, 83 degrees.